RigiTech trials BVLOS medical drone delivery over Lake Geneva

Swiss drone manufacturer and services company RigiTech has continued pushing the boundaries of its activities by staging a long-distance beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) aerial delivery over Lake Geneva, linking two medical labs.

The RigiTech medical BVLOS delivery flight builds on years of short-distance UAV transport trials by Switzerland’s postal service that were suspended following crash incidents. The company said its round-trip was among the longest ever operated in the country and marked a rare aerial crossing of Lake Geneva. By linking laboratories in Cologny and Coppet, meanwhile, the RigiTech Eiger craft became the first to make a jaunt between two different Swiss cantons over water.

The route above the lake vastly decreased the number of people and vehicles overflown by the UAV. But preparing for the BVLOS delivery of the drone’s medical payload took months of planning by RigiTech alongside local, cantonal, and federal authorities –…