The Russian company "Radar mms" is developing a whole line of helicopter-type drones for civilian purposes, including an aircraft with a take-off weight of up to 550 kg and robotic infrastructure. This was announced by the company's executive director, Ivan Antsev.
In August, participants of the forum "Unmanned Systems. Technologies of the Future" saw a heavy drone with a take-off weight of up to 500 kg. The helicopter can carry more than 100 kg of payload over a distance of up to 400 km.
Also, "Radar mms" presented a light drone with a take-off weight of up to 30 kg together with an autonomous charging station. The device flies along a given route, performs the task and returns to the droneport.
According to Antsev, such a UAV does not need an operator, since the system operates in autonomous mode.
If there is a complete failure of systems, a parachute is released and the drone descends to the ground. There is no threat to people or ground infrastructure.
Antsev added that the development of a drone with a take-off weight of up to 550 kg and robotic infrastructure (droneports and ground robots) is underway in parallel.
Robots take cargo from the warehouse and load it into the drone. Then the device is refueled with the help of the same robot and flies out on a mission.
At the same time, the operator is in the control center and monitors the execution of the flight mission, the top manager explained.
According to him, the company plans to create such hubs for servicing hard-to-reach areas. However, to scale the project, it is necessary to optimize the cost of cargo delivery.
For example, now the price of a "kilogram-kilometer" varies within 10-15 rubles. Although logistics will be cost-effective if the cost is reduced to 5-6 rubles, Antsev summarized.