We are currently on the 5th prototype of the DeltaQuad VTOL and today we have put it through its paces with a 60KM autonomous flight. Over at DronesLab we have been working on this machine for more than a year and are in the final stages before releasing it to market. Above is a sneak preview.
The 60KM flight was planned after settling on the final specs of the fixed wing drive. After this flight the battery had only discharged 65% of it's total capacity. This puts the range of the DeltaQuad on our 100KM goal.
The log of this flight can be found here: http://logs.uaventure.com/view/LDwQsdRc3LpVwrd7EsenR8
We have always been careful with releasing specs as we did not want to over promise anything, but after many inquiries here's a small overview of the current specs;
Cruise speed: 60kph
All out weight: 5.2KG
MTOW: +- 6.5KG
Wing span: 2370mm
Range: 100KM (carrying 1KG payload)
These specs are not final and more tuning will be done to maximize reliability and efficiency.
Uniquely on this airframe the payload bay is located directly on the CG, it can therefor fly with dynamic payload weights without needing to balance the CG. We have also successfully managed to eliminate the requirement for an airspeed sensor (no more daily calibrating required).
It is designed to be controlled from a tablet or cloud system and flies fully autonomous from takeoff to landing.
As with any R&D project it is hard to give timelines but the DeltaQuad should be available in both hobby and commercial versions mid 2017.
Cheers,
DronesLab
Comments
Sander,
This is very exciting, just the sort of platform I am looking for. Is there any way to contact you about learning more about the development? I am working on Sense and Avoid in development with NASA and would love to speak with you.
Great work!
Darren
@sander no doubt. Really exciting excellent work.
@CharlesWood Our 20 sec assembly due to embedded blind plug wing connectors and the fact that this fits in the trunk of a car might give it some additional usefulness over the alternatives.
Reminds of Vayu's early product, but much simpler.
@christopher: There are several challenges in both the software and hardware side. As a member of the PX4 developer team i have done a good deal of work improving the behavior for this type of configuration, specifically on the front and back transition. once the vehicle is in fixed wing mode the behavior is no different from a regular delta wing.
@rana: As stated this is a small teaser, more footage will follow as soon as we launch the product.
Wow, its amazing, pls upload the complete raw video and post link
That's amazing. Are there any unique challenges associated with using a flying wing + quadplane configuration? How well does it respond to pitch inputs?