Karnataka: Medical drone trials to begin from June 18

A consortium led by TAS in collaboration with Narayana Health Institute in Bengaluru will kick-start the delivery trials of the BVLOS medical drone from June 18.

Chikkaballapura: Bengaluru's Throttle Aerospace Systems (TAS) is scheduled to launch the first set of trials of beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) medical drone from June 18 in Chikkaballapura district's Gauribidanur. The TAS had received the approval of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) for object delivery experiments in March 2020.

The trial of the BVLOS experiment will be carried out for nearly 45 days in collaboration with Narayana Health Institute. The consortium led by TAS includes Involi-Swiss which will provide air traffic awareness systems for professional drone applications and Honeywell Aerospace as a security expert. The consortium will use two variants of its drone for the medicine delivery experiment including MedCOPTER and TAS’ RANDINT which works with the help of on-demand delivery software.

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The smaller version of MedCOPTER can carry 1kg weight for up to 15km while RANDINT can carry 2kg for up to 12km. The range and safety of both models of drones will be tested according to the DGCA guidelines for 30-45 days. According to TAS, the experiment data will be reviewed and submitted to the top authorities at the end of the trial.

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