Elroy Air successfully test runs The Chaparral

Elroy Air, a San Francisco based startup that develops drones for delivering large commercial payloads, made an announcement today regarding a milestone reached for its goal of commercializing by 2021. It was stated that the company completed a test run of over 1250 pound prototype drone called the chaparral in partnership with the Naval Postgraduate School. The company claimed that the drone can carry 250 pounds of cargo at an astonishing speed of 100 miles per hour for a range of 300 miles. Chaparral is equipped with various components like an array of sensors, cameras, radar, and a computer that has air-traffic management software running.

Since time immemorial, people have always dreamt of harnessing the skies for quick transport. The use of autonomous cargo systems would enable people to set up ultra-responsive logistics. When it comes to the Chaparral humans are not required to do the heavy lifting. The drone is self-guided and the cargo handling machine helps in loading and unloading the packages autonomously. The aerodynamic cargo pods automatically descend to the surface and release post landing.

The Elroy drone is yet to make a delivery and a test run was controlled by a human pilot, it ascended for 10 feet and hovered for over a minute before landing. Elroy not only wants to deliver goods to customers in remote places but also carries medical supplies and care packages to disasters-struck regions. An unnamed humanitarian organization has expressed interest in Elroy’s drones for food, water, medical supply, and supplement delivery.