Imagery of the Paragon T21 Raptor VTOL. (Paragon)
Paragon VTOL Aerospace, a vertical-takeoff-and-landing company behind drones and urban air mobility solutions, has secured next-generation software from Siemens to expedite development of new vehicles and infrastructure in Jamaica.
Siemens Digital industries “is providing an integrated set of STAR-CCM+, NX, and Simcenter software as part of the Siemens Aerospace Startup Program,” director of aerospace and defense Bobby Blackmon told AVI. “Paragon plans to use these integrated solutions for design, optimization, analysis and production of their manned and unmanned VTOL drones.”
STAR-CCM+ is a dynamic physics simulation tool while NX helps the design and manufacture process by allowing the creation and manipulation of digital twins. Paragon founder Dwight Smith is a native Jamaican and the company has partnered with Arotropolis Jamaica to build a UAM ecosystem in the country with the aid of the Siemens technology.
“Our vision is to provide a portfolio of intellectual property, industry-specific drones, human passenger drones, and virtual highway platforms in Jamaica,” Smith said in a statement. “We currently have plans to implement software and hardware programs in 2019 and begin testing their two- to four- passenger drones by year-end 2019.”
That quick turnaround is why Paragon turned to the Siemens startup, which Siemens said it formed with the goal of partnering “with new businesses in Aerospace emerging technology markets” and helping startups embrace the digitization of the development cycle to bring products to market faster. Paragon develops hardware ranging from security applications for agricultural theft and commuter law adherence to, now, passenger vehicles for UAM.
“The aerospace industry is changing rapidly,” Blackmon said. “Companies like Paragon are bringing new, emerging technology to market and changing the way we view the world.”