http://www.jpost.com, After years of development and a setback caused by the theft of its prototype, an un-piloted helicopter was declared ready for the world's market this weekend.
Called the Steadicopter, company officials said it has both security and civilian uses. What is unique about this design is its total fully autonomous operational system and does not require piloting skills or experience.
“This means anyone can take it out and use it,” said Amir Rochman, Steadicopter Ltd.'s business development manager. “You don't need training. A police patrol can launch it or a platoon commander and it gives them a picture from the field.”
“As far as we know, this is the only autonomous unmanned helicopter in the world,” Rochman said.
There have been major advances in technologies of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), such as guidance systems and high-precision image sensing cameras, but an effective stabilizing technology for rotating-wing craft has proved to be an elusive hurdle that would allow the helicopter UAVs to break into the fixed-wing market. Many companies have been working on this but so far none have claimed to have any success until now.
The small Steadicopter represents a breakthrough in the field of unmanned helicopters and other rotor aircraft like VTOL (vertical takeoff and landing). According to Rochman, the piloting system can also be applied to full-sized helicopters.
The innovative flight control system was developed by Tuvia Segal (CEO), a development team of control, software, hardware, and algorithm personnel, and a testing pilot.
It not only takes off, hovers, flies to way-points and lands, according to its pre-programmed flight plan, but can also adjust to strong winds up to 20 knots. It can also be controlled from the ground station made up of a standard PC where an operator can override its original program to change its mission.
The Steadicopter is designed to fly a few hundred meters for over an hour at a range of about 10 kilometers. It can carry a payload of up to 18 kilograms.
The current model will be priced at $125,000 and this includes the ground station and camera. The company is currently negotiating with other firms to provide the camera system. Rochman estimated that the going price for this type of UAV is about $1 billion.
The Israeli start-up company was founded in 1999 as part of the prestigious Technion Entrepreneurial Incubator Company and funded by grants from the Office of the Chief Scientist of the Ministry of Industry and Commerce. The company is based at Kibbutz Kfar Hamaccabi in the North.
Rochman said that in later stages the Steadicopter will be offered for use in civilian markets to carry out such duties as high-tension wire inspections, forest fire monitoring, and more.
The program suffered a set back last year when their prototype was stolen from their factory at Kfar Hamaccabi. But company officials said this only reinforced in them the knowledge that they were on the right track.
“It's still too early for the Steadicopter to be filming the final at the Olympics in Athens, but we hope to break into the world markets soon,” Rochman said.
