Heliguy™ ⨉ Venari's Drone Support Vehicle - E1
After the public announcement of heliguy™ and Venari's collaborative drone support vehicle at the Emergency Services Show at The NEC in Birmingham, we’ve been speaking to both companies to get more details on this custom Ford Ranger and take a look at some of the technology on board.
heliguy™ is an industry-leading UK drone specialist who were established in 2008. Growing over time and now with global logistics, they supply drone hardware and support drone programmes around the world, have an in-house drone training department delivering industry-specific and UK CAA-approved courses, and have a specialist counter-UAS division.
The dedicated drone support vehicle; due to it being completely bespoke and built for purpose, houses a host of great features. It’s ‘ready-to-fly drone mechanism’ allows various models of drone such as the DJI M30 Series or M300 RTK – to be safely transported whilst fully assembled and prepped for rapid deployment. The built-in DJI Aeroscope RF drone detection unit identifies UAV communication links; gathering information such as flight status, paths, and other information in real-time. Combined with the on board real-time weather station, keeping the pilots fully informed of the conditions and local surroundings.
“Every minute detail has been considered for the unique and varied situations where UAS are deployed, including human factors, risk management and flight procedures”
| heliguy™
Unveiled at The UK Emergency Services Show at The NEC, Birmingham
Image - Dan Alcock
To the rear of the vehicle, housed in the custom canopy is the command and control station. This features a 43” QLED screen with anti-reflection technology (Samsung QN90B Neo QLED 4K HDR Smart TV) with integrated Command Unit interface and drone live feed. Just above that, lives the Davis Vantage Pro 2 industrial-grade weather station which can measure inside & out temperature and humidity (particularly important for the drones and batteries), dew point, wind speed & direction, wind hill / heat index, barometric pressure and more.
Image - Dan Alcock
There is also a 3 Litre Transvend Water Heater on pull-out rails and other onboard welfare facilities for keeping staff safety and morale high.
Wall mounted and enclosed within the canopy is Victron Enegry’s MultiPlus Inverter/Charger (12 volt / 2000VA 1600W / 80 amp). This is a smart power management system allowing all the electronics to be powered from A/C mains whilst simultaneously charging onboard batteries. With an automatic ‘flick of a switch’ or disconnecting from the mains, the system will swap to using stored energy from the onboard batteries to supply power with no interruption.
Image - Dan Alcock
Image - Dan Alcock
All of the internal and external working area has both white as well as red led lights to help see in all situations - red light being proven to have a lesser effect on night sight adjustment. The vehicle can also go into a black-out mode for covert operations. Both the drone transport tray and command and control station are extendable and can pull out to create extra work space.
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The Ford Ranger was selected due to its robust and rugged chassis. The generous size of the cabin to the rear of the vehicle meant that it was perfectly suited to modification, helping to accommodate the various bits of technology required to assist rapid drone deployment, such as the ready to fly mechanism, temperature-controlled battery charging area, onboard welfare facilities, a command and control station, and a 43-inch QLED screen with integrated Command Unit interface.
The Ford Ranger was also chosen for its visual appearance - because it looks great.
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The bespoke RTF mechanism securely houses the aircraft ready for quick deployment, whilst protecting it during transit. This saves vital minutes during aircraft assembly and enables the operator to deploy quickly when hasty and reactionary deployments are required.
The RTF mechanism can be tailored to hold DJI aircraft such as the M300 RTK and the M30 Series.
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Like the RTF mechanism, the temperature-controlled battery charging area is designed to increase the ease and speed of deployment.
This feature ensures that the drone’s batteries are at the correct temperature to deploy, meaning the aircraft can be flown immediately on request.
Without this feature, operators would be required to go through the process of warming-up the batteries once they arrive on site prior to the flight, increasing the time before take-off.
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The vehicle is multi-purpose, but in its current form, it does suit the emergency services. In certain scenarios, built-in RF drone detection can be vital for ES operations and provides ES crews with a tool to track or respond to a threat of a potentially hostile drone.
Specifically, the operation of a drone in the vicinity of an emergency response has an impact on the emergency services own response, either by manned or unmanned aviation. Therefore, the RF drone detection enables Emergency Service Remote Pilots to maintain situational awareness of conflicting drones.
Aside from this, the RF drone detection serves as a tool to help operators better understand the airspace in the vicinity of their operations, in real-time.
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Drones have become a key tool for commercial operations, from public safety through to the AEC sector, environmental work, and land surveying. They help to collect accurate and repeatable data extremely quickly and safely, driving decision-making, obtaining critical insights, and increasing ROI.
Drone technology continues to advance at a rapid rate, including longer flight times, smaller airframes, enhanced weather protection, and more sophisticated and powerful payloads: All improvements which are sure to lead to continuing growth in the UAS sector.
The development of drone in a box technology, such as the DJI Dock, also represents an exciting evolution of the industry, facilitating remote monitoring and autonomous deployment.
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The DJI Mini 3 Pro is a great drone. This sub 250g aircraft has powerful camera and flight performance specs, making it a great aircraft for recreational flights, especially for beginners. However, its visual imaging capabilities - and the fact it is in the safest weight class of drones - means that it is also a stellar choice for starting a drone business, for jobs such as roof inspection, wedding photography or real estate. It provides the perfect stepping stone to scaling to larger aircraft and developing a drone UAS business.
Speaking of larger aircraft, we’re big fans of the DJI M300 RTK, which has become a flagship commercial drone: Able to carry up to three payloads at once to offer true versatility.
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We will see what happens in the future, but our initial vehicle has been very well received and it will facilitate the heliguy™ training department's delivery of industry-specific closed-course training to enterprise organisations and emergency services.