Wingtra WingtraOne
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WingtraOne is an autonomous tail-sitter VTOL drone built by the Swiss company Wingtra. The drone is designed primarily for use in precision agriculture[1] and surveying industry.[2] WingtraOne takes off and lands vertically (hence VTOL), but tilts forward in flight to fly like a fixed-wing aircraft.[3]
 WingtraOne | |
| Inception | 2017 |
|---|---|
| Manufacturer | Wingtra |
| Website | Official website |
Design and development
In 2013, development of WingtraOne began under the name "PacFlyer"[4] as a "Focus Project"[5] at the Autonomous Systems Lab at ETH Zurich, under the guidance of Dr. Roland Siegwart.
The focus was put on controllability, as it has traditionally been a challenge in the design of a tailsitter, particularly due to attitude estimation.[6] The flight controller for WingtraOne was developed by 2016, which used a pitot tube, inertial navigation system consisting of multiple gyroscopes, accelerometers, and magnetometers, and GPS.[7] Additional robustness in windy conditions was added to the product later that year.[8] Finally, the algorithm to ensure smooth transition from vertical flight to forward flight was developed.[9]
WingtraOne went into series production in 2017,[10][11] and was officially launched in China, and US later that year.[12]
- Technical specifications[13]
- Wingspan: 125 cm (49 in)
- Weight (empty): 3.6 kg (7.9 lbs)
- Maximum Take-Off Weight: 4.4 kg (9.7 lbs)
- Payload capacity: up to 800 g (1.8 lbs)
- Take-Off and Landing: VTOL, fully autonomous at GPS accuracy
- Optimal Cruise Speed: 55 km/h (34.2 mph)
- Wind Resistance: Up to 30 km/h (18.6 mph) during landing
- 45 km/h (28 mph) in cruise
Application
WingtraOne collects high resolution aerial data which is used to generate orthophotos, 3D reconstructions, point cloud and NDVI maps. It flies for 55 minutes on an 8-cell Lithium polymer battery, and covers 390 hectares at 240 meters flight altitude at 3cm/px GSD.[14]
So far, WingtraOne has been in use for aerial surveying, agriculture and glacier monitoring.[15][16]
Since October 2017, it has been in partnership with Pix4D, a photogrammetry company to offer postprocessing of images along with data collection.[17]
Reception and recognition
WingtraOne was awarded the Swiss excellence product award in 2016.[18] WingtraOne's manufacturing company, Wingtra, was ranked in the top 100 for The Best Swiss Startups for two consecutive years, at rank 16 in 2017[19] and rank 35 in 2016.[20] Founders of the company were also mentioned in the Forbes 30 under 30 in Europe in 2017.[21]
References
- ^ Drone use in Agriculture
- ^ Drone use in Surveying
- ^ Combining VTOL capabilities with fixed-wing flight
- ^ PacFlyer project
- ^ Focus Projects at ASL, ETH Zürich
- ^ Kubo, Daisuke (2006). "Study on design and transitional flight of tail-sitting VTOL UAV". Proceedings of 25th Congress of ICAS.
{{cite journal}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|1=(help) - ^ Full Attitude Control of a VTOL tailsitter UAV
- ^ Model-based wind estimation for a hovering VTOL tailsitter UAV
- ^ Model based transition optimization for a VTOL tailsitter
- ^ Wingtra goes into series production
- ^ Wingtra: series production and other developments
- ^ Wingtra enters the Chinese and US market
- ^ Wingtra Product Specifications
- ^ Wingtra leverages benefits of multirotor and fixed-wing drones
- ^ WingtraOne's use in Agriculture and Surveying
- ^ WingtraOne in different industries
- ^ Wingtra partners with Pix4D
- ^ Wingtra awarded the Swiss Product Excellence award awarded
- ^ Wingtra ranked 16 in The Best Swiss Startups list, 2017
- ^ Wingtra ranked 35 in The Best Swiss Startups list, 2016
- ^ Founders of Wingtra in Forbes 30 under 30
External links
Category:Swiss aircraft 2010–2019 Category:Unmanned aerial vehicles of Switzerland Category:Tailsitter aircraft Category:Flying wings
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