Blue Bear demonstrates simultaneous remote launch swarming technology
Blue Bear has successfully demonstrated 7 UAS simultaneously taking off with its push button ‘remote launch’ technology, which allows a remote operator, virtually anywhere in the world, to be able to command a fleet of VTOL Fixed Wing UAS to take off and transition into individual or cooperative swarming missions.
Blue Bear Ghost UAS was used as part of this demonstration and comes in both a standard fixed fuselage configuration or equipped with a plug and play modular fuselage bay. Fitted with Blue Bear’s latest generation of avionics, plug and play open architectures and SmartConnectTM technology, the fully autonomous Ghost UAS is one of the most advanced small UAS in the world.
The modular architecture allows it to be easily fitted with one of the plug and play payloads from the growing ecosystem of payloads providers working with Blue Bear.
The modular payload bay is now being adapted for medical delivery applications, and the fully autonomous remote launch functionality makes the prospect of fully autonomous drone delivery and centralised command and control a clear reality.
Ian Williams-Wynn, MD said, “Blue Bear can now retrofit its SmartConnectTM, open architectures, autopilots and other avionics to third party UAS, UGVs, USVs and UxVs to enable them to utilise the growing ecosystem of plug and play payloads, commanded by Blue Bear CenturionTM Command and Control software.
“This provides platform suppliers from air, land and maritime domains with the ability to plug their systems into any Blue Bear CenturionTM equipped system, providing the operator with a single command and control platform for all their multi-domain unmanned assets.”
www.bbsr.co.uk
26th October 2020
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Flock appointed as BIBA Drone scheme provider
The British Insurance Brokers’ Association (BIBA) has launched a new member drone scheme with specialist broker and ARPAS-UK Member Flock, offering easy to access and flexible cover for commercial drones such as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) and electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft.
The new scheme is underwritten by leading aviation underwriters who bring A+ rated capacity and covers the UK, Europe and worldwide, allowing BIBA members to easily access cover for small businesses, global operators and large fleets.
Goldman Sachs estimates the commercial drone industry is now worth around £78billion and Flock has rapidly established itself as the leading insurance specialist in the space. It has issued over one million quotes and now insures some of the world’s largest fleets including Skyports, Terra Drone and Sky Futures.
Cover includes hull, equipment and cargo up to £1.5m, up to £50m public liability and beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) cover. Flock also has the ability to create custom insurance policies for specific use cases including drone deliveries, drone swarm shows and offshore operations.
Mike Hallam, BIBA’s Head of Technical Services, said: “We are delighted to offer this new scheme to members. Flock has proven expertise in this area that will greatly benefit members who need access to this specialist class of insurance, whether that be on a regular or one-off basis. Flock will simplify the process for members to bind risks and offer comprehensive and competitive cover.”
Ed Leon Klinger, CEO of Flock, said: “The commercial drone industry is growing at a remarkable rate, and it’s critical that drone operators of all sizes have access to fair, flexible, and transparent insurance policies.
“We are excited to bring Flock’s market-leading products to thousands of brokers across the country through the new BIBA drone scheme. Working with Flock, brokers can now take advantage of automated binding, end to end claims support and insights from a UAV specialist.”
Brokers can also benefit from Flock’s UAV specialists who will provide insights on client requirements. They will also receive end to end claims support and advocacy as well as their own branded portal to simplify and streamline the quote and bind process.
The scheme is fully compliant with EU Regulation EC785/2004.
Airwards Launch Global Accreditation Scheme For Outstanding Drone Work
Today is the official launch of Airwards: a unifying global accreditation scheme recognising best practice drone work. This digital awards scheme will champion a wide range of UAV work which is positively advancing human capabilities. Launching in association with ARPAS-UK, and covering more than 20 different disciplines, Airwards will recognise the very best UAV projects, companies and individuals leading the way in innovation, responsibility, and real-world solutions.
Airwards, established by digital entrepreneur Richard Nichols, brings together the drone community and raise awareness of positive drone uses with the wider general public. The awards platform will champion drone projects that are pushing boundaries, creating innovative solutions and transforming industries. Winners will be selected by a panel of expert judges who will be announced in the coming weeks.
Airwards founder, Richard Nichols, comments:
“The drone industry is doing incredible work but much of it flies under the radar and deserves recognition. Having been involved with UAV companies for a number of years, I felt it was time to do something that brought the drone industry together and recognised the positive ways this technology is improving the world we live in. The Airwards vision is to have drones recognised for leading the way in every industry”.
ARPAS-UK CEO, Graham Brown, comments:
“Airwards is a great initiative to promote the positive impact of drones. Drones help multiple industries and provide many solutions to businesses that are safer, faster, cheaper, and greener than current methods or alternatives. We are delighted to support an awards system that recognises the work of the drone industry and the talented people who work in it. With the launch of Airwards, we hope to see examples of safe, professional operation of drones, innovative uses and projects which continue to break new ground and deliver significant benefits to the industry and the wider public.”
How Does Airwards Work?
Airwards is open to a range of companies, including UAV specialists disrupting an industry, start-ups using drone technology for creative solutions, and large corporations driving innovation. There are more than 20 awards in total, spanning a wide variety of uses and sectors including technology, operations, supporting services, industry-specific and giving back.
Entrants will be able to submit their work from 1st December 2020 until 12th February 2021. Award submission costs vary and winners will be announced by late May 2021.
Entrants must successfully meet the Airwards criteria to be shortlisted. The three main criteria are:
Innovative – Promoting pioneering ideas that are successfully challenging the perception of what a drone is and can be.
Responsible – Recognising the key aspect of safety in every drone flight to advocate legitimate behaviour as a standard best practice.
Real-world – Asking the question: ‘how are drones making a difference?’ by demonstrating quantifiable outcomes and tangible solutions.
For full details on how to enter and more information visit Airwards’ website.
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New research projects to explore use of drones for medical delivery purposes
ARPAS-UK Member Cranfield University is participating in two new research projects that focus on the use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) for medical delivery purposes.
There are over 2.5 million movements of medical supplies, samples and other items between hospitals and medical centres annually in the UK, with the majority of movements being undertaken by commissioned couriers on the country’s road network. The projects, funded by Innovate UK, part of UK Research and Innovation, will seek to facilitate the movement of medical items and speed up deliveries, while also alleviating strain on congested roads and reducing emissions.
A project led by Skyfarer will look to create a flight testing corridor – subject to Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) approval – in Warwickshire, making history by providing the UK’s first drone-based medical deliveries in a populated suburban environment within unsegregated airspace. A second project, working with hospitals and NHS trusts directly, will create the first UK set of standard operational procedures (SOPs) for routine, drone-enabled delivery operations and demonstrate within hospital environments the automatic take-off, remote piloting and precision drone landing by hospital staff using the SOPs.
Professor Antonios Tsourdos, Head of the Autonomous and Cyber-Physical Systems Centre, Cranfield University, said: “The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent social distancing measures have expedited the need for home deliveries of goods, with the influx in demand putting massive strain on traditional delivery methods and supply chains, as well as hospital inventories. Autonomous drones are the ideal solution for efficiently delivering essential goods in compliance with social distancing regulations, since they don’t require a person to operate them or rely on traditional road-based infrastructure. We are delighted to be involved in these projects which could significantly improve point-to-point movement of critical medical supplies and allow hospitals to get the right product at the right time, quickly and efficiently, while limiting staff exposure to health risk and avoiding cross-contamination.”
Elliot Parnham, CEO and Founder, Skyfarer Ltd, said: “The Skyfarer project will move the adoption of drone solutions for logistics in the UK one step closer to reality. Heralding a new age of aerospace innovation, setting up this flight testing corridor will enable the testing of autonomous beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) drone technology in a suburban setting, providing a sustainable blueprint for gaining CAA approval and paving the way for commercial deliveries by drones to begin in the UK.”
Jens Mangelsen, Technical Director, DGP Intelsius Ltd and Principal Investigator for the Enabling UK Inter-site Medical Delivery Drone Operations project, said: “DGP Intelsius is continually seeking to be involved in the next generation of medical transportation systems and recognises that short-distance, airborne movements through the use of drone technologies are a potential new transportation mode, particularly in times of national contagion. This project brings together for the first time a unique consortium of hospital NHS trusts, nationally recognised airspace and drone specialists and ourselves to provide a rapid study, with outputs scalable at a UK level.”
The Skyfarer project will focus on validating the reliability and redundancy of the technology and creating a Concept of Operations (ConOps) in order to work towards an application to the CAA for the creation of the drone flight corridor. Regulations currently require UAVs to be operated within visual line of sight of the remote pilot at all times. Through the ongoing creation of the National Beyond visual line of sight Experimentation Corridor (NBEC), Cranfield University is also working with partners Blue Bear Systems Research, Thales and Vodafone to provide a safe, managed environment for UAV experimentation, ultimately working towards their unsegregated operation with manned aircraft in both controlled and uncontrolled airspace. NBEC is a member of the CAA’s Innovation Sandbox, which only contains eight approved organisations.
Co-investigators for the ‘Skyfarer – enabling drone powered medical logistics in the UK’ project also include Skyfarer and Altitude Angel, with Apian, ERS Medical, Avy and FlyPulse supporting. Other partners for the ‘Enabling UK Inter-site Medical Delivery Drone Operations: Meeting the logistical and operational challenges presented by SARS-CoV-2’ project are Blue Bear Systems Research, The Drone Office, Herotech8 and Kings College London University, who will work closely with Milton Keynes, Bedford and Luton & Dunstable hospitals.
Press Release by Cranfield University
21 October 2020
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How one female drone pilot is continuing the pioneering aviation tradition of Amelia Earhart and Amy Johnson
Professional drone pilot Annalisa Russell-Smith is following in the footsteps of pioneers Amelia Earhart and Amy Johnson as the aviation industry enters a whole new age.
For she’s one of the first civilians to be able to fly a drone not only out of visual sight but operating one in another country while here in the UK … heralding in a new future for aviation.
Annalisa, who lives in West Sussex, had already trained to fly drones to a high level and has now become one of the first pilots to pass a pioneering new drone flying course called Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS).
Annalisa Russell-Smith
Her grandfather was a fighter pilot in the First World War and Annalisa said: “The world was a rapidly changing place when my grandfather first took to the skies in 1916 but the change is even more rapid now when it comes to drones. Work-class drones flown BVLOS are about to become a massive force for good across the world in ways people could never have imagined only a few years ago. The aviation industry is entering a new chapter. The future of aviation is in remotely piloted aircraft and we will soon be seeing drones in a completely different light.
“Drones are now often used for filming, surveying buildings and doing aerial inspections. In the future they will become high technology aerial workhorses and will be used in truly visionary, life-changing and life-saving ways. Drones will have a positive impact on millions of lives and the way they can be used will be limited only by our imagination.
“I could soon be flying drones remotely anywhere in the world from the UK and that’s incredibly exciting.”
Drones capable of carrying heavy loads are ideal for humanitarian emergencies such as taking water, food and medical supplies into remote regions after natural disasters including earthquakes, floods and tsunamis. These large drones operating BVLOS could even rescue people from tall structures such as buildings, cranes and oil rigs.
Flying is in Annalisa’s family heritage.
She said: “I’ve always been interested in aviation as my grandfather, Allan Russell-Smith, was a World War I fighter pilot who volunteered from the Royal Scots in 1916 to join the Royal Flying Corps.
“My dad, David, would tell tales of the Fairey Swordfish biplane torpedo bomber that flew off the deck of the Merchant Aircraft Carrier he served on as a radio officer during World War II.
“But it was the Spitfire that I dreamed of flying when I started primary school in Hursley, the Hampshire village where the Supermarine Spitfire design team were based decades before during World War II. Sadly, the RAF were still not recruiting women as pilots by the time I was old enough to join but I took every opportunity I could to be up in the air.
“I always loved reading about the achievements of pioneering female aviators such as Amelia Earhart and Amy Johnson but I never dreamed I would be among the first civilians to be flying work-class drones BVLOS. It’s a great time to be involved in this industry.”
Amelia Earhart was the first female aviator to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean in 1928 while Amy Johnson became the first woman to fly solo to Australia in 1930.
Annalisa, who is a filmmaker and photojournalist, realised while working on documentaries and short films as a camera operator just how useful drones can be to give a whole range of different camera angles. After breaking her ankle last year she went through a long recovery which made her think long and hard about learning new skills and that’s when she discovered the UK’s leading drone training company, Flyby Technology (www.flybydronetraining.co.uk).
Annalisa at the controls
All Flyby’s instructors are former RAF or Royal Navy fighter pilots, combat helicopter pilots or Civil Aviation Authority instructors.
Annalisa said: “I wanted to be the best drone pilot I could be and to do that I knew I had to be trained by the very best. Flyby stood out more than head and shoulders from other drone training companies.
“I quickly discovered they are looking at using drones at a level no-one else is seeing yet. My eyes were opened to a whole new world of business and career possibilities with the mentorship to achieve pretty much anything I can dream up.”
She added: “I wanted deep knowledge when flying drones to anticipate any problems well ahead but also to deal with them quickly and decisively when the unexpected happens. I’ve learned far more than I ever thought because they are not simply teaching what you need to know to pass an exam.
“During my training and in my BVLOS exam I had to deal with multiple emergencies in real time. I surprised myself handling each situation the way I had been trained. Flyby’s instructors understand how I learn and everyone is different. I’ve gone from being afraid of failing an exam to looking forward to passing them. It’s a complete mindshift and a real confidence booster that’s had a positive effect on all aspects of life for me.”
