The Aergility ATLIS drone
In places with undeveloped, limited or damaged infrastructure, time-critical transportation of cargo can be extremely difficult, risky, expensive and slow.
Aergility Corporation asserts that its recently unveiled hybrid cargo vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) provides a solution to these challenges.
The ATLIS Cargo UAV is said to offer a range of benefits, including:
- Logistic strategies that are impervious to ground infrastructure limitations.
- Delivery straight from the source to the point of need, eliminating distribution operating costs and double handling.
- Just-in-time delivery, minimising inventory requirements and the promise of a standard of speedy delivery.
- Significantly lower capital and operating costs with the elimination of massive ground infrastructure investments necessary, especially in the developing world.
The innovative drone uses the company's patented managed autorotation technology to carry about 180 kg to 270 kg of cargo straight to the point-of-need 480 km to 960 km away. The UAV uses six fixed-pitch, nine-foot-diameter electric rotors for take-off and landing. Forward propulsion is handled by an efficient 90 kW multifuel turboprop engine, which also recharges the batteries for the rotors in flight. In forward flight, lift is provided by a small cord wing and airflow through the rotors like an autogyro. Managed autorotation enables ATLIS to maintain lift and flight control by varying rotor revolutions per minute while still not drawing battery power. Cruising speed is 160 km/h.
ATLIS is designed to provide time-critical delivery of cargo straight to the point-of-need in places with undeveloped, limited or damaged infrastructure. The internal cargo bay is just over 1 cu m, and the tail opens to facilitate easy loading and unloading.