Sky Sapience Delivers pre-Production Hovermast to IDF
Hovermast answers the requirement for rapid and timely intelligence gathering at the tactical echelon. The system employs a sophisticated, electrically powered platform using a main lift fan and four stabilizing rotors, maintaining the platform in flight, hovering and maintaining stable line of sight with a target of interest even when subjected to strong winds or wind gusts. The system carries sophisticated multi-sensor payloads operating day and night under all weather conditions. Hovermast 100 carries 13 pounds (6 kg) of payloads.
Comments
May I call you Thomas? Same name as #1 son, Thomas Martin, and new member of the UAS community.
Your reply, while not greeted with very much rejoicing on this end, makes a convincing argument for using considerable discretion in regard to commercial UAS activities (note the recent LAPD crackdown :-(*. Understandably, action by LA's finest was almost inevitable, as prospects for swarms of UAS crowding urban skies is not appealing. The High Sierra, where Tom lives, perhaps not so much, although local authorities will doubtless begin paying more attention.
Regarding the LA situation, as others have observed, a cynic might be inclined to wonder if pressure from the many Hollywood operators (helicopter services, light aircraft, etc.) whose oxen were in line to be gored, may have influenced the decision by LA's finest. I would never suggest that myself, of course :-).
Here's an example from one of Tom's recent efforts:
https://vimeo.com/78591342
Best wishes and please remember to forward your findings.
*Hmmm, does a reversed parenthesis (end of frowny emoticon) serve to properly close a parenthetical comment?
Steve: My interest in the DIYdrones community is as a hobbyist, but most of my knowledge and experience comes from my job, so... I'll try to find a public source for my info.
We (the company I work for) have been working on tethered multirotor vehicles as "tethered aerial platforms". There are differing opinions within the FAA, but the official position is that tethered copters do not fall under "14 CFR Part 101" (tethered balloons, kites, amateur rockets, etc). A tethered copter is still a copter, and a 8-pound flying robot is the same as a 700-pound flying robot. Maybe, some day, they'll add a new category for semi-autonomous very-small tethered VTOL... but it's going to be a while.
Sky Sapience is an Israeli company, and the IDF is the military of Israel. They do not answer to the FAA.
My advice: fly safe, and call your government representatives with complaints about the rules.
Sent a friend request to ask for a clarification, but this would be quicker.
Back on page two, you said "The FAA says that tethered UAVs don't get any special privileges...".
You don't include any source docs (Hey, what do think this is Steve, Wikipedia ? :-) and I would appreciate knowing where you obtained that nugget.
I just joined the Forum, so I'm probably the last guy to learn "tethered UAV's" don't get no slack.
Thanks!
Finally a platform with no flyaways..
I had a similar thought to this a while back, a nice tethered antenna mast that you could raise or lower in a similar fashion such as this.
The question is how much power is required for such a setup? Without having battery onboard that is good, but you have to take into account the weight of the wire, and the loading of the wind on the cable.
Looks like it was designed by a Star Wars fan ... nice in a retro sort of way, but all that shrouding sure makes it a fat target (if this is intended for any sort of tactical use).
HeliStorm, you'll have to keep that "kite" under 5 pounds - above that and the FAA claims to rule!
Here's another YouTube clip which shows a close up look at the system and how it deploys.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_mQ1cd8gUY
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