Amazing product from H3 Dynamics in Singapore. We've always dreamed of drones that could be deployed like sprinkler systems -- place and forget, and they just do their job, sending data to the cloud. Looks like we're almost there.
From Gizmag:
The proliferation of drones for a multitude of tasks has led to improved autonomy, and reduced the level of human intervention. On the flip side, however, people are still needed to physically wrangle drones to a site whenever they are required, and much time and expense is spent deploying them. To help reduce this burden, the new Dronebox nesting platform has been created to provide 24/7 autonomous capabilities to drones. It provides an automated recharging and storage station that can be left on site so a dedicated Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) can be deployed on-call or routinely for many months at a time.
Touted by the makers as an all-inclusive, self-powered system that can be deployed anywhere, the Dronebox designed as a UAV solution to follow on from the likes of remote monitors and camera systems used today. As such, the creators envisage the replacement of these fixed monitoring methods with deploy-on-demand or programmed-cycle UAVs to provide a more flexible and intuitive way to keep an eye on things.
With batteries automatically charged within its shelter system using solar panels, the Dronebox can also be upgraded using a product known as Remobox to provide a small back-up fuel cell system to extend remote deployment for a year or more. The Remobox also provides add-on communications features and environmental monitoring to ensure a nested drone is operating in optimal conditions.
Dronebox also provides the ability to link drones and Droneboxes in a similar fashion to the Internet of Things (IoT), where varied and disparate devices are interconnected to collect and exchange data. In this way, arrays of wirelessly linked Droneboxes and their associated UAVs operate through a central hub, where all of their sensors are channeled through a unified analytics system to create what the makers call a "sensor fabric" that provides real-time, overall situational awareness of everything under surveillance.
As a connected network, Dronebox's effectiveness using collaborative technologies means that a UAV nested and deployed automatically could also offer a line of first response in forest fires, chemical spills, earthquakes, and other disasters before humans arrive. With multiple sets of drones monitoring all aspects of a catastrophe via the previously mentioned sensor fabric, the situation could be assessed and actions planned and resourced well ahead of any response, thereby saving what could amount to many critical hours of time on the ground for rescue teams, firefighters, and disaster recovery personnel.
The creators of Dronebox also believe that mobile sensors hosted in networked Droneboxes could help transform border and perimeter security, wildlife protection, critical infrastructure maintenance, telecommunications tower and wind turbine maintenance, oil and gas asset inspection, and precision agriculture.
On display for the first time at the Singapore Air Show this month, Droneboxes, Remoboxes, and their supporting technologies are slated for launch in the commercial marketplace some time within the next six months.
Comments
You really can't see the practical applications of being able to leave a drone in a location and have it conduct scheduled missions? And you can't see the applications for a fleet of such drones?
I think your just being difficult on purpose.
@Erik,
why do you need to store the drone in the huge box, not afixed to the bottom ?
Do you buy heavy truck to park your personal car ?
If you mean $100 toolbox so it's ok, you can affix solar panels to your toolbox but the drone itself is small and the toolbox is huge.
2 drones > 2 huge toolboxes
To accomodate 5 drones in the droneboxes you really need to buy a truck.
To charge drone battery you need larger solar panels, smart powerbank, inverter.
Basic problem is how to fix the drone within the dronebox to not move while driving.
Anyway, @Darius, I think the point is to store the drone in a safe place protected from the elements while not in use. And it's pretty smart technology when you look at the whole package, not just the charging component.
There is no need to build such heavy drone lunch station.
Solar panels can be put to the ground and drone can be launched from solar panel directly.
6 cell solar panel is 3.6 V in output , 24w and another panel x 2
3.6 V + 3.6V = 7.2V, 48W at 1,000w/m2 insolation level.
Really not smart technology solution.
An IR-LOCK user reported a summary of their results from an automated 30x precision land test. The test was 3x10 (i.e., 3 tests w/ 10x precision lands each).
Landing Accuracy Stats - distance of sensor from target:
max: 22 cm
avg: 10.7 cm
stdev: 5.8 cm
These precision landings were performed onto the ground (not onto a 'box') in light wind, and a laser rangefinder was used for AGL altitude readings. I consider these results to be 'good'.
If anybody is designing a fully automated system, I recommend programming some intelligence into the landing procedure. e.g., don't continue descent if far off-course, relative to target. You never know when a gust of wind is coming. :)
Yes, if we're looking for reasonable precision landing accuracy specifications, I think for a non-moving platform, consistent landings (10 in a row?) within 10cm of the target should be judged "very good" and within 30cm should be judge "acceptable" (so over 30cm is unacceptable). So I think people should design the landing platforms to handle this level of accuracy. Maybe that means putting upward slanted edges on the platform. At least I think the vehicle shouldn't topple to the ground and break itself if it's only say 30cm off from the target.
... and <2cm is honestly a bit too much to ask when operating in outdoor conditions, unless you re-try the landing over and over again.
@Bill
That is a good point. It is important to realize how wide a copter can be from (propeller) tip to tip.
The landing accuracy can be improved after careful controls tuning, but you can save yourself a lot of time in controls development costs if the dimensions are a bit more forgiving.
The box is too small. The iris maybe able to land, but the lid is 100% likely to catch the props as it closes. Solo is a bit smaller tip to tip, but the precision landing needs to be <2cm accurate I'd guess.
@Diamond: newer drones such as Solo have smart batteries that do internal balancing during charging.
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