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50 team could deliver a tonne of aid per day in disaster-struck areas. That is the equivalent of 50 standard UN shelter kits, 1000 litres of water or enough water purification kits for 20 villages, he adds. Flight tests of the cargo deployment system have been conducted in the Dominican Republic and are expected to be performed there again with the UAV. Kenya and Senegal are also among the countries where Wings For Aid’s prospective end-users (such as the Red Cross) are aiming to trial and operate the system. Defence UK-based Animal Dynamics is continuing the development of its Stork series of UAVs, which are designed – uniquely for the UAV world – as paraglider aircraft, to be used primarily in logistics applications for the defence sector. As the company’s CEO Alex Caccia explains, “The craft came about from [the UK government’s] DSTL’s Joint Tactical Autonomous Resupply and Replenishment programme, which is aimed at sourcing industry proposals for dealing with last-mile defence logistics problems, such as delivering essential items to the front line. In regions where the ground is contested as a result of military conflicts, or struck by disaster, getting supplies to soldiers or civilians in need without putting logistics personnel in harm’s way is a really big problem.” The company noticed that most of the entries in the competition were putting forward quadcopters, which Caccia’s team noted was rarely an optimal solution for heavy-lift applications. “There are many reasons for that, from how the motors are controlled to the weight and energy density of batteries, and so on,” Caccia says. “If you really want to maximise your payload capacity and minimise your cost, you should marry as little fuselage as possible to the largest wing possible.” The company calculates the Stork UAV to cost one to two orders of magnitude less than the typical military resupply vehicle. Part of this cost saving comes from using parafoil wings, which Caccia says use the minimum density and weight of material to give the maximum area of lift. With a cloth wing, ram-air expands it outwards, but between uses the wing can be rolled into a small carry case for easy transportation to the point of use. The decision to build the system as a parafoil also came about as a result of the company’s co-founder Professor Adrian Thomas’ extensive experience with the technology. Being a champion paraglider, he had been designing and constructing wings for paragliding for more than 10 years, and knew how the aerodynamics and weight tolerances of such an aircraft would work. This knowledge was further aided through Prof Thomas’ specialisation in biomechanics, which helped guide the shaping of the wing for aerodynamic efficiency – even though the Stork does not outwardly seem to resemble any bird or other animal. Animal Dynamics has also conducted extensive trials and iterations to optimise the craft’s ability to withstand crosswinds, and to absorb ground impacts through its landing gears and structural spars, while keeping its electronics, engine and cargo unaffected. A few different Storks are in development, but the company’s efforts are focused particularly on certifying and commercialising the 25 kg ST25 (which can fly for 50 km or more depending on how much of the 10 kg payload is used) and the STM, which can carry payloads of up to 150 kg. Both craft will be embedded with AI redundancy software in the event that BVLOS landing and recovery locations suddenly become unavailable, and new, safe landing zones need to be found. While navigation currently rests on GNSS-INS, future iterations will test visual and other approaches to intelligent landing capabilities. Power infrastructure FulcrumAir has begun applying its E7500 UAV in powerline operations in its home state of Alberta, Canada. The company specialises in helicopter- type aircraft with coaxial rotor-lift systems. Several proprietary and patented technologies have gone into these architectures, including steel and aluminium rotor head parts designed for high tensile strength, as well as a hinge design that allows the rotor blades to flap up and August/September 2020 | Unmanned Systems Technology Pipistrel has finished building the chassis of Wings For Aid’s prototype MiniFreighter UAV, with assembly performed by the latter’s technicians (Courtesy of Wings For Aid)