SurVoyeur, the Rugged Electric Flyer from NamPilot, Namibia
You may remember our previous posts of Guppy, Hornbill and Kiwit. Well, we now have a fully composite UAV, called SurVoyeur, in production. This aircraft is a sub 4.5kg electric, able to carry up to 600grams payloads for up to 45minutes. It is also a fully autonomous system, with full autolaunch and autoland in harsh terrain. It has been extensively flown here in Namibia, mostly on land surveying missions, photographing up to 150hectare in one flight. We have fitted it with a Samsung 20Mpixel camera, giving us down to 2cm ground resolution on the resulting georeferenced ortho-images.
It is fitted with a Hacker A30-12XL motor and a 12x8 folding prop. 2 Lipo packs are used, 4 cell 5Ah each.
Takeoff in no wind is in 8 meters ground run, climb out at 7meters/sec @ sea level.
We have also fitted the FLIR TAU-2 IR camera and the FLIR QUARK IR camera and are currently busy with flight trials with a view to using the system as a further aid to the Ministry for Conservation here, for anti-poaching efforts.
Here are some pictures showing the path walked to get to the above result......
First the fuselage plug primed then painted :
And a bunch of wings cut and ready for vacuum bagging:
All these parts were designed on a CAD system with a full 3d Model created for all parts. Molds were made for fuselage, horizontal and vertical stabs ( and for the V tail stab) and for the many small parts that go into such a project.
Here are the horizontal and vertical stabs:
And the Vertical Stabs:
The Vertical Stab Molds:
Many Parts:
Here is a PDF of the system, for info.
And some videos:
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Comment by Lorentz on June 27, 2012 at 7:37am -
Thanks
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Comment by Mauricio on June 27, 2012 at 10:00am
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that's a nice job. Looks like a pretty plane to me!
What's the Price - website?
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Comment by Robert Sinclair on June 27, 2012 at 2:43pm -
I'd be really interested in seeing a price for these, both tail setups
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Comment by James masterman on June 27, 2012 at 6:47pm -
Nice work. To become serious work tools, this is how UAV's will need to be constructed. Foamies are great for the low cost, low margin hobby market, but won't last long in a tough work environment. Here in Western Australia, we have similar conditions to Namibia, especially in the mining areas where a lot of the use for these tools will be.
Good luck with your project. It's good to see the market maturing.
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Developer Comment by R_Lefebvre on June 27, 2012 at 8:04pm -
James, I agree. Nothing made out of foam or wood is a serious industrial tool.
This whole thing makes me think that a Robin by Andy Lennon could actually be a good UAV aircraft. The flight characteristics are exceptional, but I always though the front engine was a non-starter. It sort of is in a gas/glow application, because you'll constantly end up with oil all over the mid-mounted camera. But electric power solves that.
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Developer Comment by R_Lefebvre on June 27, 2012 at 8:07pm
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Moderator Comment by Gary Mortimer on June 27, 2012 at 10:17pm -
Thats Robin is a great looking thing!
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Comment by Dimitar Kolev on June 28, 2012 at 1:59am
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Say something about ready to fly kits and price/delivery time - if you have time for such?
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Comment by Mike on June 28, 2012 at 4:55am
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Want more info? Just google NamPilot. This is a sophisticated and impressive set-up as evidenced with reading their PDFs describing NamPilot Autopilot, Ground Control Station and Inertial Autopilot Sensor Pack.
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Comment by Mike on June 28, 2012 at 4:59am
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@Robin aircraft . . . is there a equivalent sized electric engine conversion from Robin's OS.46AX glow plug engine?
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