CAELUS launches next phase
Image by Gabriel Reynolds / courtesy Skyports
CAELUS (Care & Equity – Healthcare Logistics UAS Scotland), secured £10.1 million funding from the Future Flight Challenge at UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) last month.
To celebrate, consortium members, stakeholders and politicians gathered at Glasgow Airport for the official launch and to hear more details of the project timelines and work so far.
Scottish Government Public Health Minister Maree Todd provided the key note speech at the event which had a number of exhibitions on show from partners.
CAELUS brings together 16 partners including the University of Strathclyde, NATS, NHS Scotland and Skyports. Together they are working to deliver what will be the first national drone network that can transport essential medicines, bloods and other medical supplies throughout Scotland including to remote communities.
Since securing £1.5 million in January 2020, the CAELUS consortium has designed drone landing stations for NHS sites across Scotland and developed a virtual model (digital twin) of the proposed delivery network which connects hospitals, pathology laboratories, distribution centres and GP surgeries across Scotland.
NHS Scotland has said it will bring its “Once for Scotland” approach to the project, the second phase of which will involve live flight trials and removing remaining barriers to safely using drones at scale within Scotland’s airspace.
Fiona Smith, AGS Airports Group Head of Aerodrome Strategy and CAELUS Project Director, said: “We were delighted when we heard we were receiving the £10.1m funding from UKRI to move onto the next phase of the project.
“The CAELUS project is set to revolutionise the way in which healthcare services are delivered in Scotland. A drones network can ensure critical medical supplies can be delivered more efficiently, it can reduce waiting times for test results and, more importantly, it can provide equity of care between urban and remote rural communities.”
“As well as being able to undertake live flights we can begin to deploy the physical infrastructure needed to support the drones across Scotland. This will involve building prototype landing bases as well as digital and communication infrastructure. We will also work with local communities to ensure they understand why and how the drones will be used.”
Live flight trials will be operated by CAELUS consortium member Skyports. The UK-based drone services provider is an experienced operator of medical and dangerous goods cargo flights. The company was instrumental to early trial flights with NHS Scotland in 2020 and 2021, flying over 14,000km in the region to date.
NHS Grampian's Programme Lead for Innovation, Hazel Dempsey, said: "We are incredibly excited to be the lead board for this high-end innovative project.
"Our aim, from an NHS perspective, is to test the use of drone technology in urban, remote, rural and island landscapes. We want to test if using drones to will improve important aspects of our logistics service, for example, to test the transportation of laboratory samples, blood products, chemotherapy, and medicine delivery. Ultimately, we want to explore if drone technology can speed up diagnosis and treatment of medical problems.
“This has the potential to improve services for those whose care is dependent on rail, ferry or airline timetables and help keep people at home where they can be supported by families and loved ones.
“This project intends to position the United Kingdom and NHS Scotland as a leader in the third revolution in the aviation industry."
David Lowe, National Clinical Director for Innovation added: "This national, exciting 'next stage' programme of work builds on the success of CAELUS 1 launch which focused on the West of Scotland."
Alex Brown, Director, Skyports Drone Services said: “Over the last four years, we’ve launched projects throughout Scotland which demonstrate the benefits that drone interventions can provide to individuals and communities – even in the hardest to reach areas. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, we flew thousands of kilometers to deliver critical pathology samples for the NHS, helping countless patients receive their diagnoses and treatments faster. The CAELUS project is the next step in these critical trials to demonstrate the feasibility of drone services and pave the way for the launch of permanent drone delivery operations for the NHS.”
The CAELUS consortium comprises:
AGS Airports Limited
ANRA Technologies UK
Arup
Atkins
Cellnex UK
Commonplace Digital
Connected Places Catapult
DGP Intelsius
Dronamics
NATS
NHS Scotland
Plane Finder
Skyports
The Drone Office
Trax International
University of Strathclyde
John Henderson, Technical Director, Trax International, said: “Trax International Ltd is looking forward to being part of the significant breakthrough that CAELUS 2 will bring to enable significant efficiencies for the NHS. Our team are looking forward to ensuring the successful and safe integrations of UAVs into the airspace system across Scotland.”
Lynne McNiven, Director of Public Health, said: “We are excited to be part of the innovative CAELUS project looking at what drone technology could offer patients and services.
We have been looking at how Drone technology has the ability to enhance the delivery of medical care locally, with the potential of improving patient care and the equity of care between urban and remote rural communities.”
Principal Investigator Dr Marco Fossati, of the Aerospace Centre of Excellence at the University of Strathclyde, said: “This second tranche of funding will allow the CAELUS project to move to the next exciting stage with flight trials of the drones and testing of the critical systems we have designed that will ensure the safe operation of what will be a revolutionary development for aviation in the UK and for NHS Scotland.”
Professor Massimiliano Vasile of the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and Director of the Aerospace Centre of Excellence, said: “We are delighted to receive further funding for this innovative project, that builds on years of research developed in the Aerospace Centre, to create the first UK drone delivery network providing a vital support to health services in Scotland”.
Ajay Modha, Head of Business for ANRA Technologies UK Ltd, said: “For ANRA Technologies UK Ltd, this project will be a continuation of their ongoing efforts to integrate medical drone delivery into the broader air traffic system. CAELUS 2 convenes the necessary stakeholders and technology to take another step closer to routine, safe and acceptable drone operations across Scotland.”
Tharaka Kothalawala, NATS lead for the Future Flight Challenge, said: “We’re excited to be leading the airspace management work of Project CAELUS, which will deliver the first national drone network to transport essential medical supplies throughout Scotland – an example of how uncrewed aviation can support the NHS and really make a difference.
“We’ll be developing the concepts for how airspace could be managed and the procedures required to safely integrate a network of multiple drones with existing flight operations and then putting those concepts to the test in a live trial with our consortium partners. This is a ground-breaking project that will shape the way our skies are used in the future and we’re delighted to be a part of it.”
Chris Crombie, technical director at Atkins which will provide the land-based infrastructure for the network, said: “This is a hugely important project that will pave the way for increased use of this technology in our skies and finding more efficient ways to build larger and more connected networks that reach people most in need.
“This type of project is not only developing the use of technology in delivering essential services but also helps to demonstrate the potential that Advanced Air Mobility can offer communities in rural locations as well as urban environments.
“We’re pleased to be able to draw upon our extensive experience in the aviation sector to develop sustainable and creative infrastructure solutions, to meet the needs of the network and expand the work we are delivering across the AAM market.”
