AeroVironment has announced that a up to date outdoor test flight of a solar-powered prototype version of the company’s proven Puma AE small unmanned aircraft system (UAS), operating with the company’s newest long-endurance battery, lasted 9 hours, 11 minutes – significantly longer than the flight endurance of small UAS getting used inside the field today.
AeroVironment is operating with Alta Devices, a Sunnyvale, Calif. company that gives flexible, portable power which might be embedded into some other material, within the development of the solar Puma AE.
“This is a critical milestone with far-reaching implications for the various ways small UAS can benefit military, public safety and commercial customers,” said Roy Minson, AeroVironment senior vice chairman and general manager, Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS). “The solar Puma AE is the newest example of AeroVironment’s longstanding commitment to deliver important, innovative solutions that meet our customers’ needs.
“Our integration of this cutting-edge technology dramatically increases Puma’s current flight endurance using a clean, renewable power source,” Minson added, “this development may give Puma AE customers significantly increased capabilities that approach those of a higher class of UAS at a miles lower acquisition and operating cost, and with much greater operational flexibility.” AeroVironment’s new long endurance battery extends Puma AE’s non-solar endurance to greater than three hours. This suggests small UAS can be used for longer missions over greater distances than previously possible.
Minson added that past solar solutions for powering small UAS were either too heavy or didn’t produce enough power for long-range flight – or both. “However,” he said, “the solar Puma AE technology can produce enough power, while adding negligible weight, in order that endurance isn’t any longer a problem for many customer missions.”
Using a proprietary and highly differentiated technology, Alta Devices manufactures the world’s thinnest and highest efficiency solar cells using Gallium Arsenide. This technology significantly extends the battery lifetime of any application, in lots of cases eliminating the necessity to recharge from the grid as it converts more light into electricity.
Solar material like that utilized in the construction of the solar Puma AE includes a thin, mobile power technology on a versatile substrate that was independently certified by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) as world-records for both single (28.8%) and dual (30.8%) junction solar cells.
Puma AE is a versatile, efficient and rugged hand-launched workhorse for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR). This solar-power enhancement makes it much more indispensible for U.S. and allied military, in addition to for domestic public safety applications, comparable to firefighting, law enforcement, search and rescue, oil and gas field monitoring, and other commercial needs.
The solar Puma AE configuration currently is within the research and development phase. A production version is planned for early 2014.
The 13-pound Puma AE is fully waterproof, man-portable and might be assembled in minutes, hand-launched, operated and recovered on sea or land by a team of 2 people. It requires no infrastructure, reminiscent of runways, launching pads or recovery devices. Moreover, the system is quiet and operates autonomously, providing persistent observation data.
Last month, AeroVironment received a “Restricted Category” rating for its Puma AE small UAS from the Federal Aviation Administration. The 1st-of-its-kind certificate permits operators to fly Puma AE for commercial missions in regions of the Arctic.
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