{"id":53786,"date":"2023-12-08T08:00:22","date_gmt":"2023-12-08T13:00:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.solidworks.com\/solidworksblog\/?p=53786"},"modified":"2023-12-04T11:35:40","modified_gmt":"2023-12-04T16:35:40","slug":"swoop-aero-accelerates-development-and-ramps-up-production-with-3dexperience-works","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.solidworks.com\/solidworksblog\/2023\/12\/swoop-aero-accelerates-development-and-ramps-up-production-with-3dexperience-works.html","title":{"rendered":"Swoop Aero Accelerates Development and Ramps Up Production with 3DEXPERIENCE Works"},"content":{"rendered":"

Australian manufacturer Swoop Aero<\/a> developed the first end-to-end drone logistics platform capable of delivering vital payloads to remote areas. While many transport drone companies use multiple complex systems and aircraft types to support regional transport operations worldwide, Swoop Aero\u2019s fully integrated drone, launch, and control system\u2014with no need for plug-ins or external dependencies\u2014makes its services more secure and affordable.<\/p>\n

Swoop Aero\u2019s initial Kookaburra\u2122 and its latest Kite\u2122 drone aircraft have helped save thousands of lives by delivering vaccines and medicine to hard-to-reach areas, including remote locations in Vanuatu, Mozambique, Malawi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

According to Andrew Thomas, Chief Product Officer and project lead of the airframe design team, Swoop Aero developed its Kookaburra drone using SOLIDWORKS\u00ae desktop 3D design solutions via the SOLIDWORKS for Startups program<\/a>. When the company needed increased collaboration and improved data management capabilities, it sought a cloud-based solution to support remote work and transparent product data management in the cloud.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we began developing the Kite aircraft in late 2021\/early 2022, we wanted to improve product data and life cycle management as we undertook designing an aircraft that represented a greater level of complexity and sophistication,\u201d Thomas explains. \u201cWe also needed to ramp up production and believed that a cloud-based solution could help us develop, manage, and produce a more complicated design more quickly and affordably.\u201d Swoop Aero added solutions from the cloud-based 3D<\/strong>EXPERIENCE\u00ae Works<\/a> portfolio to its existing SOLIDWORKS desktop installation.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Managing Complex Engineering Challenges<\/strong><\/p>\n

Using lessons learned from more than 22,000 flights with the Kookaburra drone, Swoop Aero began developing the Kite transport drone with advanced detect and avoid safety technology housed in injection-molded parts in a modular design.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith a modular design of an incredibly complex aircraft, in which certain components and assemblies can be switched out to, for example, handle different payloads, we needed a way to keep on top of data management without the expense of a full-time PDM administrator,\u201d Thomas continues. \u201cThe cloud-based 3D<\/strong>EXPERIENCE platform<\/a> allowed us to conduct fast design iterations while easily managing all the resulting revisions to design data. With 3D<\/strong>EXPERIENCE Works solutions, our designers can keep their focus on the design and collaborate more effectively, resulting in faster development.\u201d<\/p>\n

Swoop Aero is also tapping into digital twin technologies to support every one of its flights; the technology provides real-time data for each of its aircraft\u2019s onboard analytics, movements, and functionality, providing supreme control and safety. \u201cWe operate a virtual twin in the cloud\u2014an exact digital replica of the entire aircraft\u2014configured for each specific flight,\u201d Thomas points out. \u201cThe virtual twin lets us monitor what is happening with an aircraft in flight as well as send updates to address detected issues.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Collaboration Leads to Success<\/strong><\/p>\n

With such complex engineering, Swoop Aero has benefited from the speed and collaborative nature of the 3D<\/strong>EXPERIENCE platform during development. \u201cOur company has a great culture, and the interesting thing about the 3D<\/strong>EXPERIENCE platform is that it\u2019s designed to support how we work, providing the agility and collaboration that leads to success,\u201d Thomas stresses.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019d like more information about how adding cloud-based 3D<\/strong>EXPERIENCE Works to your SOLIDWORKS installation can accelerate innovative design and improve collaboration, contact your local reseller<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Innovative drone manufacturer increases collaboration, speeds design iterations, and improves product life cycle management by adding 3DEXPERIENCE Works to their SOLIDWORKS installation.<\/p>\n

ShortURL: solidworks.com\/swoopaero
\nFull URL: https:\/\/www.solidworks.com\/customer-story\/swoop-aero-accelerates-development-and-ramps-production-3dexperience-works<\/p>\n... Continued<\/a>","protected":false},"author":107,"featured_media":53784,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2933,3285,563,50,3,26,826,14,18],"tags":[116,1890,4365,209,276,19,2254],"class_list":["post-53786","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-3dexperience","category-3dexperienceworks","category-cloud-computing","category-collaboration","category-community","category-customer-stories","category-dassault-systmes","category-design","category-solidworks","tag-3d-cad-software","tag-3dexperience","tag-digital-twin","tag-innovation","tag-pdm","tag-solidworks-2","tag-startups"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.solidworks.com\/solidworksblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53786","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.solidworks.com\/solidworksblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.solidworks.com\/solidworksblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.solidworks.com\/solidworksblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/107"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.solidworks.com\/solidworksblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=53786"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.solidworks.com\/solidworksblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53786\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":53792,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.solidworks.com\/solidworksblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53786\/revisions\/53792"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.solidworks.com\/solidworksblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/53784"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.solidworks.com\/solidworksblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=53786"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.solidworks.com\/solidworksblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=53786"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.solidworks.com\/solidworksblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=53786"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}