SOLIDWORKS for Good: Eye Above Wildlife Conservation Drone Project
Wildlife crime continues to devastate Africa’s efforts to protect rhinos and other endangered wildlife. The Eye Above NPC, inspired by the Tsonga phrase “Tihlo Henhla” meaning “Eye Above,” reflects their core mission: to revolutionize conservation efforts across Southern Africa by deploying cutting-edge drone technology in the harsh, demanding environments where endangered wildlife needs it most.
Through the SOLIDWORKS for Good program, Dassault Systèmes, support from the SOLIDWORKS team, SOLIDWORKS Reseller MECAD SA, founder Robert Miller and the Eye Above are making a difference in the environment and animal preservation.
With innovative drone technology, AI programming and training, the Eye Above is also creating skilled jobs in rural communities.
I was fortunate to hear from Robert on how the SOLIDWORKS for Good program is making a difference in both his projects and designs. Robert stated, “On the project related side, we plan to put 15 of these Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) into service but we will need funding support to build them and we need the support of the public and corporations to make this happen.
On the design side, I wish that people would dare to be different, break the rules, try new things and don’t stick to what everyone else does! SOLIDWORKS lets you design what your imagination can conjure up and then lets you test it. This aircraft is radically different to most fixed-wing VTOLs and given that we have a tiny budget, we had to trust SOLIDWORKS to simulate every aspect of the design before committing to building anything and SOLIDWORKS hasn’t let us down.”
Robert praised the efforts of SOLIDWORKS experts, Stephane Bonnamour, Omar Zohni, Peter Kjellbotn, Andrew Barnes, Suchit Jain and Rudolf van den Berg and the MECAD team for volunteering their guidance to develop advanced designs, flow and structural simulations.
This summer, the Eye Above has partnered with the Endangered Wildlife Trust (EWF) and International Crane Foundation (ICF) with a focus to protect cranes and their critical habitats.
Another drone deployment will occur with Greater Kruger Landscape. This project covers the vast landscape of Kruger National Park and protected lands in South Africa.
To find out more about the Eye Above, their projects, fundraising campaigns, partnership, and volunteer opportunities, go here,
Robert went on to say, “I am not one for believing in fate or aligned stars but when I was thinking how to describe this project all I could think of was that ‘this project is a rare convergence of brilliance, where countless incredible people, with perfect timing, came together in an almost cosmic alignment, creating the unstoppable momentum that ensured its success.”‘
The Eye Above has sought help in many areas and have often been turned down, but in every case when the right company did come along it had incredible people like you (the SOLIDWORKS/MECAD team). The same happened with HP Additive Manufacturing Solutions who have some amazing people and in fact the same is also true for every one of our other partners, EWT, ICF, SONY, Hitec Group USA, CubePilot, Ardupilot, AOC, Flying Robot, Wham Bam Systems.
Robert concluded, “This has truly turned into “A revolutionary drone, made unstoppable by the coalition it unites to protect our wildlife.”
Thank you Robert for sharing your story with the SOLIDWORKS Community and developing innovative drone technology for critical conservation wildlife efforts in Africa. Thank you SOLIDWORKS team for volunteering to assist the Eye Above.
Design well. Marie
Marie Planchard