81 so if a loss is unavoidable, it’s preferable to lose a UAV than a human being. These potential benefits and more have driven the coalescence of the GoAERO organisation and its Emergency Response Flyer (ERF) competition, in which over $2.5 m of funding is available, as is a vast wealth of technical and consultative resources that participants can leverage in developing their solutions for uncrewed emergency response. “On top of increasing climate-related disasters like floods and wildfires, here in the US around five million people live in ‘ambulance deserts’, where it takes more than 20 minutes for an ambulance to reach them, even if there is no traffic or weather slowing it down,” says Gwen Lighter, CEO of GoAERO. “That’s not unique to the US either, so we’re encouraging through our funding, mentors and global partner network the development of all-new uncrewed aircraft that can save lives on a daily basis, whether in sudden crises or everyday medical emergencies.” While helicopters are highly functional for bringing crews and supplies to affected areas, and for airlifting victims, drawbacks such as their expense, dependance on a pilot, and the difficulty of manoeuvring them in and out of tight spaces is driving many of the aerospace and humanitarian organisations among GoAERO’s partner network to turn to UAVs. GoAERO also sees numerous enabling technologies such as advancements in clean electric powertrains, additive printing of custom tools and prototype structures, and AI-powered software and hardware for intelligent autonomy and sense-andavoid as key factors pushing UAVs as rapid, smart emergency response tools over conventional vehicles. The technical rules of the competition are hence tailored according to the needs of emergency response workers. These include submissions being designed as single-occupant UAVs, with the ‘occupant’ being a 57 kg mannequin to enable actual rescue – the biggest hurdle in emergency response, because if a UAV can rescue a victim, then its ability to find them and bring them life-saving supplies should be unquestionable. The UAV must also function with a high level of autonomy, which lowers barriers to their usage, such as the skills, training or workload needed to operate them. Autonomy will also be critical in each UAV’s ability to pass the practical stages of the competition. Three stages are planned: first is a Paper stage, in which teams submit a digital design for their rescue UAV. The Prototype stage follows, and runs until September 2025, with both full-scale prototypes and sub-scale versions acceptable. “Stage three is the final Fly-Off, where teams from around the world will gather and fly three different missions, titled Productivity, Adversity and Manoeuvrability, from June 5 to December 15 in 2026,” Lighter notes. Passing the Productivity phase requires moving at least 567 kg worth of mannequins, rebar and/or sandbags within a 90-minute span, with this stage testing the speed and effectiveness with which each team’s UAV can be deployed and recovered. No more than four people must be necessary for operating it, and the total system weight (including tools and infrastructure external to the UAV) is accounted for in the scoring and ranking. The Adversity stage tests each UAV’s ability to take off and land while carrying its test mannequin in extreme environments, including dust storms, tornados and flood conditions, with the accuracy of the simulated environments judged and approved by partner organisations who know such conditions well. Lastly, the Manoeuvrability phase tests how well UAVs avoid obstacles such as vertical pylons and walls while flying a mannequin, potentially amid devices that disrupt their comms and GNSS. Both this and the Adversity stage will be ranked according to the fastest times set. “Notably, teams do not need to win a previous stage to move onto the next,” Lighter says. “In engineering, as in life, you can suffer failure after failure before achieving incredible success. If a design or prototype isn’t fantastic that doesn’t mean they won’t have the best flyer come the Fly-Off in 2026, so teams can keep moving forwards, and we actively help them, particularly through our partner network and Mentor programme.” Uncrewed platform development funding | Insight Uncrewed Systems Technology | December/January 2025 A wide variety of UAV configurations could, through the GoAERO competition, provide huge boons to emergency responders (Image courtesy of Xer Technologies)
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