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A micro UAV that can fly in gusty conditions due to high frequency flapping wings, but also move on the ground using a unique mechanism creating a flexible micro unmanned platform.
About
The essence of this innovation is the core technology to build the smallest Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) in the world, based on a patented engine that is designed to power flapping wing flight. The technology is a magnitude better than the competition, solving the significant issues of insect scale flight and enabling high performance vehicles with tightly integrated sub-systems for sensing and control. One of the key features is the ability to deal with outdoor gusty conditions, and the basis of this solution takes its inspiration from one of nature’s best poor weather fliers: the honey bee. The technology would not have been possible even a few years ago. We are taking advantage of the latest chips from smart phones, sophisticated physics modeling to enhance the design process and cutting edge fabrication techniques such as 3D printing in metal and laser ablation of carbon fibre. As UAVs have gotten smaller and cheaper, their use cases are exploding and are even greater than industry experts thought possible. This technology is key to enabling high performance flapping wing flight at a small scale, and we predict this will power not only this generation of micro UAVs, but the next generations insect scale UAVs. It is this future vision that drives us.
Key Benefits
High-frequency flapping wings create gust tolerance in very light UAV. Tightly integrated electronics facilitates echo location features even in a lightweight UAV.
Applications
Aerial photography