Animal Dynamics

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The stealthy little drones that fly like insects

ARPAS-UK Member, Animal Dynamics’s Chief Executive, Alex Cacchia talks about the insect inspired drones the company makes in this article by the BBC.

 

The article looks at how dragon flies inspired the team to crack the challenge of using flapping wings to power a drone, as well as mobile phone technology has been important to the company in the development of the drone.

“A dragonfly is an awesome flyer” says Alex Caccia, “It’s just insane how beautiful they are, nothing is left to chance in that design. It has very sophisticated flight control.”

Animal Dynamics

 

27 April 2020

 

 

 

 

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DASA awards £2m to fast-track autonomous vehicles in harsh conditions

Boost to UK prosperity as 21 contracts awarded to small and medium-sized enterprises and innovators for next generation autonomy systems

DASA's Autonomy in a Dynamic World competition

The Defence and Security Accelerator (DASA) can today announce it has awarded 21 contracts worth a total £2.1 million to boost how autonomous vehicles and systems operate in challenging environments.

DASA, on behalf of the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl), launched the Autonomy in a Dynamic World competition last year seeking proposals for innovative solutions and novel techniques to improve the way autonomous systems work in conditions such as rugged landscapes, dense vegetation, varying wind speeds and sea states – and man-made conditions such as congested and contested electromagnetic spaces.

The call also sought solutions to the Human-Autonomy Teaming (HAT) problem – the effective integration of humans, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and robotics into military systems.

All these factors affect the military effectiveness of current autonomous technologies.

Project manager Helen Mullender said:

The work being funded is to mature autonomous systems with the capability to operate on demand, under all conditions that may be encountered.

Military operations are undertaken in all kinds of challenging environment. The inclusion of autonomous systems in these operations will demand their ability to operate effectively and efficiently regardless of the environment.

DASA delivery manager Laurence Bickerton said:

DASA is pleased to be working with Dstl and some of the best and brightest minds in industry to provide a step change in the capability of unmanned autonomous military systems.

In society, we are becoming increasingly dependent and trusting of unmanned, autonomous and semi-autonomous systems to operate our machinery, cars and even our home deliveries.

Similarly, in defence, autonomous systems are driving a revolutionary change in military operations, transforming the battlespace with improved intelligence and mobility.

The competition is funded through the MOD’s Chief Scientific Adviser’s Research Programme’s Autonomy Incubator project that aims to: Identify and develop underpinning research and technologies to support the development and fielding of unmanned systems across defence which may be matured through the Dstl Autonomy Programme and other Research and Development programmes.

The organisations that have been funded are:

  • Animal Dynamics (3 proposals funded)
  • Archangel
  • Autonomous Devices Ltd (2 proposals funded)
  • Beamagine SL
  • Blue Bear Systems Research Ltd
  • Createc
  • Deep Vision
  • Fleetonomy.ai
  • Frazer-Nash Consultancy
  • Horiba Mira
  • Imperial College London
  • Plextek Service Ltd (2 proposals funded)
  • QinetiQ Business Unit Farnborough
  • SeeByte Limited
  • Sonardyne International Limited
  • University of Dundee
  • Zenotech Ltd

DASA – the MOD’s innovation hub – finds and funds exploitable technology to give Her Majesty’s Armed Forces and UK security a strategic advantage over adversaries while supporting the nation’s prosperity.

DASA works with scientists from Dstl, academia, and industry to rapidly develop these new technologies.

Published 2 April 2020
From:
Defence Science and Technology Laboratory, Defence and Security Accelerator, and Ministry of Defence
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Animal Dynamics Joins WeRobotics as Technology Partner

We’re delighted to announce that the cargo drone company Animal Dynamics is now a formal technology partner of WeRobotics and Flying Labs. There are many good reasons to be partnering with Animal Dynamics. Flying Labs in 25+ countries across Africa, Asia, and Latin America are increasingly engaged in the use of cargo drones. This is the result of the rising demand for these solutions across the public health sector and beyond. The cargo drones solutions developed by Animal Dynamics will enable Flying Labs to expand the range of services they can offer in the future. To be sure, their platforms provide the kind of safety, range, and payload capacity that will appeal to a more significant number of partners across the Flying Labs network.

The fact that Animal Dynamics shares our commitment to localization is central to our partnership. The company aims to develop technology inspired by nature, with greater endurance, efficiency, and agility. This approach very much appeals to us. Founded in 2015 as a spin-out from The University of Oxford Zoology Department, Animal Dynamics combines insights from evolutionary biomechanics with cutting-edge engineering and software to develop unmanned aerial vehicles (or drones) that are efficient, safe and robust. At present, the company is focused on two key projects, Stork (pictured below) and Skeeter.

Stork is a heavy payload-capacity autonomous unmanned aerial vehicle. By combining paramotor technology with autonomous capability, the Stork system is an economically viable logistics solution. Current vehicles can carry 5kgs of payload over 50km. Vehicles are robust, damage-tolerant, and easily repairable. With short take-off and landing capability, Stork can operate in challenging conditions without the need for extensive ground infrastructure. The Animal Dynamics fleet logistics software package enables the rapid deployment and autonomous management of multiple Stork vehicles. Through inventory control and multiple vehicle launch and tracking, the Stork system offers a complete solution to last-mile logistics. Skeeter is a micro-drone inspired by the biology of dragonflies with high efficiency and endurance compared with rotor-blade models. Animal Dynamics is currently developing use cases for Skeeter in fields such as agriculture and emergency services.

Flying Labs are not new to cargo drones. They have been engaged in cargo drone projects since 2016. Peru Flying Labs, for example, has delivered medicines and blood samples in the Amazon Rainforest with BD; Nepal Flying Labs collected TB samples from remote clinics in Pyuthan with BNMT; Papua New Guinea Flying Labs ran cargo drone demos with the Center for Disease Control (CDC), and Cameroon Flying Labs will soon be collecting patient samples for Polio testing with the CDC and World Health Organization. Also, we have worked on cargo drone projects with our partners in Brazil to reduce Zika and in Fiji to reduce Dengue. Last but not least, we offer a professional online course on the use of cargo drones for medical delivery. Participants who complete the course receive a certificate signed by MIT, the University of Pennsylvania, and WeRobotics.

We plan to announce several select cargo drone partners in 2020. These partnerships are vital to providing Flying Labs with the opportunity to select from a range of cargo solutions for their joint public health projects. This diversity in solutions is already true for mapping drones, given our formal partnerships with DJI, senseFly, and Parrot. As such, we expect to bring on three cargo drone partners this year who share our core values and commitment to The Power of Local.

19th February 2020