Cargo drones - ARPAS UK

MGI Engineering CEO Mike Gascoyne and one of the Mosquito drones (Credit: MGI Engineering)

Formula One specialist MGI Engineering has revealed two cargo drone technology demonstrators, using its motorsport mindset to tackle challenges in the sector.

The Mosquito UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) were unveiled by the Oxfordshire firm today (19 April) at the eVTOL Insights’ London Conference.

The company, which launched Lotus F1 Racing in 2009 and specialises in applying F1 technology, R&D, simulation and innovation to mainstream automotive, aerospace and marine industries, said that lightweight composite structures and a “highly efficient, fast-paced” iterative design process are key elements of its approach to cargo drones.

The configurable Mosquito design has two variants – the first is a tilt rotor configuration, with two rotors on each corner capable of tilting from 45º forward to 45º backward, while the second features eight rotors with direct drive motors distributed across four wings, each using a tilt mechanism to control pitch and roll. The second variant can take off vertically and transition to winged flight for long distance missions.

“The modular approach to this vehicle, where wings and rotors can be configured according to the mission profile, allows for scalable common platforms using common battery modules,” an MGI announcement said. “The vehicle platform concept has also been designed to be scaled up efficiently, to payload capable vehicles carrying up to 500kg.”

The company aims to provide its consultancy services to the cargo eVTOL (electric vertical take-off and landing) industry. The vehicles are being developed to showcase its vision and capabilities in the area.

“We believe that developing sustainable electric aviation vehicles, combined with our unique expertise and experience from Formula One of lightweight hybrid composite vehicles, is the future of the transport industry,” said CEO Mike Gascoyne.

“We are very happy to have a fully working demonstrator vehicle that has passed all our tests to date, including fully transitioning from vertical to horizontal flight. We’re excited to see where our development journey takes us and look forward to solving the unique and novel challenges the industry presents us with.”

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