The Autonomous Pod Transport 70 is part of an electrical vertical take off (eVTOL) family of drones under development by Bell. APT 70 can reach over 100 mph / 161 km/h and has a baseline payload of 70 lbs / 32 kgs. First flew on August 2019.
By December 2020 the APT flight test program has completed over 300 flights including a 49 kgs / 110 lbs of payload over an 12 km / 8-mile route
APT 70 News
Bell APT Drone Demonstration for NASA, 11-Feb-22 : #NASA Bell partnership with Hillwood and Northwest Independent School District (NISD) for demonstration of ground-based Detect and Avoid (DAA) flight for its NASA Systems Integration and Operationalization (SIO) project
APT Drone Airdrop Supplies, 13-Oct-21 : #resupply Bell Autonomous Pod Transport (APT) drone demonstrated its ability to airdrop supplies
Point-to-Point Autonomous Delivery, 03-Feb-21 : #Innovation Hillwood and Bell demonstrate point-to-point autonomous package delivery at the Alliance Texas Mobility Innovation Zone
Bell APT with ARA Robotic in Canada, 18-Jan-21 : #drones Bell Canada and ARA Robotic tested the Autonomous Pod Transport (APT) cargo drone with a new airframe at the Mirabel, Quebec facility
Bell APT 70 Drone in Demo Flight for NASA, 01-Oct-20 : #NASA Bell Autonomous Pod Transport APT 70 drone completes NASA’s systems integration and operationalization demo flights to demonstrate safety and utility of unmanned aircraft for future commercial uses