With the number of multi-rotor drone concepts competing for a narrow market share, you really need a unique selling point if you want to get your project off the ground. In the case of the developers of the Cargo Unmanned Air System (UAS), their point of difference is to claim a massive 60 kg (132 lb) lift capacity for their proof of concept, with the promise of an eventual production unmanned aerial vehicle that can carry payloads of up to 400 kg (880 lb) with automated "sense and avoid" capability.
The UAS team envisage that items such as mail and parcels, food and water, or even medical supplies and emergency equipment could all be delivered more quickly and securely than is possible with ground transport. As such, they argue that the increasing overcrowding on highways could be avoided using such a system but, more importantly, they believe that in emergency situations such as floods where existing road infrastructure has been damaged or is otherwise impassable, their UAS could be deployed to deliver medical supplies or food to stranded people.
Full article here: Cargo UAS
Comments
Oh dear Jakey. Hope you didn't lose too much. This is one of the reasons I avoid kickstarter.
Actually, X8 is not that inefficient, if you compensate with a bigger disc area. You still lose efficiency through the coaxial setup, but you benefit from the larger useable disc area of a quad (assuming overall size is constant).
But agree on everything else.
Unfortunately the guy in question is neither credible nor reliable. Myself and a colleague invested some money into a company which he was a part of a few months ago. He ripped us off and is now using the prototype that we funded to look for further investment through KickStarter. He's been reported.
@Euan,
Your comments are the main reason that I posted this blog.
I believe that this project is really a "pie in the sky" effort and I will be really surprised if it is ever completed at a price point that even commercial ventures would be willing to pay.
Regards,
TCIII ArduRover2 Developer
LOL - I like the ideal of scaling...yeah, lets just "select and drag" within CAD! yeah, we can carry 400kg now!
God, I really hate some the implausible crap that comes out of kickstarter.
As someone who's designing a package to lift 15kg (I'll be testing a 5kg version next month), I do wonder how they plan to build a MR that can lift 60-400kg but still fit into "cluttered" airspace such as streets.
And it'll be *really* expensive, given it will exceed the upper weight limits of SUAV's in most countries, requiring full certification and pilot licences.
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