Drone Delivery Canada to upsize drones under extended DSV Canada project

Drone Delivery Canada (DDC) and DSV Air & Sea Inc. Canada, the Canadian division of Denmark-headquartered DSV Panalpina, are renewing and extending the drone project launched in March 2020 at DSV’s head office and warehouse in Milton, Ontario, in a deal dated June 24. [caption id="attachment_96118" align="alignright" width="450"] Photo courtesy of Drone Delivery Canada.[/caption] The project was launched using DDC’s electric-powered Sparrow drones, which will be upgraded to the larger electric Robin XL drones when they become commercially available, according to DDC’s press release on the extended agreement. The Robin XL will likely be commercially available toward the end of summer, DDC President and CEO Michael Zahra told Air Cargo World . The DSV Canada DDC service covers an internal route for the company at its facility, which according to a DSV press release totals 1.1 million square feet, with multiple business units represented there. “It made sense for them to transport some cargo externally, versus moving it around internally, through departments that might not be authorized to touch this kind of cargo,” said Zahra of DDC’s work for DSV Canada. “That was the justification for the first project, so that justification continues, hence why they renewed the project with the Sparrow.” Under the extended agreement, the Sparrow drones will soon be upgraded to the larger Robin drones. The Robin XL offers a larger maximum cargo capacity of 11.3 kilograms, compared to the Sparrow’s smaller 4.5 kg, as well as a longer range of 60 kilometers to the Sparrow’s 30 km, according to a company fact sheet. For the purposes of the DSV project, the cargo capacity is the important factor, Zahra said. “They don’t necessarily need the range of the Robin, but it has greater cargo capacity,” Zahra explained. “It gives them that extra ability to carry either larger cargo or multiple smaller cargoes because of the cargo weight capacity.” DSV’s work with DDC also serves as a starting point for DSV to discuss potential drone operations with its customers, according to Zahra. “DSV being a large company globally and in Canada, they have a number of their customers who they are actively talking to about using drones for delivery at those customer sites — either it could be 100% at their customer site, or it could be to or from DSV to the customer site,” said Zahra. “So the secondary reason to migrate to the Robin, in addition to their own internal logistical benefits of the greater cargo [capacity], is this would be a showcase for them to be able to demonstrate the Robin capabilities to the customers they’re talking to.” DDC also has another, even larger drone, the gasoline-powered, helicopter-style Condor, currently in testing. The Condor ( video footage available here ) has an expected maximum range of 200 km and payload capacity of 180 kg, and according to a March 3 update on successful testing, could also begin commercial operations during 2021. While the DSV Canada project will transition to a 100% Robin XL fleet, Zahra said DDC is in discussions with potential customers looking to add “a mix of the drones.” “Some industries would lean more toward the smaller one or the larger one only, but definitely there would be [industries] that would use two or even three,” said Zahra, pointing to FedEx as an example of a carrier utilizing a wide variety of freighter sizes and equipment types for its cargo operations.

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