TRALLA: Transport of Light Loads over Large Areas

Research Project, 2018 – 2019

Making healthcare accessible closer to the population is critical to reducing care times and avoiding unnecessary suffering. This project will investigate using a new type of winged drone to meet these needs by delivering drugs and samples to the local health rooms in Norrland. Västerbottens läns landsting sees the potential for these vessels to improve the quality and reliability of rural health care, while reducing the climate impact and health-related costs of operation. In the summer of 2016, a virtual health room opened in Slussfors in Västerbotten Län. In the room, patients can talk to a doctor via a remote video link, as well as test blood pressure, take blood samples, and so on. New health rooms are now being planned throughout Västerbottens Län. A bottleneck to increase the health benefits of the health room is the long car transports required for transporting medicines and blood samples between the health room and the nearest health care center. A quick analysis of samples is often critical. Greater accessibility makes it easier to search in time, resulting in reduced suffering, fewer complications and generally shorter care times. The project develops a winged drone to transport loads such as medicines and blood samples between health rooms and the nearest healthcare centers. The drones have a wingspan of 2 meters, weighs 30 kg, and can lift 8 kg of payload. The high performance allows the drone to travel long distances.