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For those blocked by a paywall, Real Engineering did a video on it [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jEbRVNxL44c https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jEbRVNxL44c]. Th

by SPBS 4y ago

For those blocked by a paywall, Real Engineering did a video on it [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jEbRVNxL44c https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jEbRVNxL44c]. The most interesting aspects to me were: - The drone is not a quadcopter, they are too inefficient. Mini plane design. - GPS device is directly attached to the swappable battery unit to ensure it is always connected to a satellite, eliminating satellite connection delays when the drone powers up. - It is launched into a sky by a powered rail. It doesn't need to land to deliver the goods, the items get parachuted down. No infrastructure needed on the receiving end, the item just drops from the sky. - For landing the drone flies past an aircraft arresting wire while hooking onto it which decelerates it and causes it to swing down (suspended above the ground). Easy to retrieve.

tomcam 4y ago
Beautiful summary. Thank you very much.
ge96 4y ago
Yeah I think that swappable battery design is pretty slick it's a big unit
- sgtnoodle 4y ago
  It's been great for streamlining operations. The first generation of aircraft we deployed to Rwanda didn't yet have blind-mate connections for the battery pack. Operators had to reach in and connect two connectors. The plastic tabs that retained the connectors would tend to break off after a while, requiring the operators to secure them with a zip tie, on every flight! I forget what generation of vehicle was featured in Real Engineering, but I suspect we're one generation past that one, and the batteries are a bit more streamlined from that. I haven't paid attention to the statistics in a while, but these days the busiest distribution centers can launch a vehicle once per minute or so, and they do.
  - sgtnoodle 4y ago
    Yeah, I just skimmed the video, and that aircraft is one generation behind the current design. It was a good aircraft! The new one looks very similar externally, just a lot more optimized internally. One of the sound bits I heard while skimming was that the recovery system misses 10% of the time. We've dialed it in to be considerably better since then. I'm going to forward that timestamp to a particular coworker and see if it causes his eye to twitch... :-)
    - ge96 4y ago
      Man that's such a cool job/place to work. I was curious, I don't know if you can answer this or if it's public info. Do the aircraft boards/computer get tied to some kind of simulator and (autonomously) fly around/run the actual control surfaces (in reality) as it flies in the simulation that would be neat. Although it might not make sense.
      - sgtnoodle 4y ago
        Yep, that's a thing. It's called "hardware in the loop". There are indeed control surface servo motors plugged in, and they move around to wherever the flight computer commands them to based on what the simulated vehicle is doing. Unlike a real vehicle, though, the boards and wire harnesses are quite a bit messier. All the important wires run through additional equipment so that folk can automate tests where things break. One thing that we don't have plugged in normally is the propulsion motors. The noise would be rather obnoxious considering the HIL setups are in the office. Also, I believe we still omit the wing tip LEDs; not only would they be obnoxiously bright, but they would melt themselves for lack of actual airflow!
        ge96 4y ago
        oh dang that's a good point about the temperature, guess LEDs can get hot that's cool, I'm gonna look into that "hardware in the loop"
- kumarvvr 4y ago
  Its not just the swappable part. I think they have modularized all the electronics and GPS communication systems inside it, so that it is always booted and on standby. As soon as it is incorporated into a drone, it will be ready for work. Another innovation is the clip on wings. I think this is clever engineering and a necessity for their time to fly requirements.
micromacrofoot 4y ago
I love how the modularity makes for quick recovery from hardware failure and makes it easier to carry around it seems the operations have been cleverly simplified too, I hope they can successfully expand!

by SPBS 4y ago

tomcam 4y ago

Beautiful summary. Thank you very much.

ge96 4y ago

Yeah I think that swappable battery design is pretty slick it's a big unit

sgtnoodle 4y ago
It's been great for streamlining operations. The first generation of aircraft we deployed to Rwanda didn't yet have blind-mate connections for the battery pack. Operators had to reach in and connect two connectors. The plastic tabs that retained the connectors would tend to break off after a while, requiring the operators to secure them with a zip tie, on every flight! I forget what generation of vehicle was featured in Real Engineering, but I suspect we're one generation past that one, and the batteries are a bit more streamlined from that. I haven't paid attention to the statistics in a while, but these days the busiest distribution centers can launch a vehicle once per minute or so, and they do.
- sgtnoodle 4y ago
  Yeah, I just skimmed the video, and that aircraft is one generation behind the current design. It was a good aircraft! The new one looks very similar externally, just a lot more optimized internally. One of the sound bits I heard while skimming was that the recovery system misses 10% of the time. We've dialed it in to be considerably better since then. I'm going to forward that timestamp to a particular coworker and see if it causes his eye to twitch... :-)
  - ge96 4y ago
    Man that's such a cool job/place to work. I was curious, I don't know if you can answer this or if it's public info. Do the aircraft boards/computer get tied to some kind of simulator and (autonomously) fly around/run the actual control surfaces (in reality) as it flies in the simulation that would be neat. Although it might not make sense.
    - sgtnoodle 4y ago
      Yep, that's a thing. It's called "hardware in the loop". There are indeed control surface servo motors plugged in, and they move around to wherever the flight computer commands them to based on what the simulated vehicle is doing. Unlike a real vehicle, though, the boards and wire harnesses are quite a bit messier. All the important wires run through additional equipment so that folk can automate tests where things break. One thing that we don't have plugged in normally is the propulsion motors. The noise would be rather obnoxious considering the HIL setups are in the office. Also, I believe we still omit the wing tip LEDs; not only would they be obnoxiously bright, but they would melt themselves for lack of actual airflow!
      - ge96 4y ago
        oh dang that's a good point about the temperature, guess LEDs can get hot that's cool, I'm gonna look into that "hardware in the loop"
kumarvvr 4y ago
Its not just the swappable part. I think they have modularized all the electronics and GPS communication systems inside it, so that it is always booted and on standby. As soon as it is incorporated into a drone, it will be ready for work. Another innovation is the clip on wings. I think this is clever engineering and a necessity for their time to fly requirements.

micromacrofoot 4y ago

I love how the modularity makes for quick recovery from hardware failure and makes it easier to carry around it seems the operations have been cleverly simplified too, I hope they can successfully expand!