Summary
- Profile Type
- Technology offer
- POD Reference
- TOGB20250522019
- Term of Validity
- 27 May 2025 - 27 May 2026
- Company's Country
- United Kingdom
- Type of partnership
- Commercial agreement with technical assistance
- Targeted Countries
- All countries
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General information
- Short Summary
- UK drone hub offers digital integration for accelerated testing of maritime and simulated drone operations. Features include a mobile flight deck with six-axis motion, segregated airspace, and expertise. Seeking collaboration with unmanned aircraft system (UAS) users, manufacturers, academia, government, and regulators for data, certification, and user case testing to boost innovation and end user benefits. Seeks partnerships under a commercial agreement with technical assistance.
- Full Description
-
A UK-based business operates a drone hub, providing facilities, expertise and access to over 8000 square kilometres of segregated airspace for Beyond Visual Line of Sight test (BVLOS) & evaluations of Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS), Counter-Unmanned Aerial Systems (C-UAS) & associated technologies.
The hub is a leading facility and incubation hub for independent evaluation and innovation across UAS and C-UAS. It offers government, agencies, regulators, industry and academia the opportunity to collaborate, innovate and accelerate drones and associated technologies on a 320 hectare airfield with four runways, multiple surfaces and an extremely low population density making it ideal for safely testing larger more complex systems. The facilities, expertise and airspace creates a cost-effective sandbox for rapid capability development and complex test events in an independent environment.
The innovation developed is a novel ship air digital integrated equipment, that has the ability to test suitability and efficacy of drones intended for operation at sea. It offers a mobile flight deck with six-axis of motion which enables faster, safer and more effective ship/air integration to accelerate the maritime drone sector.
The hub supports the exploitation of drones & technologies, and is looking for partners who want to extend their system capabilities. The company seeking collaboration, under a commercial agreement with technical assistance. - Advantages and Innovations
-
The company has pioneered an innovative system for the development and testing of vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft intended for maritime operations. This novel technology, effectively simulates the complex movements of a ship's deck in a land-based setting. This allows developers to rigorously evaluate aircraft performance under realistic, yet controlled, conditions without the need for early and costly at-sea trials.
The system's ability to replicate the dynamic environment of a moving vessel is proving instrumental in de-risking the development process and accelerating the certification of drones designed for ship-based deployment. This advancement represents a significant contribution to the field, enabling the creation of more advanced and dependable VTOL aircraft for naval applications by providing a consistent and accessible platform for testing and refinement.
Their ship air model is a versatile modelling and simulation tool. It enables the understanding of a system's capabilities, vulnerabilities, and survivability tactics. The key innovation lies in its capacity to conduct trade-off studies and performance analyses of maritime air scenarios that would be impractical or too expensive for real-world exercises. In contrast to traditional field trials, the system simulates both task group and individual ship operations when confronted by multiple threats.
A notable advantage of this system is its adaptability. Its core functionality can be enhanced through the use of plugins and external interfaces, allowing for bespoke customization to meet specific user requirements. This flexibility, combined with its extensive simulation capabilities, establishes the system as an invaluable valuable testing drone asset.
Furthermore, the model incorporates detailed simulations of shipboard sensors and their interaction with other systems, also considering the impact of weather conditions. - Stage of Development
- Already on the market
- Sustainable Development Goals
- Goal 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure
- Goal 17: Partnerships to achieve the Goal
- IPR status
- Secret know-how
Partner Sought
- Expected Role of a Partner
-
Partners sought from industry, academia, OEM, technology manufacturers, research establishments, innovators who can bring challenges to the drone hub. Partners will work through the challenge and seek a solution together building a representative environment to support.
The company seeks partners to further extend the capabilities of the system, to maximise the opportunity the airspace, facilities and expertise provide across the drone industry. The company is particularly interested in supporting small to medium size businesses intent in disrupting & innovating across the sector.
Target sectors: aerospace, agriculture, technology, healthcare, renewable energy, social and environmental enhancement & improvement, transport, pharmaceutical, research, education, telecoms, space, security, financial, disaster relief & recovery. - Type and Size of Partner
- SME 50 - 249
- SME 11-49
- Big company
- SME <=10
- R&D Institution
- Other
- University
- Type of partnership
- Commercial agreement with technical assistance
Dissemination
- Technology keywords
- 02011001 - Aeronautical technology / Avionics
- 02011007 - Guidance and control
- 02011006 - Propulsion
- Market keywords
- 01004007 - Network test, monitoring and support equipment
- 08002004 - Robotics
- 08002003 - Process control equipment and systems
- 02007016 - Artificial intelligence related software
- Sector Groups Involved
- Aerospace and Defence
- Maritime Industries and Services
- Targeted countries
- All countries