MedizDroids Project: Ultra-low cost, low-altitude, affordable and sustainable UAV multicopter drones for mosquito vector control in malaria disease management

Abstract

The goal of the MedizDroid Project is to research the affordable and sustainable use of aerial platforms (UAV, UAS, MAVs, drones, multi-copters and multi-rotors), briefly malaria mosquito control drones, for mosquito vector control and suppression. Mosquitoes are vectors for several diseases including malaria, Chikungunya, dengue fever, lymphatic filariasis (elephantiasis), West Nile virus disease, and yellow fever. Therefore, for each infectious disease, a very important aspect of integrated disease management is vector control. Current methods of mosquito control include using: a) Screens; b) Repellents; c) Insecticide treated bed nets (LLINs, ITNs, INs); d) Indoor residual spraying (IRS); e) Outdoor residual spraying (ORS): treatment of resting sites; f) Larval source management (LSM):treatment of breeding sites and water bodies; larviciding (LC); using biological controls (BC); g) Ultra-Low Volume (ULV) space spraying: aerial spraying; ground vehicle mounted spraying; h) External environment & habitat management, modification and manipulation (EHM*). The focus of the Project is the automation of IRS, ORS, LSM (and later EHM*), in developing affordable and sustainable drone-based systems that can be deployed in malaria endemic sub-Saharan Africa and elsewhere. The current most realistic method of backpack spraying has many challenging issues. Currently the Project is at the stage of specifying, simulating and prototyping subsystems: heavy lift and long endurance UAVs using hybrid power; composite and parasite drones; electronically controllable vector control payloads; and structured software platforms and architectures.