It is a hovering drone with a propeller in a ring. Unlike his fellows in the shop, he does not carry any navigation system - only a pair of high-resolution optical cameras, the difference in the images from which the UAV is used to stabilize the position in the air relative to the ground. Optionally there is an IR camera (for observation at night), an electric motor, a propeller … and that's it.
Stop. Where is the battery? He's gone. No, it's true: it is claimed that the robot lives without a battery on board at all; this dramatically reduces its weight and allows it to fly on a single charge for up to 50 minutes.
Yes, the word "charging" is in place. Ease (Extreme Access System for Entry), the robot you just saw, is powered by a thin cable painted in camouflage colors - light dark stripes. Judging by the fact that it was not possible to see the coloring in the video, the camouflage works. He has a battery. But she stays with the ground operator. And when it ends - that is, after 50 minutes of continuous flight - the robot 50 cm high and 30 cm in diameter can be powered in "hot mode" from the immediately inserted second battery.
Or simply plugged into the network through an extension cord (if, of course, there is an electrical network nearby). Considering that the spy is offered for tactical reconnaissance in urban battles, there is no need to talk about a normal network nearby. But many American combat vehicles today can power both its batteries and the drone itself directly, which makes its stay in the air very long - equal to the resource of electric motors.
They were developed by CyPhy Works, the new brainchild of Ms. Greiner. As an additional advantage of the machine, the transfer of information by wire is noted, which excludes its interception, as well as the receipt of data by the enemy, as is often the case with conventional UAVs.
The higher-rise Parc can serve not only in urban environments.
Photo: CyPhy Works
Promotional video:
Another drone developed by the startup is called Parc, or Persistent Aerial Reconnaissance and Communications. He looks like a smaller brother. But it is intended for "high-altitude" flight, up to 300 m (the super-thin cable will not let in higher). The high definition camera system is the same as that of Ease, and the battery life is 12 consecutive hours.
There is no doubt that the novelty will arouse the interest of the military: the first government allocations for it were allocated at the stage of bringing the prototypes (in most other countries, UAV developers cannot get money from the military before creating a working model).