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Drone can stay in the air for two days to spot fish poachers
Fishing companies might soon launch drones to keep an eye out for poachers and hunt for specific types of fish. Aerovel has begun manufacturing its Flexrotor drones with the fishing industry in mind. These $200,000 UAVs can take off and touch down vertically using their two-bladed propellers, so they need very little space and can launch from a boat. They can also fly vertically like a helicopter and stay aloft for up to two days, monitoring fisheries from the sky and sending back videos captured from its vantage point. While Aerovel is focusing on building drones for commercial purposes at this point, the company actually signed a contract with the Navy back in 2012 to develop the Flexrotor for maritime surveillance. The aircraft has flown numerous test flights since then, one of which you can watch below the fold.
Navy awards Aerovel Flexrotor contract to develop marine surveillance tech
The high seas and UAVs go together like -- well, they go together really well. The Navy's cooking up 3D laser imaging technology for spotting pirates and the like, but it will need some aircraft for the task. Right on cue, a helicopter / airplane hybrid for maritime surveillance is inching toward reality. Aerovel's Flexrotor, an ultra-compact craft with a wing span of three meters (9.8 feet) and a weight of just 19.2 kg (42.3 lb), has already been demonstrated to switch between horizontal and vertical flight, but the next step is enhancing its propulsion system to improve its performance for longer distances and in windier conditions. Today the Office of Naval Research (ONR) awarded the company a contract for developing that tech. For now, you can check out a video of the Flexrotor's first test flight, which demoes the UAV transitioning from vertical and horizontal orientation and back again.
