Drones & UAVs News & Discussions

[raklian]

Drone vs. Tank
1 - 0

[raklian]

Future of drone warfare is already here.

[weatheriscool]

US Air Force Transformation With Superdrone Wingmen First Then Next Gen Bombers and Fighters
August 28, 2023 by Brian Wang

The US Air Force will undergo a major transformation over the next ten years by adding new superdrone wingmen with existing fighters and bombers and then the introduction of the next generation B21 stealth bomber and then the new NGAD fighter.

The US Air Force has been testing some superdrones that can work as wingmen with existing bombers and fighters. They will have a competition to select the winning superdrones late this year. However, there will be multiple contracts and constantly upgrading superdrones over the next few years and beyond.

https://www.nextbigfuture.com/2023/08/u ... hters.html

[caltrek]

[raklian]

Hunter drones have arrived.

[wjfox]

Wingcopter drones deliver everyday goods in Germany

October 9, 2023

Wingcopter and the Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences (Frankfurt UAS) has launched the ‘Drohnen-Lastenrad-Express-Belieferung’ (Drone-Cargo Bike Express Delivery) project in Germany.

The pilot project offers residents of remote districts in Michelstadt, Hesse, the opportunity to have groceries and consumer goods delivered to their homes quickly and emission-free by a Wingcopter delivery drone and cargo bike. The drone deliveries are intended to sustainably improve local supply in the region.

Initially the districts of Rehbach and Würzberg, well outside Michelstadt, will be served. Many local retailers have closed their stores in recent years, forcing residents to drive to Michelstadt or other towns to do their shopping – in some cases well over 10km each way.

Residents can order everyday goods online and have them delivered to their homes at a specified time. The orders are flown by Wingcopter to landing points just outside the villages, from where they are transported to the customers by electric cargo bike.

Frankfurt UAS is evaluating the service from an economic and ecological perspective and is also operating the cargo bikes. It has extensive expertise in the field of last-mile logistics with cargo bikes and small electric vehicles.

https://www.parcelandpostaltechnologyin ... rmany.html



Credit: Wingcopter

[weatheriscool]

Researchers design and fly world's largest quadcopter drone
https://techxplore.com/news/2023-10-fly ... drone.html
by University of Manchester

Engineers at The University of Manchester have built and flown the world's largest quadcopter drone. The drone, made from a cardboard-like material called foamboard, measures 6.4m (21 ft) corner to corner and weighs 24.5kg—0.5kg less than the weight limit set by the Civil Aviation Authority.

The innovative design of the drone, dubbed the Giant Foamboard Quadcopter (GFQ), means it is unlike any other in existence. The four arms are formed of a series of hollow box structures and can be easily removed for transportation. There is no record of a purpose-built uncrewed quadcopter (four rotors) of any weight class which is larger than the Manchester vehicle as of the time of writing.

The project started as a curiosity-driven venture to inspire students' creativity in design by utilizing a suitable alternative low-cost material for lightweight aerospace structures that is more environmentally friendly than the usual carbon fiber.

[raklian]

This wasn't on my bingo card at all.

[caltrek]

Could Drones One Day Speed Automated External Defibrillators Delivery to Cardiac Arrest Scenes Across the U.S.?
November 6, 2023

Introduction:

(Eurekalert) DALLAS, Nov. 6, 2023 — A research simulation suggests that a drone delivery system could improve access to automated external defibrillators (AEDs), a portable device that can shock the heart rhythm back to normal when a person is experiencing an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, according to preliminary research to be presented at the American Heart Association’s Resuscitation Science Symposium 2023. The meeting, Nov. 11-12, in Philadelphia, is a premier global exchange of the latest scientific advances related to treating cardiopulmonary arrest and life-threatening traumatic injury.

According to the American Heart Association, more than 350,000 cardiac arrests occur outside of the hospital each year, with a survival rate of only about 10%. The initiation of bystander CPR, including the use of an AED if warranted, is critical in the initial response to an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest and can more than double or triple a person’s chances of survival. However, the number of people who experience out-of-hospital cardiac arrest who have an AED applied by a bystander remains low, with timely access to an AED a major barrier, especially in rural areas.

For the study, researchers developed a simulation model that evaluated how quickly an AED could be delivered to the scene of a cardiac arrest in 19 counties in North Carolina. The model hypothesized that all local first responders, including EMS, fire fighters and police officers, would carry an AED and then optimized a network of AED-carrying drones. The simulation model compared the response time until an AED arrived on scene between this hypothetical intervention and the historical first responder/EMS response in each area.

Using the drones to maximize the total number of out-of-hospital cardiac arrests that could have an AED delivered within five minutes, the researchers found:

• 5-minute response time for AED arrival would improve from 24% to 77% for urban areas and 10% to 23% for rural areas.

• Estimated average response times would be reduced by 42% to 4 minutes in urban areas and by 24% to 7.1 minutes in rural areas. The historical median response time was 6.9 minutes in urban areas and 9.4 minutes in rural areas.

• All counties showed significant improvement in response time for urban and rural populations.

Read more here: https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1006511

[weatheriscool]