Imagine a world where every first responder has life-saving aerial capability enabled by compact size and autonomous operations. This vision is at the heart of the GoAERO Prize, a global competition challenging innovators to create the world’s first compact, autonomy-enabled rescue aircraft that is safe and simple to fly.
The Challenge
Emergency responders face significant obstacles when trying to reach people in need:
- Gridlocked traffic and narrow streets
- Forest fires and thick brush
- Vast rivers and rugged mountain ranges
These barriers delay critical aid and leave communities vulnerable during disasters. The GoAERO Prize aims to change that by inspiring breakthrough technologies that can deliver rapid, reliable, and autonomous emergency response.
The Answer
The GoAERO Prize is a 3-year humanitarian competition designed to accelerate the development of next-generation rescue aircraft. Hundreds of teams worldwide are working to create flyers capable of saving lives in extreme weather, urgent healthcare situations, and areas inaccessible to traditional vehicles like helicopters or firetrucks.
Our Achievement
It is with immense pride that we announce: The VKI-TUD team “ELEVATE” has once again emerged as a winner, this time in Stage 2 of the GoAERO Prize!
After success in Stage 1, Stage 2 required teams to:
- Build a 35%-scale prototype of their emergency drone
- Demonstrate its capabilities in an uncut flight video over 100 feet
- Provide payload measurements and model dimensions
Our scaled model (about 2 meters long) was realized by our partners at TU Delft, while VKI contributed by:
- Developing a 10%-scale prototype to test flight controllers and instrumentation in hexacopter mode
- Supporting the configuration of the flight controller for the flight tests
- Providing a top test pilot to ensure flawless execution
Special Thanks
This achievement was made possible thanks to:
The TUD ELEVATE team for the development of the 35%-scale demonstrator
Ewann Passelac, our skilled test pilot, for his precision and dedication
Peter Hartford, for his expertise in drones and flight controllers
Emilien Watelet, for granting access to the ID2Move droneport site, essential for recording the demo flight
Christophe Schram, for the coordination of the VKI ELEVATE team
