Building the world’s drone infrastructure
Drones have a vast potential beyond the consumer and military markets. The AIRCARRUS project is building infrastructure to make it happen. Drones could eventually offer great advances in transport for developing nations where roads are lacking or geographical access is difficult. They are already being used to carry medical supplies to difficult locations, but there are still physical and technological limitations. Highly developed urban areas could use new transportation systems to ease congestion. On top of the numerous logistical benefits, drones could offer huge savings in greenhouse gas emissions, while providing benefits to human health in urban areas through a reduction in other forms of transportation. AIRCARRUS, a Horizon 2020-funded project, is taking drone infrastructure to the next level in creating an autonomous drone delivery system requiring no human interaction, which launches, charges and directs drones from one landing port to another. As a networked system spread across the EU, AIRCARRUS could become an entirely new form of green infrastructure. “If the recharging network was large enough, it could enable cross-country flights across the EU. It would require multiple recharging stops to go very long distances,” says Marcos Fabian Alazraki, CEO at Aerdron and AIRCARRUS project coordinator. The AIRCARRUS system would be able to transport small packages and medical emergency supplies, to service remote communities such as those on mountains and islands, and assist with emergency situations that require remote monitoring. “The system can also be adapted for security and border protection missions,” Alazraki says.
Delivering the goods
The AIRCARRUS system is operated through a highly secured web platform with multiple jump recharging stations. This would allow human monitoring but require no constant input. There are many potential applications for the system. It could be used by medical staff to transport medical samples between labs and hospitals. The delivery drone could fly documents, small spare parts and goods to large ocean freighters/tankers before entering port. It could provide delivery services between close proximity island communities and offer a last-mile delivery service for logistics or food companies. The system could also run entirely on renewable energies. “It would depend on the available area around each jump station to support wind, solar and other renewable energy generating infrastructures. In most southern EU countries, solar power could easily meet the low power demands of each jump station,” says Alazraki. Alazraki points to an electric car recharging network as a comparison for the scale the project could achieve in the EU, by leveraging the EU’s SESAR U-SPACE air traffic management system and technologies. “The gap between sci-fi movies and real-world applications of courier drones being used seamlessly by customers will be rapidly closed in the coming years,” adds Alazraki.
Under development
The research project is still ongoing and the Aerdron team are in the process of developing new air vehicles that are more efficient in traveling longer distances compared to their HL4 Herculift. “We have received strong interest from private investors and large aerospace companies in the United States and EU that are interested in investing. Given the current state of the art in unmanned systems technologies, AI and the upcoming changes to the EU regulations on drone air traffic control systems, the project is totally feasible,” Alazraki concludes.
Keywords
AIRCARRUS, drone, automatic, delivery, system
