Based in Walnut, California, AEE Technology, a developer of professional commercial UAVs, has added a new drone to its Mach series, the Mach 6. Additionally, the new drone will help to strengthen a partnership with Schiller Americas, a medical equipment manufacturer in Doral, Florida, to bring to market aerial delivery systems for automated external defibrillators (AEDs) in a joint effort to save lives worldwide.

Designed for critical missions from Public Safety to Mapping and Survey drone operations, the Mach 6 features a weather stable hexcopter design that folds for ease of transport, a flight time of up to 50 minutes, a range of up to 7 miles, 13.2 lbs. of total payload capacity, a millimeter radar for collision avoidance, as well as optional RTK compatibility for precision mapping missions. It comes with three smart payload ports, including 2 smart accessory shoes (AEE SAS). The AEE SAS allows pilots to choose from a wide range of camera payloads configurations, from the AEE DATF Dual Thermal RGB payload to the DATE 24MP APSC Mapping Camera, or even simultaneously use multiple Megaphone (PA systems), such as the new AEE Super Thunderhorn sound effective range of a mile, or the new AEE Spotlight.

”We are really focused on solving the issues that are out there for commercial drones," said Mike Kahn, AEE Chief Marketing Officer. "The new Mach 6 is a good example of what public safety agencies need, they can carry three different payloads at once like a thermal camera, megaphone, or spotlight and control each one remotely from the ground station, so that they can have access to accessories and payloads when they need them. Because they are powered by the drone, they don't have to worry about separate power supplies and charges - it is all included in a drone that has up to a 50 minute flight time and can carry up to 13 pounds." 

Together with Schiller Americas, AEE created a modified version of the Mach 6 ready to carry Schiller’s AEDs from Public Safety Staging areas in cities around the world using standard street addresses and point of interest GPS data to quickly fly to locations where the Schiller AED is needed to save lives. Schiller’s easy-to-use multiple language portable AEDs coupled with AEE’s Fly to Address Commercial Drones provide a quick and efficient solution to bring this vital medical technology to emergency locations beyond congested roads or in rugged inaccessible terrains.

"We believe that drones can be a excellent way to save lives," Kahn told Commerial UAV News. "With Schiller America, we are developing a system to deliver life saving AEDs quickly and efficiently. In a large city like Las Vegas or Los Angeles, traffic can stall the ability for paramedics to get to people in need."

“Time is the key, if the AED can be applied within the first five minutes of sudden cardiac arrest, we have a real chance for a good outcome. A matter of few minutes makes all the difference in saving a life with an AED” says Schiller Americas’ Dr. Francesco Iacona, CEO of Schiller Americas and a Cardiologist MD.

Kahn was clear that the only way to make this happen is through interagency and industry collaboration, and by making transparent and easy to understand regulations.

"I think it's up to our industry to reach out, not only to the FAA, but also to the FDA and try to bring the two of them together to deliver a new revolution in home health care," emphasized Kahn. "If you can get that AED to the individual in that critical time window you can stablize them and provide critical remote monitoring to the recieving doctor at the hospital - drones make that possible. We need the regulations to enable drones to be able to leverage this technology. Placing these drones throughout a city to deploy to any local address when needed will save lives." 

Each year, millions of people around the world die from sudden cardiac arrest (SAC). In the past, we’ve written about how delivery drones carrying AEDs have the “potential to save more than 100,000 lives per year and more than 1 million American lives over each decade to come” if deployed nationwide. That’s why these two companies have partnered and will comarket the product to maximize its availability around the globe.

Available later this year, AEE’s Mach 6 includes AEE’s advanced ground station controller (Y12) with over 2TB of Solid-State memory on board. If needed, AEE can configure unique systems customized to fulfill a wide range of mission profiles.