The drone model from WingXpand, which debuted at the AUVSI XPONENTIAL event in April, has a wingspan of 7 feet. The wings have been shown solely to give a sense of proportion.
The drone was also unveiled at the Special Operations Forces Conference 2022 (SOFIC) last week.
The co-founders of WingXpand were James Barbieri and Michel Madaras. Barbieri, CEO of WingXpand, spoke in an interview about their UAS and plans for the future Aircraft. Barbieri said the drone had just been unveiled to the public, and the team is currently working with customers on test flights. UAS is scheduled to start deliveries in the third quarter of this year.
The WingXpand drone is capable of flying more than 2 hours or a distance of more than 1,000 acres.
“It can carry about ten times more payload than some of the smaller quadcopters and more consumer types of drones common in the market,” Barbieri said.
Options for using ALS range from the oil and gas industry and agriculture to public security and defense operations.
“There are also many uses for our military,” he added. “For our customers who need to fly for a longer period of time, this is the most powerful drone system that can fit in the least possible place.”
Because the team is conducting test flights with customers and expects unit deliveries to begin later this year, they have not anticipated any significant problems or obstacles, Barbieri said.
“We have already confirmed our patented extension wing technology in test flights.”
In the future, Barbieri believes that fixed-wing drones will become more common in the market.
“We really believe that for commercial professionals and our defense clients it will be a system of benefits in five years,”
he explained. This is because fixed-wing drones, which look like airplanes, are capable of flying long distances and carrying heavier payloads than multi-rotor, quadcopter or multicopter drone systems.
Barbieri predicts that demand for fixed-wing drones, such as those developed by WingXpand, will continue to grow in response to FAA rules. “We are excited to be part of the industry along the way, and much of that will drive much higher growth if we see the FAA and regulatory environment continue to mature and improve some rules that will make drone operations out of sight more common in the national airspace ”.
“If that happens,” he continued, “there will be a much greater need for more powerful systems that have the ability to fly much longer and have more professional tools so that operators can have an easy and useful experience.”
According to Barbieri, the entire drone system can be assembled and deployed in less than two minutes. He also stressed that WingXpand gives priority to open systems architecture and modular payload design. For their customers, the payload can be a high-resolution camera, electro-optical infrared (EO / IR) or a multispectral camera for the agricultural industry to assess plant health. The modular payload design offers benefits to government customers, he added, because they do not involve a specific set of requirements.
The WingXpand drone also offers an “Edge AI” on-board computer that allows you to detect objects in real time. It can alert the user based on certain criteria.
“This allows operators, such as a public safety officer, to focus on the work rather than watching the video,” Barbieri explained. “Having a powerful computer for real-time computing makes our customers’ lives easier.”
Source: Industry Update