For most of us, our knowledge of drones is probably similar to this Christmas morning experience.
A pre-teen, or a middle-aged child-at-heart, unwraps a small quad-copter style remote-controlled drone that is, within minutes, crashing into your Christmas tree and endangering the heirloom ornaments that are placed on the top of your tree each year for a reason.
After a few days of high-pitched motor sounds ruining your holiday vacation, the AA battery-powered flying experiment finally meets its end with a crashing thud.
More than 100 local residents recently had a very different experience with demonstrations on May 6 of the country’s most advanced aerial mobility systems, thanks to a grant from the Advanced Aerial Mobility (AAM) Fund and support from Newlab.
The AAM Fund, a collaborative effort between the Michigan Department of Transportation, the Michigan Office of Future Mobility and Electrification, and the Michigan Economic Development Corporation, aims to increase coordination across State entities and create a centralized pipeline of projects that can accelerate AAM readiness and growth in the state.
The AAM Fund also supported projects testing ship-to-shore drone delivery in Sault Ste. Marie and the delivery of goods and medical supplies in Detroit’s Advanced Aerial Mobility Region.
Traverse Connect, Discovery Center & Pier, Northwestern Michigan College, the U.S. Coast Guard, Michigan-based startup blueflite, Hybrid Robotics, and AirMatrix conducted a live demonstration of real-world capabilities of drones, also known as uncrewed aerial systems (UAS).
These systems were put into use to aid in emergency response, conduct remote water sampling, and bathymetric mapping of the lakebed.
In what might have been the most exciting demonstration of the day, the U.S. Coast Guard showcased the potential life-saving capabilities of UAS in locating watercraft and boaters in distress.
In this instance, the blueflite drone located a missing vessel with a diabetic boater on board and dropped a beacon and a flashing strobe light onto the boat. In this simulation, the drone was able to take the “search” role in the Coast Guard’s search and rescue effort.
In a collaboration between Northwestern Michigan College’s Water Studies Institute and its Uncrewed Aerial Systems program, a blueflite drone and a Frontier Precision Bathymetric LiDAR-equipped drone demonstrated the capabilities for UAS-aided water sampling in challenging, remote locations and underwater mapping.
This week, the region’s first advanced aerial mobility pilot project will wrap up its first phase at Munson Medical Center.
Over three weeks, Munson Healthcare collaborated with blueflite, DroneUp, and the Central Michigan University Rural Health Equity Institute to deliver laboratory samples and supplies between Munson Medical Center and two of its facilities, Munson Dialysis Center and Copper Ridge Surgery Center.
Blueflite, Munson Healthcare, and DroneUp are iterating the delivery process through these flights to address systems that best optimize supply chain logistics, quality, and timely patient care services. This project aims to enhance access to rural healthcare by streamlining logistics utilizing drones.
The medical delivery drone projects will continue to expand and evolve with the goal of scaling its usage in the healthcare setting and establishing a sustained drone delivery logistics program for use in rural healthcare systems in Michigan and beyond.
What does this mean for the Grand Traverse region? The adoption and expansion of advanced aerial mobility in Michigan, with our region being one of the state’s hubs, positions the state as a global leader in the industry, from software development to manufacturing.
This position supports our region’s economic growth and sustainability as a critical component of the state’s future in mobility, and its share of the anticipated $9.4 billion U.S. drone market by 2030.