Drone delivery fuels logistics in China's Greater Bay Area

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Smart and efficient drone delivery services are enhancing the logistics industry in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, an important economic zone in southern China, providing added convenience to people's daily lives. 

Every day, more than 20,000 items are transported by logistics drones at low altitudes across the area, with nearly 100 drones flying every minute on average.

Shenzhen Fengyi Technology Co., Ltd., a Shenzhen-based drone company affiliated with China's leading delivery company SF Express, has leveraged its intelligent control system to enable real-time tracking and efficient management of drone delivery.

"We've deployed more drones to increase the capacity of delivery services along intercity routes," said Zou Peng, a drone engineer at the company. 

The smart system manages the entire logistics process, from order taking, goods pickup to drone delivery. It uses an advanced algorithm to calculate the best route and timing for each delivery.

During the delivery, the system tracks the drone's condition in real time and monitors factors such as sea conditions (for cross-sea delivery) and wind speed, making adjustments as needed. 

Besides being powered with technologies like 5G positioning, AI, and big data, logistics drones used in the bay area also need to withstand harsh sea conditions, such as wind and rain, since the cross-sea delivery is more commonly needed there.   

Fengyi Technology's drones, made from carbon fiber composites and featuring a vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) design, are well-suited for operations in this region. They can also travel up to 120 kilometers on a single flight.

"Our drones can withstand winds of force 7 at sea and have completed over 10,000 test flights before entering service," said Sun Zhenyang, a drone operator at the company.

Currently, major cities within the Greater Bay Area are connected by a logistics network that supports drone deliveries at low altitudes. Customers can receive their takeaways delivered by drones within ten minutes at the fastest speed.

China is the world's largest producer of drones now, with a complete industry chain covering research and development, manufacturing, and application. Its relevant patent applications account for 70 percent of the global total.

Drone delivery fuels logistics in China's Greater Bay Area

An artificial intelligence (AI) foundation model specialized for analyzing human genetic diversity was launched at Shanghai's cutting-edge Model Speed Space innovation hub on Tuesday.

Named SNPBAG, it is the world's first large model built specifically for genomic analysis, promising to precisely predict diseases and advance personalized health care.

The model focuses on single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), the most common type of genetic variation among people, which influence traits such as height, intelligence and personality.

Currently, SNPBAG can be used for ancestry tracing and kinship identification. In the future, with further training, it is expected to predict disease risks at various life stages based on DNA sequences, offering higher screening accuracy than existing genetic testing methods.

"As far as we know, traditional methods examine SNPs point by point for correlations with traits like height or intelligence, without taking into account, for example, interactions between or among genes. Therefore, we need a model that can autonomously identify these complex relationships. Now, we've found such a tool that can bring close two gene expressions [of the human body] that are far away from each other and provide biological interpretations," said Tang Kun, an expert of computational biology and founder of Shanghai Feipu Intelligent Technology Co., Ltd.

Looking ahead, the model will support the development of China's sovereign genomic database, promote its domestic self-reliance, enhance AI-driven drug discovery and improve the target screening success rates by over 200 percent. It also aims to make precision health care more accessible.

"The most well-known application is non-invasive prenatal screening. Currently, only a few conditions are covered by national insurance, but there are over 20,000 rare diseases in children. We are now collaborating with Shanghai Children’s Hospital to expand screening coverage," said Lu Sitong, CEO of Shanghai Feipu Intelligent Technology.

With SNPBAG, non-invasive prenatal screening is expected to detect a broader range of rare diseases in the future. The company said it also plans to launch consumer-facing products to benefit the general public.

China launches world's first foundation model for genomic analysis