REINVENTING DELIVERY DRONES

Lentola began developing and manufacturing drones in 2017. Over the years, we have designed and tested several different delivery drone concepts to find the best one. We have learned a lot about the performance of different wing and fuselage solutions along the way.

We were the first in the world to test the folding-wing tailsitter (pictured). This attracted a great deal of attention and was also noted in foreign media.

EASIER SAID THAN DONE

The safety requirements set by the authorities for various products are sometimes strict. The safety requirements set by EASA for drones are particularly strict. Our concept had to meet these requirements as well, leaving only a few viable design options. We don’t know of any other drones that we would dare to fly in almost any weather conditions.

A CHAIN THAT CANNOT WITHSTAND WEAK LINKS

In addition to our delivery drone design and production, we have designed and tested delivery boxes, parachutes and their mounting brackets suitable for drone delivery. In order for the product to end up in the customer’s yard, the drop must be done with a fraction of a second accuracy at the desired coordinates. At the time of drop, the flight speed can be 25 m/s and the wind direction can vary.

MAKES DELIVERY LOOK EASY

Since there were no software available that were suitable for fast-paced drone delivery operations, we designed it ourselves. Lentola’s user interface enables easy, fast and safe route planning that takes into account most needs associated with drone deliveries. The user sees everything essential at a glance: e.g. terrain height differences, restricted and no-fly zones.

This development work would not have been possible without the experience gained from thousands of deliveries.

THE TRUE PIONEERS OF DRONE DELIVERY

Dozens of articles have been written about Lentola. Yle (Finnish national broadcasting company) first wrote about Lentola in 2022, when we were starting BVLOS (beyond visual line of sight) flights. Since then, we have proven the system’s performance by performing thousands of flights and delivering grocery bags, pharmacy supplies, newspapers and defibrillators. The factor that unites our customers has been the difficult access routes, which are especially found near waterways.