(pensive music)
- My name is Cameron Chell
and I'm the CEO and president of Draganfly Innovations.
There's two primary areas
that Draganfly is working in Ukraine.
The first is in humanitarian relief.
So we have what we call a medical response drone
that we've designed,
and that medical response drone
delivers at a range of up to 20 kilometers,
30 pounds of temperature-sensitive medical supplies.
So, those would be things like insulin,
or antibiotics,
or painkillers, or vaccines,
or things that are like critical in nature.
And then the second area that we're working in
is in mine detection.
So, we've got a number of drones
that we've designed and built,
and accompanying sensors and software
that help identify different types of mines
or anomalies in fields
where there might be unexploded ordinance
or obviously, where mines have been laid.
So metal mines you can find with different types of sensors,
like a magnetometer.
You know, a ceramic mine obviously much more difficult
because it doesn't have a metal component to it.
So, you could use things like a thermal camera,
do a scan of the field or the area of interest
in the morning, right, and see what's there.
And then do it again in the afternoon,
because ceramic and things like plastic, will heat up.
So, you then capture those signatures
and can map those differences.
But we also use things like hyper-spectral cameras,
multi-spectral cameras, LIDAR systems.
So it's a series of about
five to seven different types of sensors,
and all of that data then combines
to provide you with a map or an indication
of where these anomalies might exist.
So, along with the humanitarian drones
that are delivering medical supplies,
we are also providing drones in there
that are using thermal or infrared
to look through things like debris to find heat signatures
to speed up the time that search and rescue teams
can actually find somebody in a debris section,
or who might be lost, or injured, or unresponsive.
(pensive music)
What has stuck with me
is the resolve of the Ukrainian people,
the fortitude of the people.
I have no doubt in my mind
that they are fighting for our freedom.
They're fighting for their own freedom
and for their own home country,
and their own rights and liberties,
but they're fighting for all of us, as well.
And so, to see them take this fight on
and just be so resolute
in what they are going to accomplish,
what they are doing, the sacrifice they're making,
and quite amazingly, just taking it in stride,
is really what stands out.
The second thing that stands out for me is the innovation.
So the ability for the Ukrainian people
to look at the equipment in hand
and find innovative ways to use it.
It really is absolutely incredible
what they've been able to do
with the resources that they have.
And we see things like drones
being this massive force multiplier
that really helps equalize the situation there
that's very difficult and lopsided in terms of just numbers
if we think of it that way.
And the third thing that that has stood out for me
is on the last trip over there,
is just how quickly they're rebuilding things.
Like, how quickly they're trying to normalize things.
You know, how they're moving burned out equipment
out of the way and rebuilding bridges and things
where as much as possible they're living life as normal.
While at the same time, you know,
taking on this fight for the rest of us.
(pensive music)
(chill music)