At CES 2022, Doosan Mobility Innovation (DMI) and 42air inked a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for a collaboration to create hydrogen fuel cell unmanned aerial vehicles for delivery services (UAV).
This agreement formalizes their shared commitment and enhances both parties’ future involvement in increasing hydrogen fuel cell drone operations for marine drone deliveries.
DMI and 42air agree that drone delivery is a crucial future use case for drones, and that by collaborating, the two businesses can become market leaders in the drone delivery industry.
To enable the new aerial delivery ecosystem, DMI and 42air plan to collaborate to create new business models and develop a service model that includes specifying and integrating fuel cell power systems, automation software, logistics software, cargo handling systems, and other technologies and processes.
Commercial drone platforms with fuel cell powerpacks are available from DMI, a market leader in hydrogen fuel cell drones. Fuel cells have a 4 to 5 times higher energy density than lithium-ion batteries, allowing the hydrogen-powered fuel cell drones to stay aloft for more than two hours. As a result, hydrogen-powered drones are capable of flying beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) and are ideally suited for distribution.
This year, DMI’s hydrogen fuel cell VTOL (vertical take-off and landing) in the “Drones & Unmanned Systems” category and Solar inspection solution with hydrogen drone (DP30+DS30W) in the “Sustainability, Eco-Design & Smart Energy” category earned two CES ‘Honoree’ awards. DMI earned the ‘Best of Innovations’ and ‘Honoree’ honors at CES 2020, and this builds on their achievements.
42air, the US affiliate of South Korean company 42dot, which specializes in autonomous Transport as a Service (aTaaS), has pioneered delivery to ships on the Mississippi River, using Part 107 laws and visual flight restrictions. With the help of DMI, 42air plans to expand operations outside visual line of sight, as well as use heavier and faster vehicles than Part 107 allows. Future supplies to ships in anchorages near the Port of Los Angeles, as well as to oil installations in the Gulf of Mexico, are planned. The 42air technology is based on the 42dot UMOS (Urban Mobility Operating System) and expands it to include airborne deliveries and logistics.
“By allowing our drone to fly for two hours, hydrogen fuel cell technology has demonstrated its endurance.” By partnering with 42air, we’ll be able to demonstrate that this technology is here today, not in the future, and that it’s a highly promising technology for drone delivery,” said Doosoon Lee, DMI’s CEO.
“42air seeks to make marine delivery more cost-effective and convenient. We can provide safe and ecologically friendly distribution by cooperating with DMI, which will improve the lives of employees on board ships that may be detained in remote anchorages for an extended period of time,” said Henk Goosen, CEO of 42air.
