KIGALI, Rwanda — (BUSINESS WIRE) — March 24, 2020 — Doosan Mobility Innovation (DMI) participated in the African Drone Forum (ADF), February 5-7, in Kigali, Rwanda to demonstrate key benefits of drone utilization in Africa and how it can improve the lives of its citizens. The ADF, organized by the World Bank and hosted by the Rwandan government, was designed to explore methods in which drone technology can help establish infrastructure in Africa. Ministers from 20 different African countries and drone business professionals from over 40 countries attended the event.
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Doosan Mobility Innovation CEO speaking during the ADF symposium. (Photo: Business Wire)
The ADF shined a light on innovative drone solutions where it is needed most – mobility. With conventional transport infrastructure (notable road and rail) prohibitively expensive in Africa (only 34% of Africa’s population is within 2 km/1.2 miles of an all-weather road) drones are providing a new avenue to the region’s mobility.
DMI demonstrated the power of their hydrogen fuel cell drone technology with the use of the DS30 (long endurance hydrogen fuel cell drone) and the DP30 powerpack. They successfully completed 30 minutes of flight time with enough hydrogen left for over two hours of extended flight. The benefits to Africa of extended flight time are monumental, including applications for the supply of medicines and blood, business purposes, disaster analysis and relief, communication capabilities, and more.
DMI’s CEO, Doo Soon Lee, was also a key speaker during the symposium and spoke regarding the benefits of long endurance flight for emergency delivery as well as other applications. According to Mr. Lee, “A hydrogen fuel cell drone used in blood delivery can travel more than 70km in a flight. We can help save as many as 5,000 lives a year with one hydrogen drone.” With the ability to fly hours, not minutes, a hydrogen fuel cell drone can deliver items to a remote location where traditional battery powered drones cannot reach. This allows a hydrogen fuel cell drone to act as a ‘drone ambulance’.
Currently, most drone blood delivery in Africa is supplied by fixed-wing drones that generally have a payload max of about 2 kg. DMI’s hydrogen fuel cell drone has a maximum payload of 5 kg – making it possible to deliver twice as much blood per flight. DMI’s solution also transports and delivers blood in a delivery box specially designed for temperature-sensitive medical supplies.
Dr. George Mulamula, a representative for World Bank stated, “Doosan Mobility Innovation’s product is the only drone fueled with hydrogen fuel cell. This is green technology and it stays in the air for longer time, enabling to reach longer distance and get more economical values.”
DMI was honored to be a part of the ADF and more importantly, to be a part of the technology that is paving the way for new and innovative methods of establishing infrastructure for Africa and its citizens. DMI is providing the power for tomorrow and the power for the future of Africa.
About Doosan Mobility Innovation
Doosan’s fuel cell business is an exciting future growth engine and focuses on the mobile applications of fuel cell technology. Doosan Mobility Innovation (DMI) is a 100% invested company by Doosan Corporation, a global company with 16.5 billion dollars in revenue. With build-safe systems and reliability customers can trust, DMI is heavily investing in UAV applications (both hardware and software) that are quickly accelerating the growth of long-endurance flight and the growth of the UAV industry.
About DP30 and DS30
DP30 (Fuel-cell Powerpack) with DS30 (Drone body) is the world’s first commercialized hydrogen fuel-cell drone which enables long endurance flight for various industrial applications. With a hydrogen fuel-cell drone, 2 hours flight time is possible since the energy density of fuel-cell system is 3 to 4 times higher than that of batteries.
DP30 is a complete fuel-cell system for drone which enables long endurance and high reliability. DS30 is designed to take advantage of all the efficiencies of DP30, with the maximum flight time of 2 hours and the maximum payload of 5 kg. Average flight distance range of DP30 with DS30 is more than 40 miles.
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