Cranfield University’s CraneAERO team has been selected as one of eight global prototype winners in the GoAERO Prize – a $2+ million international competition designed to accelerate the development of safe, autonomous aircraft for emergency response.
Supported by NASA, RTX, Honeywell and more than 20 industry partners, GoAERO aims to advance new flight technologies capable of responding to natural disasters, medical emergencies and humanitarian crises.
The winning teams, drawn from leading universities across Europe and the United States, are:
• CraneAERO, Cranfield University, UK
• Elevate, TU Delft, Netherlands
• Harmony, Texas A&M, Texas
• HORYZN, TU Munich, Germany
• LIFT + UT Austin/Texas Aerial Robotics, Texas
• Rescue Pack, NCSU, North Carolina
• Soteria, Penn State, Pennsylvania
• VSDDL, Auburn University.
Each receives a share of $320,000 and will advance to the Final Fly-Off at NASA’s Ames Research Center in California.
The Cranfield team is developing The Crane, a high-performance, precision eVTOL autonomous aircraft designed for demanding emergency-response scenarios, with applications extending into industrial logistics and technology testing.
Lightweight, versatile and engineered for exacting mission profiles, The Crane system aims to address the limitations of current air ambulance and rescue platforms.
Team member Ana Joy Antony said: “Participating on the CraneAERO team has opened my eyes to concepts I didn’t imagine as an undergraduate. I’ve learned how people are transported in actual air ambulances – patient positions, how to keep them stable, the medical monitoring systems.
“The existing vehicles are very heavy and cannot travel in all conditions and terrains. They need to be modified and adapted. And they need to be lightweight, a system just like ours.”
GoAERO’s mission has taken on renewed urgency following a year of severe global crises, including catastrophic flooding in Texas, wildfires across California, devastating hurricanes in the Caribbean, record-breaking heatwaves and major earthquakes.
At the same time, stretched emergency services and worsening congestion have eroded response times in many regions.
Gwen Lighter, GoAERO founder and chief executive, said: “The GoAERO aircraft are needed now more than ever. GoAERO was founded to create both the transformative flight technologies that save lives, and the collaborative network across industry, government, and first responder organisations to ensure the safe and effective future deployment of these emergency response aircraft.”
More than 200 teams worldwide remain active in the competition. New entrants can join at any stage, and previous winners do not receive preferential advancement. At the final Fly-Off, teams will undertake three mission challenges, with a further $1.65 million to be awarded.
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