The purpose of this letter is 1) to provide some background about drones and their applications in the medical field, 2) to indicate our deliverables for the medical drone design project and 3) to pose some specific questions to Massachusetts General Hospital about the project.
Drones have been described as autonomous vehicles that can fly and navigate without the input from someone controlling it. Drones contain GPS chips inside to help the drone navigate and to help the pilot know where the drone is located at all times [1]. Researchers are currently developing drones that can respond to the environmental conditions that they are in [2]. Every drone also has a center of gravity that helps keep the plane from becoming imbalanced. Since …show more content…
The use of medical drones to transport blood is a simpler solution as opposed to relocating patients to different hospitals when there is a lack of resources [7] - [9].
The most likely candidates for the material of the drone are wood or foam board. Using balsa wood, our drone should still be able to weigh only around 4 pounds. Construction of the wing will be done first, and the body will be created to match. The wingspan will most likely be close to the 3 foot maximum, with an average chord length between 6-8 inches [10].
It is the team’s understanding that our task at hand is to design and build a medical drone that can provide urgent help to those in remote locations. Therefore, on April 24, 2017 we will deliver a final report to you that includes:
A drone that can carry life-saving medical supplies within a 30 inch length, 10 inch diameter tube
A medical drone that can carry a 3-pound payload
A medical drone that has at least a 20-mile range
A cost-effective medical drone
Intermediate deadlines will be provided to ensure we stay on schedule. These deadlines include a submission of a CAD sketch, a prototype, and field testing results of said
Drones have been described as autonomous vehicles that can fly and navigate without the input from someone controlling it. Drones contain GPS chips inside to help the drone navigate and to help the pilot know where the drone is located at all times [1]. Researchers are currently developing drones that can respond to the environmental conditions that they are in [2]. Every drone also has a center of gravity that helps keep the plane from becoming imbalanced. Since …show more content…
The use of medical drones to transport blood is a simpler solution as opposed to relocating patients to different hospitals when there is a lack of resources [7] - [9].
The most likely candidates for the material of the drone are wood or foam board. Using balsa wood, our drone should still be able to weigh only around 4 pounds. Construction of the wing will be done first, and the body will be created to match. The wingspan will most likely be close to the 3 foot maximum, with an average chord length between 6-8 inches [10].
It is the team’s understanding that our task at hand is to design and build a medical drone that can provide urgent help to those in remote locations. Therefore, on April 24, 2017 we will deliver a final report to you that includes:
A drone that can carry life-saving medical supplies within a 30 inch length, 10 inch diameter tube
A medical drone that can carry a 3-pound payload
A medical drone that has at least a 20-mile range
A cost-effective medical drone
Intermediate deadlines will be provided to ensure we stay on schedule. These deadlines include a submission of a CAD sketch, a prototype, and field testing results of said