In August, A2Z Drone Delivery officially launched their new portfolio of drone docks, the AirDock. There are four versions of the relatively new release, with two elevated permanent docks, a portable dock, and a shelter. Commercial UAV News had a chance to catch up with Aaron Zhang, the company’s CEO, at their booth on the floor of Commercial UAV Expo. 

Zhang took some time to go through the four variations of the Airdock, starting with the two elevated permanent versions, one of which is a dual dock and the other a quad. In other words, the former can charge two drones at once while the other can charge four. These permanent structures stand about two feet off the ground (600 mm) and are complete with lights underneath. Zhang notes that the base is the same as street lamps, opening a future path to have these kinds of docks on streets without sacrificing lighting or needing major changes to the sidewalk to make room.

There is also the AirDock portable, which is exactly what it sounds like as it can be folded up and easily unfolded and deployed within minutes. The folded AirDock can be checked on airplanes and fits into vehicle trunks as well. Finally, the AirDock Shelter includes a sliding clam shell dome, providing coverage for the drone in extreme weather or for overnight storage out in the field.

Zhang tells Commercial UAV News that one of the big selling points of these drone docks is the lack of moving parts compared to other models. For the two permanent structures as well as the portable AirDock, there are no moving parts, meaning significantly less chance of maintenance being needed. The only AirDock with any moving parts is the Shelter, which needs to slide the cover, but he says that is kept to a minimum.

All of the AirDocks are designed for A2Z’s Longtail drone, which can serve both cargo and patrol use cases. The patrol drone, used for things like monitoring illegal fishing and reporting to car accidents, among other law enforcement and public safety uses, can fly up to 40 kilometers. The cargo drone, meanwhile, can fly up to 20 kilometers with a 5 kilogram payload. 

Zhang also wanted to highlight A2Z’s new Drone Network as a Service offering, offering subscription models to avoid higher up-front costs and more accessible entryways. The company has been testing all of their new hardware on a test site in China for the last year and a half, and are now starting to see these offerings in places like Asia and the United Kingdom, with more expansion coming down the road.