Swoop Aero awarded Australian 5G Innovation Initiative funding
Melbourne, AUSTRALIA: From the coast to the regions, Swoop Aero will be providing
access to sustainable air logistics to Australians with 5G-enabled aircraft, following their selection as one of just 19 recipients to trial the use of 5G in Australia as part of the Australian 5G Innovation Initiative.
The program, run by the Australian Government’s Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Communications, provides businesses in different industry sectors and locations with opportunities to trial and test applications that demonstrate 5G’s capability and benefits.
“With the introduction of 5G-enhanced mobile broadband, the potential use cases for drone network operations across Australia, and globally, skyrockets,” said Swoop Aero CEO and co-founder Eric Peck.
“From the United Nations to the United States Agency for International Development and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, we’ve been trusted to create value by sustainably transforming health supply chains by some of the biggest names in global health, so it’s great to be able to bring our global expertise to such a fantastic initiative right on our own doorstep.”
Swoop Aero’s aircraft take the best lessons learnt from commercial and military air transport to enable Swoop Aero to deploy low cost, asset-light, agile, autonomous aviation systems. The announcement follows the launch of Swoop Aero’s most advanced aircraft, KiteTM. Developed by Swoop Aero’s highly skilled and experienced team of Australian-based engineers, KiteTM can travel up to 200km per hour and can operate across geographical ranges of more than 180 kilometres on a single battery charge with an increased payload capacity of up to 5 kgs.
During the trial, Swoop Aero will deliver lessons learnt operating under the African sun to Australian skies through two commercial applications of advanced drone technology:
- Aeromedical deliveries, including delivering pathology samples and medical supplies such as COVID-19 vaccines from local medical centres to hospitals and testing laboratories while providing real-time monitoring and notifications, and;
- Coastal patrol and emergency response, involving utilising automated drone technology,
including using 5G technology to facilitate high-quality live streaming to be used by computer vision models to identify shark sightings and drowning incidents accurately.
Introducing 5G-enhanced mobile broadband to allow ultra-reliable and low-latency communication equips drone logistics networks with more extensive network coverage, improved operational uptime, and sophisticated technical capabilities such as real-time tracking and monitoring. It will address current challenges faced by these industries, and unlock the skies for further drone logistic network use cases into the future.
“The Australian landscape is vast and variable, and drone networks present innovative and effective solutions to not just the tyranny of distance, but also poor infrastructure, traffic congestion, unpredictable waterways, mountain ranges, and challenging terrain,” said Mr. Peck.
“Through providing aeromedical deliveries and coastal patrol search-and-rescue during this trial, the Swoop Aero team is looking forward to delivering seamless supply chains that bring emotional and economic prosperity to the Australian communities we serve”.
To learn more about Swoop Aero: https://swoop.aero/
To learn more about The Australian 5G Innovation Initiative: Click Here
