HORYZN emergency UAV harnesses CFRP tooling from Voith Composites

Voith Composites (Garching bei München, Germany) announces its support of HORYZN’s latest project, an electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) for medical emergencies. Voith provided its carbon fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP) tooling solution, Carbon4Tool, which has reportedly helped the project achieve early success. 

HORYZN is a student initiative focused on real-world use cases for UAVs. The team from TU Munich (Germany) works collaboratively on the design, development and implementation of UAVs for social good. The organization was founded in 2019 to channel the theoretical knowledge gained at TU Munich and turn it into practical solutions for real-world problems. After the success of its first project, Project Silencio, a new team came together to develop Mission Pulse.

Only 11% of patients who suffer a sudden cardiac arrest in Germany survive. The purpose of Mission Pulse, therefore, is to shorten the time a patient must wait for potentially life-saving treatment from a defibrillator by delivering one via a UAV.

With a subsidiary in Garching, team at HORYZN was already familiar with Voith Composites. A collaboration was the next step, once developers decided they wanted to use carbon fiber materials to build the aircraft, which meant they needed access to carbon fiber-reinforced epoxy prepreg tools. Knowledge sharing was also an important aspect of the collaboration — HORYZN knew they needed to work with an organization that could support gaps in their knowledge and help them take their project to the next level.

Using Carbon4Tool from Voith Composites, HORYZN is leveraging the benefits of CFRP prepreg stacks to build and enhance its UAV. This includes the production of cost-effective components with performance in mind and no compromise on durability. Quality components will help HORYZN secure industry accreditations and approval for its UAV when it is complete.

First, the HORYZN team conceptually developed its drone, detailing the aircraft’s component parts. From here, they analyzed each part, defined the dimensions and calculated the aerodynamic specifications.

Once completed, the CAD team designed the aircraft. Using this data, the team was able to mill the molds used to make the prepreg tools. The surfaces were cleaned and sealed to enhance durability, which was a key consideration for the team. 

Voith Composites provided the advanced materials to build the CFRP tools made from Carbon4Tool prepreg stacks. The tools were cured in an autoclave, removing any trapped air and compressing the material. The rationale for using CFRP prepreg tooling was based on the benefits they offer — time and cost efficiencies.

The developed Mission Pulse aircraft has a wingspan of more than 2.5 meters and weighs around 16 kilograms, with a payload is around two kilograms. The finished product must be durable yet lightweight enough to travel at speed (cruise speed is 120 kilometers per hour), according to HORYZN; the aim is to reach a medical emergency in less than six minutes. The UAV has also been developed to hover for long periods of time, a key requirement that enables the defibrillator to be lowered so medical professionals (who are alerted via an app) have everything they need to administer the life-saving treatment.

As a result of the collaboration, HORYZN was reportedly able to streamline its development and manufacturing processes for the aircraft. This means the Mission Pulse team is on track to meet their targets for the rest of the year, which will result in a UAV that can save lives. The team at HORYZN is already planning to work with Voith Composites on a new project.

“Voith Composites guided us through workshops, continuous contact and support. We learned a lot in a short space of time. The team was ready and eager to offer help and support throughout the manufacturing process,” Osama Atwi, project engineer at HORYZN, says. “We would like to thank everyone from the Voith Composites team for all the support, team spirit and guidance they gave us to help get Mission Pulse off the ground.”

Learn more about how Voith Composites can support your project.