ANWB Medical Drones

ANWB Medical Drones focuses on transporting medical goods. In the future, this could be any medically relevant items, such as blood and tissue samples, medication and blood bags.

Our ambition is to operate a safe daily drone service within three years’ time for the healthcare sector in the Netherlands. The consortium wants to gain experience in flying drones over long distances. This will provide many possible applications for the healthcare sector. We will be commencing a three-year learning process with these test flights.

We are currently investigating potential routes that would be valuable for the medical partners. To find out what’s involved in flight over longer distances, the first flights are carried out above safe and quiet areas in the first quarter of 2020. At this moment, we are in the last phase of our first operational route between Meppel and Zwolle (Isala Hospital).

We have a fleet of two types of drones. One built by Dutch drone manufacturer Avy, the Avy Aera 3, and one built by RigiTech, the Eiger 3. Both are VTOL (Vertical Take-off and Landing) wing drones.

The drones can take off vertically like a helicopter, and once it has reached altitude, it transitions to a horizontal aircraft flight. It is equipped with propellers both for vertical take-off and a pusher propeller for aircraft flight. The advantage of this is that relatively little infrastructure is necessary, for example at a hospital, to allow the drone to take off and land, while still using its battery very efficient during horizontal flight.

Drone specifications:

• Span: 2.4 and 2.7 m
• Cruising speed: 100 km/h
• Maximum speed: 120 km/h
• Maximum altitude: In the Netherlands, the maximum allowed altitude is 120 m.
• Range: 100 km
• Maximum load weight: 3 kg
• Power: electric

Drones are controlled from a command vehicle on the ground. The signals are primarily sent to the drone over the 4G network. The drone flies automatically and therefore follows a preprogrammed route. Once the drone is underway, it is always possible for the pilot to intervene and take manual control if necessary. There is also a back-up data link in the event that the 4G network fails. This means that the drone can be controlled at all times.

This will depend on what is being transported, and we will be investigating this extensively. Medical goods that need to be transported under specific conditions can also be transported by drone under these conditions.

In accordance with European legislation for unmanned aviation, which comes into effect in the middle of next year, the risks of each flight must be identified and taken into account.
The Environment and Transport Inspectorate will supervise the enforcement of the rules. The operator, drone, working method, crew and the connection between the drone and the operator must comply with strict requirements that guarantee safety.

See www.rijksoverheid.nl/drones for the current regulations regarding the use of drones.