OOO NPP "Autonomous Aerospace Systems - GeoService" has patented a new unmanned aerial vehicle design. The drone is capable of vertical take-off and is equipped with a separate engine for horizontal flight.
The scheme is designed to combine the capabilities of an aircraft-type UAV and a vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft. Each side boom is equipped with two electric lift motors with propellers. They generate thrust for take-off and landing, after which the aircraft transitions to horizontal flight using a separate cruise engine and a propeller in the tail section.
At the same time, the developers abandoned the engine rotation mechanism. The patent description notes that in one of the previously known designs, mechanically tilting the engines was required to change the thrust direction. In another considered solution, vertical and horizontal movement control was primarily performed by changing the thrust of four propeller-motor units. The authors of the new solution associate lower control accuracy with such a scheme.
To improve accuracy, full-fledged aerodynamic control surfaces were added to the patented design. Ailerons are installed on the trailing edges of the wing, responsible for roll control. Elevators are placed on the tail stabilizers for pitch control. Both types of control surfaces are driven by servos according to commands from the automatic control system.
A combined pitot-static tube is installed in the nose section. The pneumatic tube transmits data on static, dynamic, and total air pressure to the avionics. Additionally, the aircraft received a digital magnetic compass and a radio altimeter installed in the lower part of the fuselage.
A radio modem with a two-way half-duplex channel is used for data exchange. The patent specifies a communication range of up to 100 km for it. The radio altimeter is primarily intended for determining altitude during vertical take-off and landing.