When it comes to self-driving vehicles, most often people imagine cars without a driver behind the steering wheel, but in fact, in the field of freight transport, autonomous vehicles are even more in demand. And today, February 1, the RIA Novosti news outlet, citing the press service of the NTI Platform, reported that Russian students from the St. Petersburg State University of Aerospace Instrumentation have made significant progress in this matter by creating a prototype of their own cargo unmanned aircraft. And its main advantage lies in the ability to perform vertical takeoff, which should significantly reduce the cost of operating the vehicle.
“Our task is to develop, improve and bring to market an aerohybrid unmanned aerial vehicle that combines the advantages of an aircraft and a multirotor. We have conducted research in the field of aerodynamics and UAV design, and now we have a working technological demonstrator that has passed flight tests, ”Vsevolod Shokalsky, a SUAI student and project leader, told reporters.
The authors of the cargo unmanned aircraft project are sure that their development will be of interest in a variety of public and private structures. For example, such UAVs may be of interest to employees of the Ministry of Emergency Situations, various security and logistics companies, as well as oil and gas enterprises. They potentially get the opportunity to deliver goods to hard-to-reach locations, collect valuable data, or patrol certain areas in automatic mode without the participation of a human operator. At the same time, the cost of one such drone is currently estimated at 550-600 thousand rubles – approximate analogues of foreign production cost almost two to three times more.
“The project has a fairly wide target audience. This is due to the multitasking of the device: it can deliver various cargoes, take photos and videos, you can install a loudspeaker and a drop container on the device. We are now applying for a grant to continue our work. We expect that after refinement and testing, the updated version of the device will be ready for mass production. This will take 6-7 months,” added Shokalsky.
Also, the members of the team developing this UAV are confident that within about two to three years their new product will be able to displace all foreign analogues from the Russian market. The fact is that when developing an aircraft, students use exclusively domestic components, plus each client is promised constant technical support and even special courses for operators.
Source: Trash Box
I’m Meagan Diaz, a news writer and author at World Stock Market. My main focus is on technology and stock market trends, and I’m passionate about helping readers stay informed on the ever-changing landscape. I bring extensive knowledge of the industry to my work as well as a knack for storytelling that makes my articles both accessible and engaging.
