CycloRotor Power for Yamato Cargo Drones

Akihabara News (Tokyo) — Parcel delivery provider Yamato and Austrian propulsion system developer CycloTech are collaborating on a project to explore the use of CycloRotors to power a new generation of heavy-lift cargo drones.

CycloRotors are a thrust vectoring propulsion technology. They are compact and can transition smoothly from hover mode to forward flight, allowing precision maneuverability. Their key advantage is that they provide lift and thrust within a single system.

The companies contend that “CycloRotors an ideal propulsion system for operation in confined areas, crowded airspace, and harsher, unpredictable weather conditions.”

The envisioned CCY-01 cargo drone would be battery-powered, using six omni-directional thrust generating CycloRotors. It is thought capable of transporting a 45 kilogram payload over a distance of 40 kilometers on a single charge.

The six-rotor configuration is said to include sufficient redundancy that the cargo drone would still manage a safe and stable landing even if one of the CycloRotors fails.

The CCY-01 would be designed to land on any surface with area of 3.5 x 3.5 meters, including helipads, rooftops, or parking lots.

The two companies add that “factories, warehouses, fresh-food markets, fruit farms, fishing wharves, train terminals, hotels, shopping malls, or convention centers could be other points where the aircraft can connect and provide extra logistics value while connecting the network with long-haul ground or air transportation.”

The cargo itself would be placed in Yamato’s “pod unit for parcel air-transportation” (PUPA701), with all loading and unloading operations being handled from one side.

The PUPA701 is part of the PUPA family of detachable and compatible cargo pods that Yamato is designing to be carried by drones and other eVTOL aircraft.

According to the companies, “short turnaround times and easy logistics operation for a highly efficient aerial last-mile delivery can be performed” using such technology.

No timeline has been provided for when the Yamato Cargo Drone CCY-01 might be produced and deployed.

Yamato has been experimenting with a number of drone services in Japan, including the concept of making deliveries of prescription drugs to elderly residents in remote communities via drones.