For disaster areas where ground transportation is interrupted due to debris flow and earthquake and disaster areas blocked due to flood or heavy snow and areas blocked due to epidemic, urgent daily living materials, medical materials, relief tools and equipment, and other relief materials can be accurately delivered to guarantee that necessary aids be given to the trapped.
How UAVs can assist the logistic transportation for disaster areas.
Flexible Maneuver
UAVs can perform transportation flexibly in the air under cluster-type management and this is the best scheme for public emergency transportation.
High Transportation Efficiency
Space transportation by UAVs can avoid complicated and busy ground traffic, improve transportation efficiency, and further guarantee the safety of the trapped in the disaster areas.
Applications
Challenges in Logistic Transportation Business in Disaster Areas
Because of traffic interruption in the disaster areas, people and vehicles from outside are hard to access. It is difficult to adopt the dual-station one-vehicle control mode to accomplish accurate delivery and materials unloading after landing by using UAVs for accurate delivery of relief materials.
The weather environment is relatively adverse during the period when aids are required in the disaster areas and rain, strong wind, heavy snow, and sandstorm may happen. Thus, UAVs should be endowed with great load capacity and strong environmental adaptability so that they are capable of implementing accurate delivery of materials in the disaster areas.
Ground mobile communication and power supply will be affected in the disaster areas and might be interrupted. Flat and wide TOL sites are lacked for UAV TOL, so only the hovering mode can be used for accurate delivery of materials.
UAV Application Advantages
ZHZ UAVs feature VTOL, long-term hovering, and great load capacity and they use satellite positioning mode and air relay communication mode so that TT&C information intervisibility is possible during the whole flight.
Great-load UAVs have strong environmental adaptability so that they can normally fly in a rainy, snowy or windy day to deliver relief materials to the trapped timely.
Great-load UAVs possess strong hovering capability and are suspended with a dual-light pod, megaphone, and searchlight. They can inform the trapped to acquire the relief materials timely and necessary aid information can be submitted to the outside rescue center via the intercom device, recorder, or paper at the end of the sling rope to provide pertinent relief materials.
Solution
Flight Platform
Great-Load Multi-Rotor UAVs (Hybrid Models)
Great-Load Unmanned Helicopters (including Plateau and Plain Types; Models to be Determined Based on Altitude of the Disaster Area)
Loadable Payloads
Single-Light Pod
Small Megaphone
Cargo Mount
Sling and Jettison Device
Intercom Device, Recorder, and Paper Carried at the End of Rope
GCS
Portable Control Station (Take-off Point)
Pickup Truck or Small Van (for Land Maneuvers)
Differential Base Station
Ground Link Terminal
Communication Relay UAV (Vertical Take-off Fixed-Wing UAV)
Communication Relay Captive Balloon
Airborne Satcom Equipment and Land-Based Satcom Control Station