Who We Are
GFS is a small group of people who took on the challenge of designing and developing a VTOL (vertical take-off and landing) UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) to work in the urban environment – the ultimate test for a UAV.
We studied the Coanda effect (link to technology page) in both workshop tests and academically, with the support of Cambridge University’s Aeronautics Department, to see how it could be incorporated into the design of a VTOL UAV. We raised private finance from the Cambridgeshire area and investors spread across the UK and we won a SMART grant from the Regional Development Agency in Cambridge to help fund the proof of concept work. We categorised the steps needed to take the initial design from proof of concept through to a fully autonomous UAV capable of performing useful missions. Five years later, our craft now achieves stable flight and can perform ISR (Intelligence, Surveillance & Reconnaissance) missions in the urban environment.
We are now focused on the engineering tasks required to give the craft more endurance, improved power to weight ratios and a rugged and economic construction. Much of this work is being undertaken with partner organisations such as Lola Composites.