On Tuesday, May 5, the organizing committee of the Lake Kivu Challenge announced that Wingcopter was the winner of the Emergency Delivery category of the Flying Competition, which was part of the 2020 African Drone Forum that took place in February in Rwanda.
Also the recipient of a special award for its safety procedures, Wingcopter will receive prize money of GBP 65,000.
“We are very proud to be winners of the Lake Kivu Challenge, as this challenge and the African Drone Forum embody the innovative spirit of humanitarian aid and the African drone community as well as the great potential for sustainable drone deployments,” says Tom Plümmer, CEO and co-founder of Wingcopter.
IHP
IHP
Parrot providing Human Rights Watch with UAS and technical support
In support of Human Rights Watch’s mission of investigating human rights abuses around the world, Parrot has announced that it will provide the organization with its ANAFI drones and advanced software and technical support to help it accomplish its goals.
As part of a Human Rights Watch investigation into ISIS atrocities in northern Syria, Parrot recently provided its ANAFI drones and on-call support for piloting and technical assistance. The UAS helped capture aerial imagery and 3D data of the al-Hota gorge near Raqqa, which is a suspected mass grave site used by ISIS. Due to the dangerous terrain and steep cliffs of al-Hota, drones were the safest way to capture imagery at the bottom of the gorge.
Skydio supplies America's first responders with drones and personal protection equipment
In support of America's first responders, Skydio Inc. has launched two initiatives to provide first responders with drones and personal protection equipment (PPE).
Through the first initiative, known as the Skydio Emergency Response Program (ERP), Skydio will donate dozens of its Skydio 2 drones and associated equipment to public safety agencies across the country. Participating agencies will also have access to Skydio's in-house experts for training and support at no cost.
Skydio says that it had planned to release the ERP to help with disaster relief later this year, but the company decided to make the program available immediately to meet the needs of public safety agencies dealing with the Coronavirus pandemic.
UPS Flight Forward, CVS to use drones to deliver medicines to Florida retirement community
UPS has announced that starting in May, its subsidiary UPS Flight Forward and CVS will use drones to deliver prescription medicines from a CVS pharmacy to The Villages, Florida, which is the largest U.S. retirement community, home to more than 135,000 residents.
Utilizing Matternet’s M2 drone system, the service will operate under the FAA’s Part 107 rules, with authority to operate through the Coronavirus pandemic and explore ongoing needs as they arise after that period. The operation could expand to include deliveries from two more CVS pharmacies in the area.
FAA highlights waivers that can help during COVID-19 pandemic
The Federal Aviation Administration is granting drone flight waivers to help fight the COVID-19 pandemic, according to an agency official, but some won't extend beyond current stay-at-home restrictions.
FAA safety liaison Rachel Carlstrom spoke during a video conference — sponsored by AUVSI's North Carolina chapter and media company MarketScale — and said various efforts within the Integration Pilot Program (IPP) are proving helpful during the COVID crisis.
DroneUp, partners test how UAS could help medical professionals battling COVID-19
To determine how UAS could help medical professionals in their fight to stop the spread of the Coronavirus, DroneUp, UPS and its subsidiary UPS Flight Forward (UPSFF), Virginia’s Center for Innovative Technology (CIT), and Workhorse Group recently came together to test the technology in Lawrenceville, Virginia.
The entities say that experts in the healthcare industry and in government are looking for technology that could speed the pace of testing and treatment for infected patients, making autonomous drones a potentially valuable tool. The tests evaluated the commercial drone industry’s ability to provide and scale small UAS to support a variety of use cases to speed and assist the U.S. healthcare system during the pandemic.
Milrem Robotics, InnoVfoam developing robot firefighting systems
Milrem Robotics has announced that it is working with foam extinguishing technology specialist InnoVfoam to develop robot firefighting systems that could help, or even replace, firefighters in especially hostile environments.
Milrem Robotics’ Multiscope Rescue UGV are equipped with various firefighting systems from InnoVfoams—specifically foam proportioning systems and fire monitors—to create the firefighting platforms.
Firefighters remotely operate the robots from a safe distance. They are provided with a complete overview of the operation area through various cameras, as well as sensors onboard the robot that can detect gas or chemical leaks.
OSU's new drone designed to keep rescuers out of harm's way following disasters
The aftermath of the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995 that left 168 people dead sparked the work being done today by Oklahoma State University’s (OSU) Unmanned Systems Research Institute to help first responders.
25 years ago, there was no technology available that could help rescuers locate victims without risking their own lives to climb throughout what was left of the Murrah Building.
With this in mind, the now deceased Jon Hansen of the Oklahoma City Fire Department said that first responders needed a better way to conduct searches of rooms and communicate with the injured without having rescuers climbing through an unstable structure.
From Unmanned Systems magazine: The power, promise and potential pitfalls of 5G for unmanned systems
Check out just a few wow-worthy examples of the vision that the fifth generation of wireless technology is inspiring for the use of connected drones:
• It could bring data-throughput speeds of up to 10 gigabytes per second, enabling real-time sharing of aerial video and other sensor data.
• It could enable devices to stay connected while traveling hundreds of miles per hour, allowing for remote deployment of AI-enabled, ultra-responsive autonomous fleets.
• It could support up to a million connected devices per square kilometer — enough capacity to absorb an explosion in the Internet of Things alongside increasingly sophisticated mobile applications, on the ground and aloft.
Robotic Research uses engineering expertise to develop reusable face shields for healthcare workers
The team of engineers at Robotic Research is using its engineering expertise to create reusable face shields for healthcare workers on the frontlines of the COVID-19 crisis.
The company says that it has created a unique design for reusable face shields and is providing them to healthcare teams in hospitals around the Greater Washington Metro area. They are currently being delivered to support teams at local hospitals in the Montgomery County area.
