Lifesaving drone projects recognised by inaugural global awards

Rescuing fawns from farm machinery; collecting whale snot for non-invasive health monitoring; remote medical deliveries; finding missing people out at sea faster; and emergency wildfire prevention and control – are just some of the incredible drone projects to take the crown in the inaugural global drone awards programme, Airwards.

Airwards is the first digital awards of its kind to identify, recognise and champion the breadth of positive drone use cases. 100 international submissions were whittled down to just 16 innovative, responsible and impactful winning projects made possible with drones. Announced during the first-ever Airwards Winners’ Week (24-28 May 2021), winners were judged and decided by 26 global judges. The list of Airwards 20/21 Winners is available on the Airwards website.

Airwards 20/21 Category Winners

Airwards’ winners include pioneering companies from the UK, the US, Madagascar, South Africa, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Ireland and Switzerland. The 16 award categories span a number of uses and sectors, including specific ‘Industries/Fields’, ‘Giving Back’, ‘Technology’, ‘Operations’ and ‘Supporting Services’.

In the Airwards ‘Industry/Field’ Group, three drone projects each won an award for ‘Agriculture’, ‘Defence, Security and Surveillance’ and ‘Medical and Healthcare’. These include protecting wildlife from farm machinery during the grass harvest (1,410 fawns rescued in 2020); a cutting-edge computer vision solution which automates and enhances surveillance, unmanned and counter-UAS platforms; and the delivery of essential medicines, contraceptives and vaccines in remote/secluded areas of Northern Madagascar.

In the Airwards ‘Giving Back’ Group, four winners were awarded for ‘Conservation and Environment’, ‘Education and Research’, ‘Emergency Response and SAR’, and ‘Public Safety’. These include ‘SnotBot’ which studies whales in a non-invasive way, in which a drone flies through the blow of a whale and collects exhaled breath condensate (‘snot’), providing biological information on the health and ecology of the whales; a STEAM drone coding programme enabling students across 52 schools in Southern Africa to develop valuable core education skills and career opportunities; an early wildfire warning system with daily drone flights; and a hydrogen drone system which speeds up the process of finding missing people out at sea.

In the Airwards ‘Technology’ Group, four companies were awarded in the ‘Counter Drone Systems (Anti-Drones)’, ‘Sensors and Payload’, ‘Software – Captured data management and analysis’, and ‘Software – Enabling flight and operational management’ categories. Winning drone work includes a system to stop drones from operating unsafely or being illegally launched; the world’s first two-way communication payload for drones; a threat intelligence platform for drones; and a drone-in-a-box Scout System capable of continuous, unattended operation to collect valuable, reliable and accurate data.

In the Airwards ‘Operations’ Group, three drone projects took the crown in the ‘Airspace Management’, ‘Delivery’ and ‘Survey and Inspection’ categories. Those recognised include the testing and development of technologies to enable flying drones beyond visual line of sight in non-segregated airspace; the delivery of cold chain medicines to improve access to healthcare; and the use of drones indoors to undertake industrial inspections.

In the Airwards ‘Supporting Services’ Group, two drone use cases were awarded for ‘Consultancy’ and ‘Training and Certification’. These were the operational safety case for urban flying of COVID-19 samples, supplies and organ transportation for transplant patients for the NHS; and innovation in certification through planned simulated VR/AI methods.

AIRWARDS 20/21 WINNERS

Airwards Group/Category

Winner

Winning Project

Country

Industry / Field:

Agriculture

Rehkitzrettung Schweiz

Fawn rescue Switzerland / Rehkitzrettung Schweiz: protecting wildlife from farm machinery during the grass harvest (1,410 fawns rescued in 2020) as well as training for pilots and community building with wildlife enthusiasts and farmers

Switzerland

Industry / Field:

Defence, Security and Surveillance

VIZGARD

Platform Agnostic Artificial Intelligence for Unmanned Defence and Security Applications: cutting-edge computer vision solution to automate and enhance surveillance, unmanned and counter-UAS platforms, particularly in GPS-denied environments

UK

Industry / Field:

Medical and Healthcare

AerialMetric

Use of medical cargo drones to solve the access to healthcare in rural areas of Madagascar: delivery of essential medicines, contraceptives and vaccines, as well as pick-up of biological sample for diagnosis in remote/secluded areas of Northern Madagascar, supported by organisations such as the Bill & Melinda Foundation and WHO/AFRO

Madagascar

Giving Back:

Conservation and Environment

Ocean Alliance

SnotBot: Drones for Whale Research: studying whales in a non-invasive way – mammals which are notoriously hard to gather data from. The drone flies through the blow of a whale and collects exhaled breath condensate, or ‘snot’, on Petri dishes, providing biological information on the health and ecology of the whales

USA

Giving Back:

Education and Research

Inspire Africa Group

Inspire STEAM Drone Coding Programme: enabling students across 52 schools in Southern Africa to develop valuable core education skills and career opportunities within various industry sectors

South Africa

Giving Back:

Emergency Response and SAR

Avy

Avy for wildfire prevention and control: an early wildfire warning system with daily drone flights

Netherlands

Giving Back:

Public Safety

Doosan Mobility Innovation

Marine Search and Rescue with Hydrogen Drone: a hydrogen drone system which massively speeds up the process of finding missing people out at sea

South Korea

Technology:

Counter Drone Systems (Anti-Drones)

WhiteFox Defense

STRATUS: a system to stop drones from operating unsafely or being illegally launched

USA

Technology:

Sensors and Payload

Dotterel Technologies

Aerial Audio: the world’s first two-way communication payload for drones

New Zealand

Technology:

Software – Captured data management and analysis

DroneSec

DroneSec Notify UAS Threat Intelligence: a threat intelligence platform for drones

Australia

Technology:

Software – Enabling flight and operational management

American Robotics

American Robotics’ Scout System: a drone-in-a-box Scout System capable of continuous, unattended operation to collect valuable, reliable and accurate data

USA

Operations:

Airspace Management

Cranfield University

National Beyond Visual Line of Sight Corridor – NBEC: the testing and development of technologies to enable flying drones beyond visual line of sight in non-segregated airspace

UK

Operations:

Delivery

Volansi

Critical cold-chain medical logistics drone delivery in North Carolina: the delivery of cold chain medicines to improve access to healthcare

USA

Operations:

Survey and Inspection

Flyability

Confined Space Inspection Drones: the use of drones indoors to undertake industrial inspections, replacing the need for humans to do them

USA

Supporting Services:

Consultancy

Flyby Technology

Operational Safety Case for the NHS: urban flying of COVID-19 samples, supplies, and the transportation of organs for transplant patients

UK

Supporting Services:

Training and Certification

Avtrain

Avtrain – Certification through Innovation: innovation in certification through planned simulated VR/AI methods. Avtrain operates on the principle of 3Ds – if it is Dull, Dirty of Dangerous then a drone should be doing it

Ireland

Richard Nichols, Airwards founder, says: “This is an incredibly proud moment for Airwards, not to mention for all of the pioneering winners we’re championing. This is Airwards’ first year so we were overwhelmed to receive such a high standard of entrants from all corners of the world. So much so, our judges had a hard time assessing submissions and deciding on the winners!

“All of the companies and individuals recognised by our awards programme reflect the most innovative, responsible and impactful examples of drone use at this current time. From wildlife conservation and medical deliveries to threat detections and industrial inspections, the breadth of outstanding drone work truly demonstrates the positive way this technology is having an impact. I believe this is a pivotal moment for the drone industry, and through Airwards we are aiming to elevate companies using drones, as they continue to push boundaries, transform industries and improve the world we live in.”