A disposable drone that will make a one-way trip to a disaster area won’t add to the suffering if it dissolves within a few weeks of delivering its life-saving cargo. That’s the promise of the “Aerial Platform Supporting Autonomous Resupply Actions” (APSARA), currently being developed by Otherlab, a San Francisco-based group specializing in next-generation creations. Funded by DARPA (the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency), APSARA is part of their ICARUS program (Inbound, Controlled, Air-Releasable, Unrecoverable Systems). The acronyms are becoming overwhelming. Disposable medical supplies are a commonplace in today’s clinics and hospitals. A recent chat with a nurse elicited her concern that medical supplies were so readily disposable. Latex or nitrile gloves, single-use syringes, and protective paper covers and wraps make up a considerable amount of medical waste each year. The materials have the benefit of being inexpensive, though. That’s part of the thinking behind APSARA. Instead of a costly powered drone that would represent a significant loss if it …
