80 Whether from climate change, military conflict or changing work environments, new ideas abound for uncrewed systems suited to tackling the problems of today. From university students’ computers to established firms’ r&d labs, advances in AI, propulsion, electromechanics, sensors and more are enabling scalable, manufacturable autonomous vehicles that stand to make people’s lives safer and easier. As the cynics will (correctly) say, however, an idea is of little value if there exists no means of taking it past the prototype stage and into manufacturing. Fortunately, the uncrewed world is blessed with numerous development funding approaches, both governmental and private in origin, for providing financial, consultative and other developmental support to ideas deemed worthy of travelling the path to production and proliferation in the real world. Some are well known throughout the industry, such as the Genius NY competition, which gives out $3 m (£2.40 m) every year to UAVs and solutions in automation and advanced air mobility (last year choosing Blueflite’s Slate and Cobalt UAVs, featured in Issue 54, as their grand prize winners). Others, competitions and organisations alike, bear watching for anyone seeking a development partner and funding for what could be a game-changing uncrewed system or technology of the future. Emergency response The nature of emergency response operations such as search-and-rescue often requires that victims be rescued or aided in remote and dangerous locations, such as mountainous regions, disaster-affected areas or the sea. It follows that saving their lives depends on reaching them as rapidly as possible. Crewed aircraft and the response teams around them will naturally need to be put through more preparation, safety checks and training than is needed for operations by their uncrewed equivalents. Furthermore, heading into hazardous places puts rescue teams at great risk, As the world becomes a more dangerous place, so uncrewed systems are making waves, and anyone with a great concept could be riding the next one, as Rory Jackson finds out Life-saving ideas December/January 2025 | Uncrewed Systems Technology Blueflite’s UAVs were the grand-prize winners of Genius NY in 2023, and many more contests and groups fund uncrewed system developers each year (Image courtesy of Blueflite)
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