Somerset Council is flying high after being awarded funding from Innovate UK to help bring forward a project that could transform disaster response and environmental protection in the county.
The award for the £191,370 project comes from the Future Flight Regional Demonstrator Fund for the Council’s Project RESCUE that will investigate the potential for drones to be deployed to monitor environmental emergencies.
The “eyes in the skies” can be launched quickly, reach inaccessible areas safely and provide real-time footage and data to support the teams on the ground.
The Council will be working with two business partners, experts in the field of both drone operations and regulations, to develop a business case and a concept of operations for using drones in emergency situations. These are Somerset based Land and Minerals Consulting Ltd who are currently working with the Civil Aviation Authority on establishing safety cases for flying Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) and innovative start-up Limosaero who are pioneering solar powered fixed wing drones capable of flying long distances.
The Resilience and Emergency Services Coordination Using Enabled-drones (RESCUE) project will also bring together local emergency services, resilience teams, Government agencies and drone service operators to develop the case for adopting the scheme in Somerset.
Councillor Mike Rigby, Somerset Council’s Lead Member for the Economy, Planning and Assets, said:
The potential for drones is exciting and shows that Somerset is at the forefront of imaginative and innovative solutions to real problems that affect our communities. I am delighted that Innovate UK is showing faith in our county through this funding.
We have demonstrated clearly that Somerset can lead the way in the future of flight with iAero, our aerospace innovation centre in Yeovil, which is a key asset driving our ambitions for the Council’s Future Flight Innovation Zone initiative that aims to provide test and evaluation facilities for smart aviation technologies.
Somerset suffered devastating floods more than ten years ago, leaving communities marooned, homes under water and farmland swamped. The economic costs were up to £147.5 million, but the cost in human terms was immeasurable.
Project RESCUE will develop a business case for the use of drones to collect data and intelligence during environmental emergencies in Somerset. This will include the environmental, social, and economic implications of flooding across the county, identifying drone-based solutions to support emergency responses, and identify the economic growth opportunities the adoption of drone technologies and supporting services will have on the region.
Aviation Minister Keir Mather said:
We’re backing the next generation of British aviation businesses whose transformative technologies will reshape how we live and work in the years to come.
Investing in emerging technologies like drones and unmanned aircraft is key to build a greener and more efficient transport system. But this isn’t just good news for the environment – this tech will also save our public sector and businesses valuable time and cash, whilst helping to boost skills and support high quality jobs across the country.
