Northern Michigan’s Advanced Aerial Mobility sector achieved another milestone this month with the demonstration of a blueflite drone conducting a simulated search and coordinated rescue by the U.S. Coast Guard of a boater in distress on East Grand Traverse Bay.
Blueflite and Northwestern Michigan College’s (NMC) Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) program coordinated the deployment of the drone from the College’s training facility in Yuba. After departing from Yuba, the drone flew over Lake Michigan in a search pattern to locate the watercraft in distress and report the location to the U.S. Coast Guard to conduct a rescue. The demonstration also collected flight data and utilized software to simulate a Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) flight.
“Drones being used in a first responder use case will be very important to the State of Michigan as we continue to build out our Advanced Aerial Mobility strategy,” said Justine Johnson, chief mobility officer with the Office of Future Mobility and Electrification with the Michigan Economic Development Corporation. “It is important to explore the use of drones in search and rescue situations, as in today’s demonstration.”
Blueflite, NMC, and Traverse Connect welcomed guests Justine Johnson, and Zach Tecson, advanced aerial mobility program manager with the Michigan Department of Transportation.
Following the demonstration, Ms. Johnson and Mr. Tecson toured NMC’s new aviation hangar and visited the UAS laboratory on the College’s Aero Park campus. NMC offers a UAS Associate of Applied Science and a UAS Certificate Program, supporting the region’s burgeoning Advanced Aerial Mobility sector.
The demonstration was made possible thanks to the support of the Advanced Aerial Mobility Activation (AAM) Fund, with additional support from Newlab. The AAM Fund is a collaborative effort between the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT), the Office of Future Mobility and Electrification (OFME), and the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC), which aims to increase coordination across State entities and create a centralized pipeline of projects that can accelerate AAM readiness and growth in the state.
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- Preparing for a test flight.
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- Justine Johnson, chief mobility officer, received a tour of the blueflite drone.
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- Demonstrating the blueflite drone’s capabilities.
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- Discussing the battery pack and the Michigan partnerships blueflite has to build the packs.
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- James McClearen, blueflite’s CTO, monitors the drone as it approaches East Bay.
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- The drone appears to begin its flight pattern.
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- Justine and NMC Aviation Instructor, Scott Dennis, in NMC’s UAS lab.
