San Francisco, California, USA

Colin Owen, Clint Cope, Isaiah Jones, and Terik Weekes of Elroy Air design the Can-Am Commander XT-P an autonomous vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft that can deliver 300 lbs of cargo over a 300-mile range.

The mission of Elroy Air is to improve the quality of life around the world by democratizing access to rapid logistics.

The urgent global need for logistics demands a new transport solution that leapfrogs traditional infrastructure.

The project has been awarded a 2021 Good Design Award by The Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design and The European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies.

The Chaparral can autonomously deposit and retrieve cargo without human contact and without roads or airports.

This air vehicle represents the adaptation and maturation of powertrain from hybrid automobiles, sensing from self-driving vehicles, autopilots from consumer multi-rotor control systems, and manufacturing techniques adapted from rapid prototyping and aerospace.

Autonomous air cargo can improve the quality of life globally by increasing access to time-sensitive critical supplies.

Hospitals, clinics, businesses, stores, warehouses, and communities are not able to receive critical supplies as frequently as they need.

Over 600 million people are negatively impacted by natural disasters each year. Autonomous air cargo technology can decrease the number of lives lost by providing access to urgent supplies at a moment’s notice to any flat patch of land on the globe.

Project: Elroy Air Chaparral
Designers: Colin Owen, Clint Cope, Isaiah Jones, and Terik Weekes, Elroy Air
Manufacturer: Elroy Air