The project was developed by Foster + Partners in conjunction with the Norman Foster Foundation (this is his first "enterprise") and Afrotech - an initiative of the Federal Polytechnic School in Lausanne, aimed at the massive promotion of high technology in Africa.
Africa's population is set to double by 2050, reaching 2.2 billion. At the same time, the mainland is almost devoid of high-quality infrastructure: there are no continental highways at all, there are almost no tunnels, there are not enough bridges, and only a third of Africans live within a 2 km radius of all-season roads. At the same time, the relief of the mainland is extremely diverse and full of serious obstacles to the movement and transportation of goods - mountain ranges, lakes and rivers unsuitable for navigation. At the same time, serious but treatable diseases are widespread in Africa, such as malaria, which kills 450,000 people a year, and sickle cell anemia, from which 100,000 die each year. In the case of malaria, a quarter of deaths could have been avoided if doctors had a supply of blood for transfusion; donated blood is also needed to treat anemia - but it is often not possible to deliver it on time to the site.
Drones, according to the idea of the creators of the project, will be able to do for the delivery of goods what mobile phones did for the communications sector. Unmanned aerial vehicles will be able to deliver, first of all, donated blood, medicines and other urgently needed resources at a distance of up to 100 km from the base, and they are not afraid of any difficulties of the terrain, and such transportation costs very little.
To fully cover the African continent with a drone flight zone, it is necessary to create a significant number of drone ports - bases for unmanned aerial vehicles. Norman Foster and his team drew on both years of experience in pioneering airports and their recent work to design these buildings.
lunar base for the European Space Agency. As in the space project, where an inflatable frame was assumed, and the walls were printed from moon dust on a 3D printer, a minimum of materials will be used in African drone ports.
For the construction of the drone ports, formwork and devices for making bricks will be delivered to the site, the clay for which, like the stones for the foundation, will be mined on site. The construction of the drone port will be carried out by local residents, which will give them income and rewarding experience. This approach is resource efficient in every sense.
Vaulted brick buildings will occupy a minimum of area, but if necessary, large structures can be made from separate cell-modules. Dronoports, as conceived by their creators, will become not only a familiar element of the landscape, like gas stations with the proliferation of cars, but also multifunctional community centers. In addition to the bases for servicing drones, and not only the "humanitarian" Red Line drones, but also the more powerful commercial Blue Line, which are planned to be commissioned later, they will accommodate clinics, post offices and courier services, digital production workshops, e-commerce centers (with delivery of goods via Blue Line).
Thus, the infrastructure leap that Africa needs for development, as envisioned by Norman Foster, can be implemented with cheap, resource-efficient and environmentally friendly means. A pilot project will be launched in Rwanda in 2016, where challenging social and environmental conditions will put the Red Line to the test. The first three dronoports will be built by 2020, which will cover 44% of the country's territory with the drone flight zone. In total, more than 40 bases are planned to be built in the country, and the central location of Rwanda on the mainland will make it easy to expand its network of drone ports to neighboring countries - Congo, Uganda, Tanzania.
For the delivery of emergency cargo, primarily medical, Red Line drones with a wingspan of 3 m, capable of carrying a 10-kilogram cargo, will be used. By 2025, a Blue Line commercial network will be created to deliver spare parts, electronic devices, and e-commerce goods. It will be serviced by drones with a 6-meter wingspan and a payload of 100 kg.
