Feature: Avionics
Meeting the challenges of drone design
By Joost de Ruiter, CEO and owner, High Eye H
igh Eye is a drone manufacturer based in Dordrecht, Te Netherlands. In 2021 we launched the Airboxer VTOL unmanned aerial
vehicle (UAV), a long-range drone with a single three-bladed rotor that quickly gained popularity in the market due to its small size, lightweight design and good performance in extreme conditions. Te Airboxer is a multifunction
ISR (Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance) platform for all those difficult-to-reach locations, helped by flight time of up to four hours and payload capacity to 7kg. Tis NATO STANAG 4738 compliant platform can be used for various tasks, from coastal and environmental control, through disaster management and border protection, to remote monitoring and power line inspection, among many others.
32 April 2023
www.electronicsworld.co.uk
Challenges in developing UAVs High Eye started with building model helicopters in 1998 and then evolved into a specialist for unmanned helicopters. In developing reliable and safe control systems for the Airboxer VTOL UAV, the company encountered many challenges to make the aircraſt safely and accurately controlled; each design iteration of the control system had to be throughly tested against the desired performance. Another key requirement in developing
the aircraſt was its weight, which had to be minimised to allow greater payload capacity and extended flight range, yet strong enough to withstand the flight stresses. Finding the right balance between these demands whilst complying to NATO norms, such as STANAG 4738, are major challenges. Complying with local regulations is
another key challenge. Te regulatory landscape in the unmanned aircraſt
industry is complex and difficult to navigate, requiring up-to-date knowledge of the latest rules and guidelines, and continuously adapting and innovating. At present we are working to obtain the
Light UAS Operator Certificate (LUC), required for drone operations within the EU. Tis certificate allows us to assess the risks of our flights based on strict guidelines set by the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA). Ten there are the technical challenges
imposed by customer requirements, such as integrating specific payloads, which could be cameras, sensors and other components – all of which impact the aircraſt’s weight and performance. It took over eight years to develop
the Airboxer and test it under the most extreme conditions on different continents: it was flown over the Arctic Circle in Canada, in the Abu Dhabi desert and over the sea off South Korea.
High Eye's Airboxer drone
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