Sat, Jan 09, 2021
Variable CG VTOL Aircraft Could Be A Game Changer
Draganfly has been awarded of a new patent for a VTOL cargo delivery drone with variable center of gravity. The design may be ideal for Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) and for transporting goods in hard to reach areas or flight over people at night.
US Patent No. 10,807,707 is a UAS configured for both vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) and fixed-wing flight operations includes forward, and aft wing assemblies mounted to the fuselage, each wing assembly including port and starboard nacelles terminating in motor-driven rotors powered by an onboard control system capable of adjusting rotor speeds.
The UAS may transition between a powered-lift VTOL configuration to a winged-flight configuration by shifting its center of gravity forward, pivoting the wing assemblies from a powered-lift position perpendicular to the fuselage to a winged-flight position parallel to the fuselage.
The forward rotor blades may be folded back so that the aft rotors may provide primary thrust for winged flight operations. Onboard attitude sensors may detect rotor or control failures, to which the control system responds by triggering a conversion to the winged-flight configuration for recovery operations.
Draganfly recently announced it had been selected by Coldchain Technology Services, LLC to immediately develop and provide flight services of a robust vaccine delivery payload for use in critical regions for drone delivery of the COVID-19 vaccine.
Coldchain Technology Services, LLC provides comprehensive solutions for healthcare supply chain management for multiple government and commercial clients, including the US Army, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Reserve Component forces, Johnson & Johnson brands, Chicago Department of Public Health, and others and has been leading the deployment of COVID-19 vaccines throughout the United States.
Polaris Market Research estimates the medical drone market at USD 947.6 million by 2027. Facts and Factors estimates the global drone package delivery market was estimated at USD 530 million in 2019 and expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 42% from 2020 to 2027.
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