Snowdonia Aerospace conduct successful medical BVLOS trials
Immediately before lockdown, a team from Snowdonia Aerospace, with partners SwiftFlight Avionics, University of Manchester and the Welsh Ambulance Service, completed a successful flight demo that showed proof-of-concept for beyond visual line-of-sight (BVLOS) delivery of a defibrillator by drone to a remote, rural location that would be difficult to reach with an ambulance in a timely fashion.
Courtesy of Snowdonia Aerospace
This is the first demo of this type in the UK and one of only a handful that have been conducted worldwide. The project was conducted at the Snowdonia Aerospace Centre, Llanbedr, North Wales, and funded by the UK Space Agency and Welsh Government under a National Space Technology Programme/Space for Smarter Government Programme to show how satellite-enabled drones could be used as part of a broader satellite-enabled network to support remote healthcare services in rural Welsh communities.
Snowdonia Aerospace are also very grateful to Schiller UK for the loan of a FRED easyport mini defibrillator. The defibrillator was delivered by parachute drop to a “first aider” and “casualty” on a remote beach. The drop point was 4.5 kilometres from the launch location and took 2 minutes 50 seconds to complete, whereas an ambulance would have taken an estimated 20+ minutes to reach the same location.
Chris Maltby in his blog says “A defibrillator is its most effective when administered within the first minute of a victim collapsing and if a defibrillator is used within the first 3 to 5 minutes, the likelihood of survival increases from 6% to 74% therefore, having a defibrillator close by really makes all the difference.”
Snowdonia Aerospace and partners are looking forward to continuing the BVLOS capability development as part of the upcoming UK Research & Innovation Future Flight Challenge and engaging with other emergency response stakeholders.
Snowdonia Aerospace are ARPAS-UK members, and also great supporters of the Institute of Mechanical Engineers’ UAS Challenge.
15th April 2020
SAM IS ....
Snowdonia space centre at Llanbedr given £500k funding
QinetiQ has been testing commercial drones which can monitor coastal erosion
Rocket launches in Snowdonia could be a step closer after the UK Space Agency announced £500,000 funding for a space centre.
The money will go towards a facility at Llanbedr in Gwynedd for space research and launching satellites and drones.
The Welsh Government is also giving £135,000 to a project to test unmanned and electric aircraft and space planes.
The announcements come at the opening of a space conference at Newport’s International Convention Centre Wales.
Around 1,800 delegates from across the world are taking part in the conference, the first international event to be held at the new centre.
Gwynedd council welcomed the funding, saying the project had the potential to create high-value jobs.
A report for the council in 2017 estimated it would cost £25m to turn the airfield into an aerospace centre, including improvements to infrastructure, business units and facilities.
At the time the UK Space Agency, funded by the UK government, announced a £2m fund for other sites around the UK to launch rockets horizontally, subject to a successful bid.
Lee Paul, Snowdonia Aerospace’s chief executive, said the ambition was to have the first sub-orbital flights launched from the space centre by as early as 2022.
“We are delighted to have been awarded funding to support these aspirations from the UK Space Agency both in relation to the Horizontal Spaceport Development Fund and also the National Space Technology Programme,” said Mr Paul.
“We will embrace the UK Space Agency drive to achieve an early UK-based horizontal launch capability with the aim of delivering the first sub-orbital flights over Cardigan Bay in the 2022-2025 period.”
Image copyrightGETTY IMAGESImage captionThere has been some concern about the potential impact of a space centre on the surrounding coast and countryside
Satellites and drones have many potential uses in areas such as defence, but also for monitoring climate change and improving communications.
Gareth Thomas, Gwynedd council’s cabinet member for economic development, said it had worked closely with partners to support the development of the space centre.
“With the support of EU funds, works are already underway to improve existing facilities to accommodate new tenants and create new jobs,” he said.
“This funding could build on that success in the longer term to create a truly world-class facility.”
But there has been some concern about the potential impact of the development of the former RAF airfield on the surrounding coast and countryside.
Claire Barcham, commercial space director at the UK Space Agency, denied the Llanbedr project progress had been slow.
“We’ve seen government and industry motivated to come together and we are on track to support the industry’s ambition to see launches from British soil from the early 2020s,” she said.
Ms Barcham added that it was an “exciting moment for space in Wales,” with the sector having grown by a third since 2015.
Image captionThe conference got under way at the new International Convention Centre Wales, Newport
In other funding announcements at the conference:
An additional £86,000 has been given by the UK Space Agency to Snowdonia Aerospace to test how satellite-enabled drones could be used to support healthcare in rural communities – this could potentially include delivering medicines to remote areas using the remote-controlled aircraft
Tactical Wireless, which is based in Shropshire, and the Emergency Medical Retrieval and Transfer Service have been given £57,000 to develop satellite communications technology, which will provide a strong mobile internet connection for emergency healthcare staff in remote areas of Wales
B2Space has also been awarded £100,000 by the Welsh Government to set up in Newport and use Llanbedr to explore the possibility of using stratospheric balloons to launch “nano” satellites
Image copyrightGEOGRAPH/ROGER BROOKSImage captionThe funding is to help Llanbedr airfield work towards launching satellites horizontally, rather than vertically
Wales in space
The space sector includes satellites and unmanned craft and in 2015, a target was set for Wales to make up 5% of the UK sector by 2030, worth £2bn a year.
From small beginnings, Wales is now home to 47 organisations employing 517 people.
When the UK leaves the EU, it will remain part of the European Space Agency but will not be able to take part in European Union-funded programmes.
The UAS Challenge (Unmanned Aircraft Systems Challenge) is the IMechE leading annual student competition in the aerospace sector.
It leads the way in promoting value and cohesion within the industry, providing unique opportunities to universities, their teams, the individual participants and of course for our partnering organisations.
Launched in 2014 with the key objectives of developing professional engineers and inspiring the next generation, the Challenge is now in its fifth year. Each annual Challenge cycle kicks-off in October, ending with a final event in June the following year.
Teams of undergraduates from all over the world take part in the Challenge. They undertake a full design and build cycle of a UAS with specific mission objectives. The Challenge bridges the gap between academia and industry in developing applied UAS-related activities, providing the perfect opportunity to strengthen links with industry, other universities and enhance employment opportunities for graduates in the aerospace sector. See competition rules.
The Challenge provides several categories of awards:
Grand Champion
Highest aggregate score from the PDR, CDR, A0 poster and the Flight Demonstration
Runner Up
2nd highest aggregate score from the PDR, CDR, A0 poster and the Flight Demonstration
3rd Place
3rd highest aggregate score from the PDR, CDR, A0 poster and the Flight Demonstration
Innovation
Most innovative concept taken through to flight demonstration.
Design
Entrant with a well-structured design approach, the most elegant and well thought through design, as described through the Concept Paper, PDR and CDR stages that fully meets all the requirements laid down in the rules.
Scrutineer’s
Best presented UAS that is fully compliant with the competition rules.
Safety & Airworthiness
Entrant developing the best combination of a well-articulated safety case, with evidence that safety and airworthiness have been considered throughout the design and development stages, the UAS exhibiting practical safety features, and demonstrating safe operation and team behaviour.
Business Proposition
Entrant with the most promising business and marketing case presented to a panel of sponsors during the flight demonstration event, reflecting a well-articulated understanding of the market and good alignment of the UAS capabilities and cost projections with the target market.
Most Promise
Entrant which couldn’t quite make it all work on the day, but where the team showed most ingenuity, teamwork, resilience in the face of adversity, and a promising design for next year’s competition.
Highest placed new entrant
Highest mission scores for a university that has not previously taken part.
Media & Engagement
Team which engages most effectively with local media, schools, and social media to promote participation and engagement with the Challenge.
Our best wishes to the 2019 Teams!
Wrexham Glyndwr University – Team B-G-F-E
University of Dundee – Haggis Aerospace
University of Huddersfield – Sparrow Hawk
University of Huddersfield – Harrier Hawk
University College London – Team Newton
University of Southern Denmark – Team SDU Eagles
University of Southampton – Team Volta
University of Southampton – Team Eagle
University of Southampton – Team Colibri
University of Sheffield – Project HEX
University of Bath – Team Bath Drones
Sheffield Hallam University – Team Hallam
Cambridge University – Team CUUASS
Loughborough University – Osiris
Cranfield University – Team Blackbird
Warwick University – Warwick Drone
Ghulam Ishaq Khan Institute of Engineering Sciences and Technology, Pakistan – Team Foxtrot
University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka – Moira Avions
Imperial College London – Project ICAV
Queen’s University Belfast, team FLYTANIC
University of Sheffield – Team Volaticus
Brunel University – Team Brunel
University of Twente, Netherlands – Team A3T
National University of Sciences and Technology, Pakistan – Team NUST Air Works Beta
National University of Sciences and Technology, Pakistan – Team NUST Air Works Alpha
University of Hertfordshire – UH Valkyrie
Coventry University – Team Phoenix
DHA Suffa University, Pakistan – Team DSU Bur’raq
University of Surrey – Team Peryton
University College London – Team Nova
Concordia University, Canada – AHS Stingers
Queen’s University Belfast – Hibernica Liberandum
For more information: https://www.imeche.org/events/challenges/uas-challenge
