A semi-autonomous civilian UAV system designed for hunters and fisherman. The current
project is called The VULTURE System (Versatile Unmanned Lingering
Terrain Utilization and REcon ). It will be used to help hunters and fisherman find
game and schools of fish as well as to find the best areas to hunt in and paths to take.
The user will be able to unpack the system take off vertically and look at the view from the air and then circling areas of interest until the hunter, fisherman or team of eithar can reach the location. The system is not designed to be ultra portable from the ground, but more with someone dedicated to ground support at camp or on a boat to guide the team.
Key
Features:
VTOL Capabilities
Long range communications
Long flight duration (<30 minutes)
Autonomous loitering abilities
Waypoint navigation and return to user in the event of not receiving transmissions
Infrared camera for finding game, schools of fish and night time recon
Initial testing of certain functions will be done on a SkyHawk powered glider
Final testing and platform will be a modified Predator pictured above
Comments
And why not? If the airframe is used to hunt people in a larger form, couldn't this be used to find game as well? Like I said to each his own, the reasons you may think it's ridiculous might be the very reasons it appeals to certain crowds.
Well I am going to attempt it with this platform, might not be easy, but, I believe I can pull it off. I am not sure exaclty how fish detection will end up working, maybe infrared won't help in that area. I do know that at low altitudes schools of fish close to the surface can be seen in bodies of water, maybe it will only be a daytime aid. Maybe some sort of sonar system could work but, this is just one of the details that will have to be worked out.
Hi Nicholas,
how do you want to detect fish? Thermal and near infrared don´t look into water... Blue gets in some meters, but be aware of waves (small ones)... Nothing to see through :-(
And VTOL with this small platform is quite ambitious without the other tasks... Would be nice, but did not see too many successful VTOL planes, even less with autopilot inside.
Probably a multicopter is a better platform for your task? You don´t need to fly fast, more like stay over positions. And 30min endurance is possible. And for fish detection you could hang down a fish sonar from the copter on a line. A much better sensor then EO for underwater.
Happy building!
Marc
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