What should a delivery drone look like?

Talk like a research and development engineer

Defibrillator – a medical device used to restart a patient’s heart

Drone – an aircraft or small flying device that does not have a pilot but is controlled remotely

User-centred design – an approach to designing technology in which the people who will use or be affected by the technology have a say in how it is designed

Have you ever received a delivery from a drone? If not, it might not be long until you do, as drones are increasingly being used to deliver food and medical supplies. Manna Air Delivery, for example, has made over 250,000 flights in Ireland, Finland and the US since 2020, partnering with companies such as Deliveroo to deliver food, clothing and pharmaceuticals to customers. Zipline has been delivering life-saving medicines and blood supplies to hospitals across Rwanda since 2018.

As a PhD researcher at Eindhoven University of Technology, Dr Shiva Nischal Lingam studied the challenges of using drones to make deliveries in public spaces. He hopes his work will help policymakers develop guidelines that will reduce the uncertainties about drone deliveries for people and the environment, and improve the process for everyone involved.

Why use drones for deliveries?

“Drones are already being used to deliver everyday items such as groceries, takeaway food and online shopping orders, as well as urgent supplies such as medicines and medical equipment,” says Nischal. “They can be used to deliver items in emergency situations, such as defibrillators to heart attack patients or rescue equipment to hard-to-reach, disaster-affected areas.”

Because they can fly directly to a location, drones are a fast and efficient way to deliver items. Drone deliveries can be much quicker for remote and rural areas that would take a while to reach via road. They are beneficial in cities because as well as being able to avoid traffic, they also reduce the number of delivery vehicles on roads and so reduce congestion and carbon emissions.

Despite these advantages, many people feel uncertain about drone deliveries. Concerns often revolve around drone noise, the unpredictability of drone movements, and their environmental impact. To manage this, Nischal investigated how people interpret and react to drones in public spaces, and asked how they think drones should be designed to improve human-drone interactions.

Why did Nischal take a user-centred approach?

“User-centred design means understanding users’ needs, behaviours and concerns first, then designing solutions to address them,” says Nischal. “We chose to take this approach because if drones are only designed for performance or efficiency, they may still cause confusion, discomfort or safety concerns for people around them.”

In Nischal’s user-centred design project, he recruited participants to take part in focus groups. Participants were asked to imagine an interaction with a delivery drone in a public space, such as a park, either as the recipient of the delivery or as a bystander who is just watching. Nischal asked participants what their reaction to the drone would be, what factors might make them feel uncertain, and what information they would need to feel at ease. In their groups, participants drew storyboards to illustrate the scenes they expected during a human-drone interaction in a public space. They also drew sketches of drones to highlight design features they thought would help drones communicate with members of the public.

What did the study reveal?

A key finding from the focus groups was that both recipients and bystanders felt uncertain about the intentions of a drone, such as whether it was about to land, move closer, drop a package or leave. “Recipients felt uncertain about whether the drone was ‘their’ drone, while bystanders felt uncertain about the purpose of the drone,” says Nischal. “Such feelings can lead to a lack of clarity, making people feel confused, cautious or even unsafe.”