Monday evening at Building 41 in Northwood saw a small gathering for the presentation of a new drone delivery pilot set to take place on the Isle of Wight later this year.
Ross Edmunds, the Isle of Wight council’s Regeneration Manager for the Cowes peninsular, welcomed the guests, which included local councillors and other interested parties and introduced David Majoe the CEO of Inteliports, one of the innovators behind the trial.
David explained that Inteliports have been working with Isle of Wight council over the past year, and in particular with Councillor John Nicholson (Mayor of Cowes Town Council) on the Cowes Place Plan, helping to make it come to life.
Who are Inteliports?
Inteliports is at the forefront of revolutionising delivery through state-of-the-art drone logistics. They employ a dedicated team avionics engineers, robotics developers, experienced architects, and urban planners, leading the development of intelligent drones and drone ports for rapid, eco-friendly, automated aerial deliveries.
The company was nominated in 2023 for ‘Best Use of Drones Award 2023’ award.
What are they planning?
Inteliports’ focus is on what’s known as a ‘rapid low cost last mile delivery service’, and for the purposes of the six-month pilot scheme, goods would be delivered across the Solent by drone to a delivery port in Cowes.
The drones would be powered by eight motors and eight propellers and be tracked with the assistance of project partners, Vodafone.
What would be transported?
The parcels would be made up of medicines for the NHS, as well as some groceries – being included as proof of concept for later schemes.
There would be five journeys back and forth to the Island every day as part of the scheme, with a total load each time during the trial of 20kg – which is thought would be made up of a number of smaller parcels.
From there the parcels would then be delivered to their final destination by electric cargo bike.
Pioneering
The trial is not only a first for the Island, but as a commercial drone network, would be one of the first in the country.
This is a huge innovation and with the Island’s rich heritage as somewhere that nurtures pioneers in all fields, David explained this made it the perfect fit
Faster, cheaper and more efficient
During his presentation, David added that the automated drone and cargo bike model would be faster, cheaper and 98 per cent more efficient than using traditional delivery vans.
He highlighted a report by PriceWaterhouseCoopers predicted there would be 900,000 delivery drones in use by 2030 and that it would result in £22bn of savings, create half a billion new jobs and significantly reduce carbon emissions.
Cowes terminal
With funding from the Department for Transport. The pilot scheme would take place over six months, partnering with Vodafone. There would be a distribution hub at Fawley, with the Island terminal being located in Cowes.
Ross confirmed that a site had been earmarked (Mornington Road long stay car park), which David explained was perfect for the trial, ticking lots of the necessary boxes.
Concerns raised
Concerns were raised about the suggested location for the drone terminal, with particular reference to badgers, red squirrels and dormice being disturbed in the nearby Mornington Wood.
One attendee suggested that ecological assessments should be carried out at the proposed site before the trial began.
There are no case studies of this happening elsewhere, as this project is at the forefront across the UK and the World. It was highlighted that this trial period would enable Inteliports to see how the scheme might impact the area and work out how they tackle these issues going forward.
Other questions raised by stakeholders attending the meeting included issues around cyber security, weather impact, noise levels and logistics.
More to come
There’ll be wider public consultation in the coming weeks and months, and look out this week for our podcast conversation with Chief of Strategy at Inteliports, David Park.
