Intelsius is proud to share that Project CAELUS (Care & Equity – Healthcare Logistics UAS Scotland), an initiative aimed at creating the first national medical distribution network in the UK using drones, conducted its first live flying trials last week in Scotland.
Intelsius is part of the 16-member consortium for the CAELUS project that has been working to develop a virtual model of the proposed medical distribution network which will facilitate the transport of medication, organs, blood samples and other medical supplies throughout Scotland. The delivery network will connect hospitals, pathology laboratories, distribution centres and GP surgeries across the country in an effort to facilitate more equitable access to essential medical supplies for urban and rural remote areas.
The flight trials were conducted between Glasgow Airport and NHS Golden Jubilee in Clydebank, led by Skyports Drone Services, a UK-based expert in drone delivery, survey and monitoring services and a CAELUS consortium member. The trials are an important step in the development of the CAELUS project as it ensures the safety of future drone flights and is essential for increasing scale of the project and eventually integrating its existence into commercial aircraft operations.
Along with creating virtual model of the drone network, the CAELUS consortium has been designing drone landing stations for NHS sites all over Scotland.
As part of its role in the consortium, Intelsius designed and developed ORCA Drone, a high performance multi-use temperature-controlled packaging system equipped with real-time temperature and location tracking, allowing payloads to be tracked anywhere and at any time. We are determined to continue our involvement in the CAELUS project, for the betterment of healthcare in the UK.
“We’re delighted to be part of Project CAELUS to develop and deliver better access to healthcare in Scotland. These flight trials are first important step in the work being done towards a more accessible and connected medical distribution network in the country. We look forward to sharing more exciting news in the coming months,” said Richard Merchant, Product Design and Engineering Manager at Intelsius.
Project CAELUS is led by ASG Airports and is funded by Innovate UKs Future Flight Challenge and is scheduled to run until June 2024. Click here to find out more information about Project CAELUS or click here to find out more about our ORCA Drone. Alternatively, you can email compliance@intelsius.com for further queries.