A New Form Factor for Drones: Vertical and Coaxial

Since its invention, the form factor of the airplane has been bird-based; both airplanes and birds remain aloft by having appreciable wingspans. And in broad strokes, the overall form of the airplane hasn’t changed much in the past 100 years.

Helicopters are modeled after no animal. With nothing to emulate, they were the first flying craft that had to find their own form.

Designers of rotor-based drones, too, had to find their own forms. The market has largely settled on quadrotors in an “H” or “X” configuration.

However, UAV manufacturer Ascent AeroSystems has completely rethought the form with their Helius model. It consists of a vertically-oriented body and just two rotors, one stacked over the other, in a coaxial arrangement.

Stacking the two rotors generates more thrust per unit area while keeping the form compact; there are no bulky arms that need to extend outwards. This arrangement, the company says, makes the drones more compact and easy to store; allows them to carry heavier payloads; offers better reliability and, with its narrow profile, stands up better to harsh weather.

The Helius comes equipped with a low-light camera system that can shoot high-quality video. It can track objects and is equipped with AI-enabled obstacle avoidance. It’s fairly speedy, topping out at 45 mph, and has a flight time of over 30 minutes. And it weighs just over half a pound.

It’s also fairly expensive to produce; the price tag is $4,500, which is perhaps why Ascent is targeting industrial and government clients as well as law enforcement and emergency response units.

Time will tell whether the coaxial design will creep into the consumer sector. It’s not a stretch to imagine a future where quadrotors look like quaint early attempts to nail the drone’s form factor.

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