3D Robotics

Skate drone folds up into a lunch box


Aurora Flight Science's prototype VTOL Skate folds up real small (see below). From the official site:


"Aurora’s Skate UAS merges the simplicity and endurance of a fixed wing platform with the maneuverability and mission flexibility of a vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) asset. Independently articulating motor pods allow the Skate UAS to rapidly transition between vertical and horizontal flight. Transferring from hovering to wingborne flight increases the endurance and range of the system to levels characteristic of a fixed wing platform and far beyond those of a traditional VTOL asset. The thrust vectoring provided by the motor pods also enables extreme maneuverability allowing the Skate UAS to fly both vertically and horizontally indoors, enabling rapid navigation of cluttered environments such as city streets or inside buildings."



(Photos from Wired's Danger Room blog)

E-mail me when people leave their comments –

You need to be a member of diydrones to add comments!

Join diydrones

Comments

  • Wow, I worked on that while I was at Aurora a year ago. It's good to see the updated design.
  • Developer
    I really like that folding wing design and also that it's made from foam.. tho I wonder what wind does for it :)
This reply was deleted.