National Aerospace Laboratories (NAL), a constituent of CSIR, has developed an indigenous, medium class BVLOS multi-copter UAV or drone which has successfully delivered Covid-19 vaccine at a remote location in Bengaluru.

CSIR-NAL teamed with the Department of Health & Family Welfare, Government of Karnataka for aerial delivery of Covid-19 vaccine in remote areas. The octocopter has successfully delivered 50 vials of Covid-19 vaccines along with syringes in a special container from Chandapura PHC to Haragadde PHC. 

CSIR-NAL’s octocopter took off at 9:43 AM from Chandapura PHC carrying Covid-19 vaccines and delivered them to Haragadde PHC at 9:53 AMam. Octocopter flew at an altitude of 300 meters AGL at a speed of 10m/sec and covered an aerial distance of about 7 km in about 10 minutes. After delivery of vaccines at Haragadde, the octocopter returned to Chandapura PHC. The entire mission covered a distance of about 14 km in 20 minutes including delivery of vaccines. 

Medical Officer Dr. Manisha said, "It usually takes about 30-40 minutes to deliver vaccines to Haragadde from 1 Chandapura by road. The Doctors at PHCs were delighted to witness the demonstration of the fast and safe aerial delivery of vaccines." 

Dr Srinivas, DHO, Dr. Vinay, THO and Dr. Nalini, AMO, General Hospital, Anekal expressed their happiness and complimented the great initiative of CSIR-NAL towards the societal cause and extended support to continue the joint initiative to farthermost remote places in the coming days. 

The UAV is made out of a lightweight carbon fibre foldable structure for ease of transportation and has unique features like autonomous guidance through dual redundant MEMS-based digital Autopilot with advanced flight instrumentation systems. 

The Ministry of Civil Aviation, Government of India has granted conditional permission to CSIR-NAL for conducting BVLOS flight trials. NAL’s octocopter can carry a payload of 15 kg with a hovering endurance of 40 minutes. It can fly at an operational altitude of 500 meters AGL and a maximum flying speed of 36 kmph. Its regulatory compliance includes DGCA-NPNT, Geo fencing and digital sky with 360 degree Collision avoidance making it one of the best UAV in its class. 

Octacopter developed by NAL can be used for a variety of BVLOS applications for last-mile delivery like medicines, vaccines, food, postal packets, Human organ’s etc. NAL Octacopter is integrated with a powerful onboard embedded computer and latest generation sensors for versatile applications like agricultural pesticide spraying, crop monitoring, mining survey, magnetic geo survey mapping etc. 

Dr. P. V. Satyanaraya Murthy, Head UAV, CSIR-NAL while congratulating his team has said that the octocopter for delivery of vaccines is a need of the hour of the country for much deeper penetration of vaccines in the remote areas. The NAL octocopter is perfectly designed for such a mission and is easy to operate by unskilled operators. NAL has already tied up with private firms for drone manufacturing and offering operational services.