London, 20 January 2021
We are excited to be part of the CAELUS consortium that will develop and trial what will be the first national distribution network to use drones to transport essential medicines, blood, organs and other medical supplies throughout Scotland.
The consortium is led by AGS Airports, which owns and manages Aberdeen, Glasgow and Southampton airports. It brings together 13 organisations including The Drone Office, the University of Strathclyde, and leading air traffic control provider NATS. The team successfully secured £1.5 million from the UK Industrial Strategy Future Flight Challenge Fund and will demonstrate how autonomous drone technology can enhance access to essential medical supplies, particularly in rural parts of Scotland.
The CAELUS (Care & Equity – Healthcare Logistics UAS Scotland) project started on 1 December and will involve live drone flight trials. In addition to developing the ground infrastructure needed to recharge the drones and the systems to control them while flying, a key aspect of the project will be designing pathways to ensure the drones can safely share airspace with civil aviation. The project will also ensure critical aspects such as public safety, security and noise levels are considered.
A digital blueprint of the drone delivery network will then be created with the potential to connect hospitals, pathology laboratories, distribution centres and GP surgeries across Scotland. The project is scheduled to run until Spring 2022.
Derek Provan, chief executive of AGS Airports, said: “This project has the potential to completely revolutionise the way in which healthcare services are delivered in Scotland. Not only does drone technology have the ability to speed-up the delivery of critical medical supplies, it could reduce waiting times for test results and, more importantly, help provide equity of care between urban and remote rural communities.
“The organisations within this consortium are some of the most skilled and experienced in drone technology. The funding from UK Industrial Strategy will allow us to work together to overcome some of the challenges associated with scaling drone operations to deliver a transport network that is technically, socially and financially viable.
“Although our focus is on healthcare, the CAELUS project could pave the way for the deployment of drone-enabled logistics in other sectors and has the potential to change the way airspace is used by manned and unmanned vehicles. It also has clear environmental benefits as it will play a key role in reducing the carbon emissions generated by existing, road-based distribution networks within Scotland.”
NHS Ayrshire & Arran and the NHS West of Scotland Innovation Hub, which supports health and social care innovation across the West of Scotland, will work alongside the AGS led consortium on the project.
Karen Bell, Head of Research & Development – Innovation Lead for NHS Ayrshire & Arran said: “NHS Ayrshire & Arran are excited to be leading on the delivery of this project on behalf of the West of Scotland Innovation Hub.
“This is an opportunity to work with aviation colleagues to explore the innovative use of drone technology to address some of the potential challenges facing daily delivery of NHS services, not only within NHS Ayrshire & Arran but across the West of Scotland.”
The Scottish Government’s Economy Secretary Fiona Hyslop said: “This innovative project will help position Scotland at the forefront of drone technologies to deliver essential healthcare supplies to people more quickly, especially those living remote locations. It also demonstrates, once again, that when businesses, universities and public sector work together they can deliver for Scotland and outperform the competition, attracting welcome funding at this challenging time.”
Professor Sir Jim McDonald, Principal & Vice-Chancellor of the University of Strathclyde, said: “Strathclyde is a founding member of the UK Aviation Research Consortium and we are delighted to play a central role in this exciting project, applying our expertise from across multiple disciplines. The project aligns with our health technologies research cluster and our long track record of working with industry and the public sector. We look forward to demonstrating the potential value of drone delivery of medical supplies for the public, NHS, the economy, social equality and for the aviation manufacturing industry in Scotland.”
Gary Cutts, Future Flight Challenge Director, added: “At this very challenging time for the international aviation industry, it is a great testament to the UK’s drive and ambition that we have had such a strong response to the first funded Future Flight competition. The breadth, quality and creativity of the bids has been exceptional and the economic and social benefits offered are very significant. The projects we are now launching will position the UK strongly to drive the third revolution in aviation.”
The CAELUS consortium comprises:
AGS Airports Limited NATS (Services) Limited
ANRA Technologies UK Ltd Schneider Electric (UK) Limited
Atkins Ltd Avy – Drones for Good
The Drone Office Ltd Connected Places Catapult
Trax International Ltd DGP Intelsius Limited
uAvionix Ltd Leonardo MW Ltd
University of Strathclyde Dronamics
About THE DRONE OFFICE
THE DRONE OFFICE is a consultancy and service company. We offer clients independent, solution-agnostic expertise. We advocate safe and innovative roadmaps. Drones are part of digital transformation. So beyond safety, our objective is to help clients transform disruption into a competitive advantage and value creation. Equally important, we share with clients a vision of technology with a sense of purpose, that truly adds value for everyone. Our services cover building and updating our client’s inhouse expertise and foundation knowledge; assessing the state-of-the-art in their industry; pilot-project design and planning; support to the selection of technologies, suppliers, and partners; project management; scaling-up from pilot-project to routine operations.
About the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund
The Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund aims to bring together the UK’s world leading research with business to meet the major industrial and societal challenges of our time. The fund was created to provide funding and support to UK businesses and researchers, part of the government’s £4.7 billion increase in research and development over the next 4 years. It was designed to ensure that research and innovation takes centre stage in the Government’s modern Industrial Strategy. It is run by UK Research and Innovation.
UKRI
UKRI works with the government to invest over £7 billion a year in research and innovation by partnering with academia and industry to make the impossible, possible. Through the UK’s nine leading academic and industrial funding councils, it creates knowledge with impact. For more information visit www.ukri.org.
The West of Scotland Innovation Hub
The NHS West of Scotland Innovation Hub supports health and social care innovation across the West of Scotland and addresses key challenges to improve health, social care and service delivery. It is made up of: NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, NHS Ayrshire & Arran, NHS Lanarkshire, NHS Forth Valley, NHS Dumfries and Galloway and NHS Golden Jubilee National Hospital.
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