Dragonfly

Dragonfly is an integrated drone delivery concept designed to show how cities can be adapted to accommodate drone technology, relieve congested roads in urban areas and solve the last mile parcel delivery challenge.

Challenge

The rise in online shopping has made our lives easier. We can get everything we want, almost instantly. But this has added vast numbers of delivery vans onto already congested roads, clogging up our infrastructure and producing poor air quality in our cities.

Solution

Dragonfly builds on the relationship between the city and its rivers, with autonomous barges acting as mobile distribution points and charging stations. The ‘Dragonflies’ pick up their parcels and pass between buildings, docking on landing pads on the sides of buildings. Dragonfly could lead to a big step change in city development, as it does not require the use of already congested road networks. Buildings, for instance, could be designed to enable access from different levels. The banks of rivers, where all cities first emerged, are used again as major transport corridors supporting the delivery of the drone network.