Drone Ambulance design wins $20,000 prize

A drone ambulance design has won a $20,000 prize the 2nd FAI International Drones Conference and Expo held in Lausanne on 1 September 2018.

Vincenzo Navanteri and his team winning design is for a self-piloting drone ambulance that could carry a single person for up to 150km at 110km/h.

Design highlights include:

Autonomous (self-piloting) in flight
150km range
Maximum speed of 110km/h
Maximum altitude 1,000m
Carries up to 120kg
Destination set by GPS coordinates
8 electric-driven propellers
Backup batteries
On-board cameras and communications system
Onboard oxygen supply and medical monitoring

50 thoughts on “Drone Ambulance design wins $20,000 prize”

  1. Correct, especially if they try to sell this to the EU. So they are rebranding as a US company. Boeing has never had a problem selling stuff that kill people to civilians.

  2. Correct especially if they try to sell this to the EU. So they are rebranding as a US company. Boeing has never had a problem selling stuff that kill people to civilians.

  3. While this guys wins a powerpoint contest, the Israelis already have one and it’s going through FAA approval. Tactical Robotics Cormorant. Regular fuel, ducted VTOL, 500kg payload with 300km range. Over 200 test flights. It’s built for the IDF, but has a much bigger civilian market (medivac, agri, logistics). No one talks about it because it’s not “electric” and not built by Elon.

  4. While this guys wins a powerpoint contest the Israelis already have one and it’s going through FAA approval. Tactical Robotics Cormorant. Regular fuel ducted VTOL 500kg payload with 300km range. Over 200 test flights. It’s built for the IDF but has a much bigger civilian market (medivac agri logistics). No one talks about it because it’s not electric”” and not built by Elon.”””

  5. Making the drone ambulance electric means you can rescue someone from central London without paying a congestion charge.

  6. Making the drone ambulance electric means you can rescue someone from central London without paying a congestion charge.

  7. Yes, I’ve seen setups of Tesla compressors. No idea how efficient they were compared to a same sized (but clearly more expensive) airfoil compressor.

  8. Yes I’ve seen setups of Tesla compressors.No idea how efficient they were compared to a same sized (but clearly more expensive) airfoil compressor.

  9. Apparently the company he is with (a petrochemical project management and services company) is supporting him in this side work, and there is mention of patents on a novel bladeless microturbine design, but I can’t find any information about the microturbine after a quick googling. Anyone got better info on the patents, or is it really just patent applications at this stage? Bladeless design would suggest something interesting, but there’s no further mention of the design. Could be anything, from a rotary ramjet (technically bladeless), to a tesla turbine.

  10. Apparently the company he is with (a petrochemical project management and services company) is supporting him in this side work and there is mention of patents on a novel bladeless microturbine design but I can’t find any information about the microturbine after a quick googling. Anyone got better info on the patents or is it really just patent applications at this stage? Bladeless design would suggest something interesting but there’s no further mention of the design. Could be anything from a rotary ramjet (technically bladeless) to a tesla turbine.

  11. You mean a helicopter? They already have medevac choppers. Is the electric propulsion supposed to make it cheaper or cuter?

  12. You mean a helicopter? They already have medevac choppers. Is the electric propulsion supposed to make it cheaper or cuter?

  13. If the flight were short enough I imagine you could have a medic fly in on the pod and help the victim get in the pod. The medic could wait for an empty pod.

  14. If the flight were short enough I imagine you could have a medic fly in on the pod and help the victim get in the pod. The medic could wait for an empty pod.

  15. Correct, especially if they try to sell this to the EU. So they are rebranding as a US company. Boeing has never had a problem selling stuff that kill people to civilians.

  16. Correct especially if they try to sell this to the EU. So they are rebranding as a US company. Boeing has never had a problem selling stuff that kill people to civilians.

  17. Correct, especially if they try to sell this to the EU. So they are rebranding as a US company. Boeing has never had a problem selling stuff that kill people to civilians.

  18. While this guys wins a powerpoint contest, the Israelis already have one and it’s going through FAA approval. Tactical Robotics Cormorant. Regular fuel, ducted VTOL, 500kg payload with 300km range. Over 200 test flights. It’s built for the IDF, but has a much bigger civilian market (medivac, agri, logistics). No one talks about it because it’s not “electric” and not built by Elon.

  19. While this guys wins a powerpoint contest the Israelis already have one and it’s going through FAA approval. Tactical Robotics Cormorant. Regular fuel ducted VTOL 500kg payload with 300km range. Over 200 test flights. It’s built for the IDF but has a much bigger civilian market (medivac agri logistics). No one talks about it because it’s not electric”” and not built by Elon.”””

  20. Making the drone ambulance electric means you can rescue someone from central London without paying a congestion charge.

  21. Making the drone ambulance electric means you can rescue someone from central London without paying a congestion charge.

  22. Yes, I’ve seen setups of Tesla compressors. No idea how efficient they were compared to a same sized (but clearly more expensive) airfoil compressor.

  23. Yes I’ve seen setups of Tesla compressors.No idea how efficient they were compared to a same sized (but clearly more expensive) airfoil compressor.

  24. While this guys wins a powerpoint contest, the Israelis already have one and it’s going through FAA approval. Tactical Robotics Cormorant. Regular fuel, ducted VTOL, 500kg payload with 300km range. Over 200 test flights. It’s built for the IDF, but has a much bigger civilian market (medivac, agri, logistics). No one talks about it because it’s not “electric” and not built by Elon.

  25. Apparently the company he is with (a petrochemical project management and services company) is supporting him in this side work, and there is mention of patents on a novel bladeless microturbine design, but I can’t find any information about the microturbine after a quick googling. Anyone got better info on the patents, or is it really just patent applications at this stage? Bladeless design would suggest something interesting, but there’s no further mention of the design. Could be anything, from a rotary ramjet (technically bladeless), to a tesla turbine.

  26. Apparently the company he is with (a petrochemical project management and services company) is supporting him in this side work and there is mention of patents on a novel bladeless microturbine design but I can’t find any information about the microturbine after a quick googling. Anyone got better info on the patents or is it really just patent applications at this stage? Bladeless design would suggest something interesting but there’s no further mention of the design. Could be anything from a rotary ramjet (technically bladeless) to a tesla turbine.

  27. You mean a helicopter? They already have medevac choppers. Is the electric propulsion supposed to make it cheaper or cuter?

  28. You mean a helicopter? They already have medevac choppers. Is the electric propulsion supposed to make it cheaper or cuter?

  29. If the flight were short enough I imagine you could have a medic fly in on the pod and help the victim get in the pod. The medic could wait for an empty pod.

  30. If the flight were short enough I imagine you could have a medic fly in on the pod and help the victim get in the pod. The medic could wait for an empty pod.

  31. Apparently the company he is with (a petrochemical project management and services company) is supporting him in this side work, and there is mention of patents on a novel bladeless microturbine design, but I can’t find any information about the microturbine after a quick googling. Anyone got better info on the patents, or is it really just patent applications at this stage? Bladeless design would suggest something interesting, but there’s no further mention of the design. Could be anything, from a rotary ramjet (technically bladeless), to a tesla turbine.

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