Inside Unmanned Systems provides actionable business intelligence to decision-makers and influencers operating within the global UAS community. Features include analysis of key technologies, policy/regulatory developments and new product design.
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24 unmanned systems inside August/September ugust/Septe August/September August/September be August/September 2016 0 2016 6 2016 AIR AERIAL SERVICES Beyond last year's demonstration, the team at RAM also has been working with Dennis Strege, owner of MasterFlight Inc., to build a drone pro- totype specific for this application. The aircraft he's modifying, which was originally developed for power line inspections, will be able to fly 150 nautical miles with a 55 pound payload. The UAS will be able to withstand harsh weather condi- tions that would keep manned aircraft grounded and make multiple deliveries throughout the day. Strege described the vehicle as ideal for a pro- gram RAM recently started in the Philippines, where they need to deliver medication across long stretches of water. The UAS also will be equipped with a defi- brillator—something Dr. Mark Head, RAM for- eign crisis coordinator, Greece, said is a huge step forward in saving time and lives. Alec Mor- mot began work on developing the first UAS prototype with a defibrillator as a graduate in- dustrial design student at TU Delft University in Holland. In his version, a smart phone app is used to call the drone during an emergency. Once the drone arrives, a medical professional can walk a friend or bystander through how to use the defibrillator over the phone. "If you can get a drone to a downed person having a heart attack quicker than an ambu- lance, you can save lives," Head said. "The thing about a defibrillator is it doesn't matter how you use it as long as you can get to the patient quick- ly. It's the time after the event that's critical." Delivering Care in Rwanda The UPS Foundation, Zipline and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance recently formed a partner- ship to begin transporting blood and vaccines to rural areas in Rwanda. They're also working closely with the Rwandan government, whose leadership is actively looking for ways to dis- patch vaccines and medicine to its citizens, Gavi spokesperson Frédérique Tissandier said. "THE EARLY ADOPTERS ARE THERE. I know colleagues who are testing these solutions on their own." Dr. Jeremy Tucker, vice president patient safety and regional medical director at MEP Health Earlier this year, MATT SCASSERO, director of the University of Maryland Unmanned Aircraft Systems Test Site and associate director for Maryland Mid-Atlantic Aviation Partnership, worked with his team to develop a drone designed to drop multiple self-inflating life preservers to swimmers in need of rescue. They created a device that can DROP UP TO FOUR LIFE PRESERVERS, one at a time, and then attached it to one of their multirotor UAS. The drone can carry a variety of sensors to identify the best drop location. The idea for this drone came from a focus group that wanted the capability to locate people struggling in the wa- ter right away and then take steps to save them on the spot, Scassero said. The team developed the prototype in just a few days, and it worked the very first time they flew it. The device was modeled on the DJI s1000, a 20 pound octocopter that can haul 5 lbs. of payload. Once the payload is loaded, it still has an endurance time of about 30 minutes, which gives rescuers plenty of time to identify anyone who is in distress. "The time to market from innova- tion to use is minimal, especially for smaller systems," Scassero said. "This drone can take some damage and keep flying. It's a fairly large structure and has a lot of areas where you can attach things. The self-inflated preserver drop device can be easily attached to it. It has an open framework so you have a lot of flexibility to be creative." The group also recently worked with Project Lifesaver, a nonprofit organization that uses tracking tech- nology to help find lost individuals with cognitive disorders. Through this project, they made it possible to use a drone to locate a person wear- ing a Lifesaver bracelet. Rescuers today typically rely on hand-held de- vices. In this case, they used Lock- heed Martin's Indago quadcopter. Scassero described both projects as successful and said they also led to a variety of other ideas for drone applications, from dropping cell phones and care packages to people who are in distress to tracking lost children. DRONES USED TO DROP LIFE PRESERVERS