Blueflite EV Drone To Become First Lifesaving Emergency Response Vehicle With Acadian Ambulance

 Blueflite EV Drone To Become First Lifesaving Emergency Response Vehicle With Acadian Ambulance

Acadian Ambulance, one of the nation’s largest privately held medical transport companies, announced January 5th, 2023 at CES that it has selected Blueflite’s drone and digital platform to develop a first-of-its-kind, drone-based emergency response solution for lifesaving medical deliveries in the USA.

The platform is a joint development and will provide much faster delivery of medical equipment and medicines than what is possible using conventional transport.

The companies will jointly develop the technology solution for medical emergency deliveries, based on Blueflite’s advanced logistics drone platform, with R&D support from Lafayette-based survey and engineering firm, Fenstermaker. This groundbreaking partnership will provide fast emergency response by delivering critical equipment to medical emergency sites thus reducing the impact of medical emergencies.

“Using drones to deliver critical medical equipment will shorten emergency response times considerably. And when every second counts, that can save lives and reduce cost in healthcare,” said Frank Noppel, Blueflite’s CEO. “We are very excited to have been selected by Acadian and very much look forward to co-developing this platform, which will greatly benefit the lives of many.”

“We selected the Blueflite platform for its advanced technology and capability to deliver lifesaving medical supplies safely and efficiently to those in need. This is the next step in the future of medical response, and we are excited to further development in conjunction with Blueflite and Fenstermaker,” said Benjamin Swig, Director of Healthcare Innovation and Strategy at Acadian Ambulance.

“We’ve been on the cutting edge with drone technology since it was first introduced to the market,” commented Charles Fenstermaker, President of Fenstermaker. “Having been in operation for over seventy years, we have the data, technology, professional network, and regional knowledge required to conduct, in conjunction with Acadian Ambulance and Blueflite, a full-scale R&D effort to ensure the success of this venture.”

About Blueflite:

Founded in 2018, Blueflite designs and manufactures advanced drone systems and software for an integrated approach to cargo delivery. The company’s patented platform handles all aspects of logistics drone operations and provides a one-stop solution to solve logistics challenges globally. The unique, and all-electrical drone design has vertical take-off and landing capabilities, advanced maneuverability, and is built without compromise – to meet the rigorous demands of commercial operations. Whether packages are large or small, our drone-based platform is built to scale in both size and quantity. Operating through our proprietary logistics systems Blueflite’s digital network is designed to work with existing logistic solutions. For more information, visit www.blueflite.com.

About Acadian Ambulance:
Acadian Ambulance is one of the largest ambulance services in the nation, providing transportation and medical service to areas in Louisiana, Texas, Mississippi, and Tennessee. It is employee-owned and accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Ambulance Services, and its sister division, Acadian Air Med, is accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Medical Transport Systems.

About Fenstermaker:
Founded in 1950, Fenstermaker began as a small survey and mapping company in New Iberia, Louisiana. 70+ years and three generations later, Fenstermaker has grown into a diverse consulting firm that specializes not only in survey and mapping, but also engineering, environmental services, and advanced technologies. Today, Fenstermaker is one of the largest and most respected survey and engineering consulting firms in the South.
[ht: TransportUp]

... notes from The EDJE

 

FEATURED ARTICLE >>>

TAGS: #blueflite, #CargoDrones, #AutonomousDrones, #Drones, #MadeInTheUSA, #DeliveryDrones, #Logistics, #LastMile, #SmartCity, #CleanTech, #Sustainable, #EmergencyResponse

Hybrid Solution Employs Spinner For Self-Charging/Plug-In EV!

FROM Advertisement: Try the new and improved stylish anti-anxiety fidget spinner. Metallic design feels power in hand. Longer the spin, greater the fun. Up to 5 minutes. You just need the stopwatch app on your smartphone to get going. Superb toy that you can use to increase your focus and concentration while you’re engrossed in thinking tasks. Colorful appearance feels good in hand, stands out from the crowd. Makes you the center of attraction. Caption / Image Credit: © 2022 Megaeshop.pk / © 2017 OEM Bargain, Inc. 

Hybrid Solution Employs Spinner For Self-Charging/Plug-In EV!

Fidget Spinners were all the rage back at the beginning of 2017 after being perfected in metal during 2014 by Scott McCoskery to entertain himself in lengthy IT meetings. These are not the spinners referenced for use in self-charging mobility solutions.

What we are witnessing is the reemergence of the Mazda power unit that utilizes a rounded triangle shaped rotor, as opposed to a piston in a stationary cylinder, to deliver motion power through the 4 cycles of the development exchange through the burning of a combustible fuel mixed with air. 

The rotary enhanced hybrid produced by Mazda includes special badging and branding. Mazda, through the introduction of the rotary hybrid MX-30 R-EV, is offering a few special color combinations, and there's a trim level called the Edition R that plays up the rotary theme with embroidered logos inside for the floor mats and seats (pictured above).  Image Credit: MAZDA MOTOR EUROPE (2023)

Rotary engines are known for their simplicity and their tremendous power output relative to their size and this is why it made sense to reimagine the use of rotary power to create electricity upon which and electric engine powered mobility platform can move one to their destination.

This excerpted and edited from Car and Driver -

Mazda MX-30 R-EV Brings Back the Rotary, but Not Like You Imagined

The rotary has returned, but this time around, the 0.8-liter single-rotor gasoline engine serves as a generator to charge the battery.

BY JOEY CAPPARELLA - Car and Driver - PUBLISHED: JAN 13, 2023

Mazda has found a unique solution to the MX-30 EV's short driving range, and it involves the company's first rotary engine since the RX-8 sports car. The new Mazda MX-30 e-Skyactiv R-EV is a plug-in hybrid with a small single-rotary gasoline engine that serves as a generator to charge the battery pack and allow for longer drives.

A single rotary engine delivers a smaller and lighter form factor as an inclusion to any electric powered vehicle looking to apply on-board EV power generation for extended range or just plain additional alternative to finding a power plug. Image Credit: MAZDA (2023)

Mazda reduced the size of the lithium-ion battery pack, as the R-EV has a 17.8 kWh lithium-ion pack compared with the EV version's approximately 32.0-kWh pack. This allows it to go a measly 53 miles on a charge per the WLTP. But when the battery is depleted, the 830-cc 74-hp rotary engine kicks in to supply charge while on the move. The Mazda's 13-gallon fuel tank is larger than other such "range-extender" setups including the BMW i3 and Chevy Volt, but Mazda hasn't provided a longer range estimate that includes the gasoline engine's range boost.

Image Gallery Here >>> 

The R-EV's electric motor is also more powerful than the EV version's, providing 167 horsepower to the front wheels. Mazda claims it will get to 62 mph in 9.1 seconds, which would be roughly equivalent to the already sluggish EV version's acceleration. The 3674-pound MX-30 EV got to 60 mph in 8.7 seconds in our testing, and the R-EV's extra 24 horsepower would likely be offset by the extra weight of the rotary, as the claimed curb weight is 3920 pounds.

[Reference Here]

The problem we, at EVHN, are seeing is that this approach, as produced, does not deliver a technological argument as one would wish. For Example - Mazda is unwilling to publish what the extended range that could be expected. 

One source speculates about a total distance of 380 miles and so there is no real argument other than PR for Mazda due to the use of Rotary as opposed to any significant contribution to any overall improvements in "Delta" performance measurements.

That's the spin as witnessed early in the adoption of rotary power for self-charging/extended range solutions in EV mobility this day. 

... notes from The EDJE

FEATURED ARTICLE >>>

TAGS: Rotary, Hybrid, Self-Charging, EV, Electric Vehicles, MAZDA, R-EV, MX-30, The EDJE

More Equals Less In Upcoming GTP Championship Season

Fruits of developments between Porsche and Penske Motorsports were shown at AutoMobility LA 2022 (LA Auto Show Press Day). This will be the fourth manufacturer to join in the IMSA Series LMDh Class for 2023. This union is the second introduction by Penske Motorsport to the highest level of prototype competition, the first being the championship winning Acura - ARX–05.  Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2022)

More Equals Less In Upcoming GTP Championship Season

Last year, NTT INDYCAR SERIES driver Will Power showed the world how a less equals more strategy can deliver a season series championship win (his career second). The WeatherTech GTP Class championship, however, has settled on a more equals less strategy to deliver a hybrid technology answer (more) to the reduction of carbon emissions (less) in a major professional motorsports competition series championship.

In a first of the new year ZOOM Call put on by IMSA, with the participants from teams representing the four major automotive manufacturers who will be competing in the 2023 GTP class of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Series - Cadillac, Acura, BMW, and Porsche - most all of the technical team leaders expressed a few common themes.

WeatherTech SportsCar Championship GTP class ZOOM Call participants - Left To Right In ZOOM Call Images:

Gary Nelson, Cadillac Action Express Racing

Travis Hogue, Acura Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Autosport

Jonathan Diuguid, Porsche Penske Motorsport

Mike O'Gara, Cadillac Racing (CGR)

Justin Harnisfager, Acura Meyer Shank Racing

Brandon Fry, BMW M Team RLL

WeatherTech SportsCar Championship GTP Class Teams ZOOM Call Part 1

IMSA 101 - DPi cars are being replaced by LMDh cars for 2023 >>> an LMDh (Le Mans Daytona h) is a type of sports prototype race car that will compete alongside Le Mans Hypercar entries in the Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) class of the IMSA SportsCar Championship from 2023 - it also competes in the Hypercar class of the FIA World Endurance Championship.

The LMDh ruleset was created jointly by the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) and the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO). The cars will serve as the successor to the Daytona Prototype International class, utilizing regulations that were planned to become the next-generation Daytona Prototype International ruleset, converged with the Le Mans Hypercar ruleset, showing off the latest technology in mating traditional internal combustion engines (ICE) with electrification (Hybrid Technology) - tap for more.

[ht: WIKI/IMSA]

In addition to having to integrate hybrid electric power units to the ICE power units (internal combustion engine) one has to consider what additional impacts will this have on a team as it prepares at the team shop environment, travel, and set-up at a track for testing and competition. 

Action Express Racing's Whelen Engineering sponsored GTP Cadillac. Image Credit: Mike Levitt (2022)

Gary Nelson, Cadillac Action Express Racing, was keen to point out that in previous DPi rules configuration, the team could just load up the car, parts, toolboxes and other support gear in one transporter. Here in the LMDh rules configuration, this will require two full transporters and a trailing 5th wheel trailer. 

We’re on the threshold of a thrilling new era in endurance sports car racing and Cadillac is all in! Cadillac Racing will contest the top category of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and the FIA World Endurance Championship, including the 24 Hours of Le Mans, with its V-LMDh prototype race cars as the only U.S.-based manufacturer. The 2023 sports car racing season gets underway with the Daytona Roar (January 20-22, 2023) and Rolex 24 at Daytona (January 28-29, 2023). The first event on the WEC calendar is the 1,000 miles of Sebring, on March 17th. I encourage anyone inclined to enjoy any of the 2023 IMSA or WEC races in person to buy your tickets and make your travel arrangements now! #BeIconic @cadillac @CadillacRacing #IMSA @imsa_racing #ctmp @fiawec_official #fiawec @fiawec #richardprincephotography @richardprincephoto

Jonathan Diuguid (pronounced Do-gid), Porsche Penske Motorsport ended Part 1 with the one element to this racing equation that, in the beginning of any season is on the more side, tire compound choices that will deliver the fastest times with longer runs - less pit stops with less time involved with the completion of each lap.

Motorsports Journal/EVHNews was able to ask questions from Brandon Fry of RLL about how the new RLL HQ helps the BMW GTP  Class effort & Jonathan Diuguid about working with a manufacturer to introduce a racing effort to this level of championship racing series - first Acura, and now Porsche - these questions begin this next Part 2 video.

WeatherTech SportsCar Championship GTP Class Teams ZOOM Call Part 2

<<< Again - Left To Right In ZOOM Call Images >>>

Gary Nelson, Cadillac Action Express Racing

Travis Hogue, Acura Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Autosport

Jonathan Diuguid, Porsche Penske Motorsport

Mike O'Gara, Cadillac Racing (CGR)

Justin Harnisfager, Acura Meyer Shank Racing

Brandon Fry, BMW M Team RLL

Join us on our ROAD TO DAYTONA for insights into the BMW M Hybrid V8 project.

Episode 2: Tested in all conditions.

Sound on!#bmwmhybridv8 @IMSA @RLLracing pic.twitter.com/EUMQd7ymrn

— BMW Motorsport (@BMWMotorsport) January 5, 2023

Major concerns that are common with all teams and manufacturers as it relates to the level of confidence in the unknowns. Unknowns all track back to reliability during race day activities. As always, when something is new, one has no real idea if all of the bits, pieces, and tasked function parts will hold up to endurance race stresses and conditions. This is why we all push the limits of technology and application, this is why we race ... isn't it?

... notes from The EDJE

FEATURED ARTICLE >>>

TAGS: WeatherTech, SportCar, IMSA, GTP, LMDh, BMW, Porsche, Acura, Cadillac, ICE. Hybrid EV, Le Mans, Daytona, 2023, The EDJE