Munich students develop lifesaving drone

Munich students develop lifesaving drone

Over 60 students from the Technical University of Munich have come together in a project called ‘Mission Pulse’ to bring a defibrillator to an emergency patient faster using a drone. It is the second drone project of the student initiative HORYZN of the Technical University of Munich, which sees itself as an interface between research, students and the industry. Their project will be demonstrated at ADW Hybrid from 29-31 March, as Amsterdam Drone Week is one of the partners of the initiative. 

On average, it takes 9 minutes in Germany for a defibrillator to reach a patient with acute cardiac arrest. In rural regions it is even a few minutes more. The TU Munich drone project assumes that it will be possible to reduce defibrillator availability in rural areas to 4 to 5 minutes within a radius of 6 kilometres. This would theoretically increase the chance of survival for those affected from 11 to 34 percent.

Horizontal propulsion

If a control center suspects cardiovascular arrest in the event of an emergency call the drone with the 500 gram defibrillator can take off from its port. It has rotors for a vertical take-off as well as for horizontal propulsion. Due to legal requirements, the aircraft can take off on the cross-country flight at a maximum of 125 km h to the patient. The design of the drone allows higher speeds than a typical multicopter, which is usually limited to 60 km/h. Once the drone is patented, the miniature airplane, which is flying autonomously and is still remotely controlled by a pilot, remains in the air, and the pilot can use the camera to search for a suitable place to lower the defibrillator there using a winch. The voluntary first aider or another third person can use it immediately on the emergency patient, even before the emergency doctor arrives with his defibrillator. The reserves of the batteries, including the safety cushion, should be designed for an action radius of 6 kilometres and thus a maximum of 12 to 13 kilometres for the way there and back. Thanks to eight rotors, the plane should be fall-proof, but a parachute and autonomous flight capability are also integrated for safety. In addition, the drone should be visible to everyone in a flight management system.

Proud

Since the UAV will also serve populated areas, flight safety plays a fundamental role, reveals the initiator and team leader of the project Balázs Nagy. “In order to obtain an authorization for our test operations, we follow the guidelines by EASA that were established in 2021, as well as the SORA framework.” 
Nagy is proud that Amsterdam Drone Week has partnered with Horyzn. “It's great when the world's leading UAM event chooses to partner with our project. It shows that we can really contribute to meaningful technology that can save people's lives.”

HORYZN and ADW Hybrid

During ADW Hybrid, 29-31 March 2022 in Amsterdam, HORYZN will present the Mission Pulse. For more information visit: https://www.amsterdamdroneweek.com/amsterdam-hybrid/