Aeropulse - A Network of Drones with Autonomous, AI-Driven Robotic Payloads to Optimize Delivery of Medical Perishables Across Urban Hospitals

Each year in the United States, hundreds of lives are lost because organs, tissues, and critical medicines fail to arrive on time, often due to transportation delays, excessive handoffs, and human error. Aeropulse addresses these challenges by providing a fully autonomous, end-to-end delivery system that combines vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) drones for inter-hospital transport with autonomous ground robots for internal hospital navigation. The system is modeled to complete intra-regional, hospital-to-hospital deliveries in under 40 minutes, achieving a 40–50% reduction in transport time compared to current methods. Following clinical packaging and mission authorization, the nearest available drone is dispatched from its charging station and flies to the origin hospital. Meanwhile, the ground robot begins the first-mile segment, navigating from the origin room to the hospital’s rooftop, where the drone performs a tethered hoist pickup of the robot containing the medical payload. The drone then transports the robot to the destination hospital’s rooftop, where the ground robot detaches and begins its last-mile internal navigation to the target room. Inside the hospital, the robot follows color-coded LED virtual tracks while directly interfacing with building infrastructure such as elevator systems, door controls, and facility networks. Advanced sensors and autonomous navigation enable secure and efficient access throughout the hospital without requiring staff intervention, while integrated climate control systems preserve the integrity of temperature-sensitive medical supplies. The entire process operates autonomously, eliminating manual handoffs. By seamlessly integrating aerial and ground robotics, Aeropulse offers a rapid, reliable solution for transporting time-critical medical perishables, with the potential to save lives by improving transplant success rates and reducing preventable mortality.