Technology
This ultimately resulted in the UH-200-Beyond-M helicopter drone, which Ventus demonstrated at a tech demo it hosted just outside Warsaw, Poland, back in February, to more than 50 members of the press and industry. Converted from a CH7 Kompress, a small-to-mid Italian helicopter intended primarily for sport use, the UH-200-Beyond-M can carry a payload of up to 230kg, with a four-stroke engine, a maximum speed of 200km/h and a cruising speed of 160km/h.
The drone also boasts an altitude ceiling of 10,000ft and a control radius of 32km over radio link – or an unlimited control distance within a GSM, 5G or LTE network range. Similarly, since this drone was designed to operate both offshore and in mountainous areas, it is also designed to be rugged and reliable, capable of operating across a temperature range of -30°C–+45°C, a maximum wind speed of 15m/s and precipitation of up to 1mm/h. The helicopter model, with its one main rotor and a smaller tail rotor, stands out against much of the drone offerings on market, which typically consist of multirotor models. Ventus’s decision here was no accident, however – as Mingaliev notes, this form is best suited to the tasks it’s intended for. “Helicopter technology has been in existence for over 130 years now,” he adds. “[On the other hand,] conventional multicopter – multi-rotor – drones have issues with energy efficiency. For example, at higher wind speeds, they need to deploy all their motors in order to hover in a given position, whereas a helicopter flies better when there is wind.”
This can make helicopter drones superior to their multicopter brethren for certain use cases, particularly as companies look towards building fully electric drones, where battery life and energy efficiency is all-important. The UH-200-Beyond-M uses conventional gasoline, but it can also run on sustainable aviation fuel. “We know that there is a tendency in the wind turbine industry, because of the renewable nature of the business, to go for environmentally friendly types of fuel,” Mingaliev notes. “Sustainable aviation fuels can have the same qualities as gasoline, with small adjustments.”
A little drone goes a long way Ventus and Unmanned Helicopters have also designed a fully electric small helicopter drone, the UH-7- Beyond-S, which has a payload capacity of up to 7–12kg depending on the version – the cargo model offering the full 12kg. It boasts a particular advantage when it comes to licensing, as even with its payload capacity the maximum take-off weight of the drone remains under 25kg, meaning it falls under the ‘open’ category for leisure drone activities and low-risk commercial activities – specifically the A3 sub-category. This requires the drone not to fly near or over people and to keep at least 150m away from
World Wind Technology /
www.worldwind-technology.com
residential, commercial or industrial areas, while also requiring operators to have passed the necessary training and examinations defined by their national competent authority. These restrictions are minimal, all things considered, making the UH-7-Beyond-S perfect for its intended purpose. “In many instances, you don’t even need [the operational licence], unless you are flying beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS),” Mingaliev adds. On this note, Unmanned Helicopters obtained a licence from the Polish Civil Aviation Authority in March for the BVLOS flying of the UH-7-Beyond-S, which is valid for two years – which Mingaliev expects will simplify the process of obtaining permits to fly BVLOS in other EU countries as well.
Another advantage that this small drone possesses is that due to the energy efficiency of helicopter drones, its endurance far surpasses multirotor models. “A good-quality industrial drone, with a payload, can perhaps fly between 30–45 minutes,” says Mingaliev. “With the same type of payload, our helicopter drone can fly up to two hours. So, we have the endurance that is two times longer than any other competitor that we know of today.” Similarly, as these drones can be outfitted with different tools and cameras depending on the task at hand, it makes them adaptable for a wide variety of situations. Ventus’ principal offering, its dynamic blade pitch angle measurement service, has excelled at onshore sites – in 2022, however, the company took the UH-7-Beyond-S and integrated its high- speed camera, and now offers its dynamic blade pitch service commercially offshore as well. This is hugely useful for the owners of wind farms, as blade pitch angles can have a huge impact on the efficiency of a turbine, enabling operators to adjust or correct any low-performing turbines. “For the small helicopter, the sky’s the limit – for example, you can use it for the benefit of telecom companies to inspect the antennas or to deliver spares to these antennas,” Mingaliev adds. The UH-7- Beyond-S is particularly suited to this challenge, as many commercial drones fail at this task due to the very strong electromagnetic emissions at play. Ventus’s more rugged and reliable model, on the other hand, will better be able to weather this obstacle. The UH-7-Beyond-S is also currently being used for powerline inspection in different countries, and Ventus are engaged with different oil and gas companies, where it is demonstrating the drone’s ability to transport different types of tools between remote settlements, such as offshore islands or hydrogen hubs built alongside offshore wind farms. Beyond this, the small helicopter drone can be used to inspect different kinds of infrastructure – such as bridges, high-rise buildings and water towers, the latter of which Ventus recently completed a pilot project for in the Netherlands. Similarly, powerline
29 32km The control radius
of the UH-200- Beyond-M drone. Ventus Group
10,000ft The altitude ceiling
of Ventus’s UH-200- Beyond-M drone. Ventus Group
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