2023 Author: Bryan Walter | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-05-21 22:24
Researchers at the Delft University of Technology have built an unmanned biplane that is capable of vertical take-off and landing. Briefly about the new drone tells IEEE Spectrum.
Traditional multicopters can take off and land vertically, but are ineffective when flying long distances. Airplane-type drones are effective for transporting cargo over long distances, but such drones require special catapults, trebuchets or runways.
The developers of cargo drones are trying in different ways to find the most optimal intermediate solution. For example, you can use separate motors for vertical and horizontal movement of the drone, or build a tailsitter for vertical take-off and landing on the tail - this allows you to design an aircraft-type drone with minimal modifications.
The new drone, named Delftacopter, is a biplane tailsitter. The design uses one propulsion engine and two shunting engines, which are used to stabilize the drone in flight, as well as in hull turns during takeoff and landing. Thanks to the two wings, the developers note, the drone has better maneuverability and stability when switching from vertical to horizontal flight. The drone weighs four kilograms, can spend an hour in the air and flies up to 60 kilometers.
As part of the Medical Express UAV Challenge, which will take place in Australia at the end of September, the new drone will be tested on an autonomous route. Delftacopter will fly 30 kilometers, land at a given point at a safe distance from people. After that, a blood sample will be loaded on board and the drone will have to return to base on its own.
Delftacopter is not the first unmanned tailsitter. Earlier, a drone landing on the tail was presented by the Swiss company Wingtra. The unmanned aerial vehicle, called Wingtra 1, can carry cargo weighing up to 500 grams over a distance of up to 60 kilometers. Among the full-fledged aircraft, the tailsitter scheme was first used by the German company Focke-Wulf - in 1944 the design development and aerodynamic tests of the model were completed, but not a single prototype was built. Later, similar aircraft were tested in the United States in the 50s and 90s, and an aircraft built according to this scheme is going to be tested in our days.
