Ha, I think you found this video clip bc there r some social media posters who r saying this is the model that the Navy is using for the experimental drills they r running in the NJ area
Look up 'Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division' or NAWCAD. One of their centers is in Lakehurst, NJ and what is known is that these drones were purchased to carry cargo from land to ships, and ship to ships. If you see the civilian videos of them in a vertical formation and dropping down to the sea, they are likely testing cargo drops. I'm reading that they are also testing and practicing homeland security scanning sweeps over a major port in case there are 'dirty bomb' threats that may be attempted to be snuck in. They're essentially drilling their response on a larger scale after receiving enough drones and testing the public's response. I'm not saying that this is all they're doing though.
It's more complex than a regular tiltwing, which only requires one hinge. The advantage of this might be a smaller footprint on the ground. Not sure how valuable that is.
@@freetrade8830 as Icesphere pointed out there's only one hinge angled at 45° inside the wing, seen briefly in the video. Additionally I guess tilting the wings backwards results in more VTOL stability, as the rotors form a square shape instead of a straight line (looking at the drone from above).
@@freetrade8830 It's only one hinge per wing and the original purpose of this design (it's copied from WW2 era Grumman aircraft but with the wing folded leading edge up instead of down) was indeed to reduce footprint for the carrier aircraft
It is , by far, the best VTOL system I have seen to date ! With a moving C.G. to adapt to configuration and a minimum complexity, it should dominate the industry.
@@ekadana1328 Osprey had decades of engineering hardships to iron out. The larger you go the more non-linearly expensive and difficult VTOL gets. The vortex issues, engine power, weight balance, reliability. That's just with 2 engines, imagine 4. There's a reason the osprey only tilts the engines and not the wings themselves like this.
I can see why it looks like the cg is moving but its not, thats the magic. Its able to move its wings like counter weights along its cg in such a way i assume it does not change. Differential thrust can help stabilize this. As i would like to see how it copes in windy conditions? If the cg changed its body would tilt fw or backw etc. Clever how it does it, but if there was a strong side wind is where differental thrust would be cruial.😊
This is the best approach to small VTOL UAV design I've seen. Congratulations and I wish your company great success in that market! Have you found the increased weight from the wing folding mechanism to be a substantial improvement in regards to range and payload capacity when compared to designs with separate lift motors?
Keep in mind that in more advanced models the mechanism to articulate the wings could fit inside the wing itself... and by doing without the mechanism inside the fuselage they not only save weight, but also cargo volume.
@@animatek6171 It is probably just a linear screw that draws the bars back in unison to unfold the wings; light weight and simple. This ensures the wings deploy in exact synchronicity and then the bars can act as a structural brace in concert with the pivot point. If it was all in the pivot points you would have to make them much stronger (i.e. heavier) while running the risk of the wings deploying out of sequence or one not at all.
The masterpiece in my eyes is the full stability during every moment of the transition. What would further interest me is the distance the transition takes from full speed ahead to full stop.
Almost all innovations are that. Putting ideas into practice, no matter how straightforward they might be, should never be underestimated. It needs to be done by someone, and if you are the first you deserve to be able to reap the rewards.
@@johnhopkins6260 The Osprey has many unstable regimes, that's why they crash so often when attempting a semi-aerobatic maneuver. A Quad copter would be much safer.
It is small, but major change it has that extra angle of motion in the twisting of its wings. 1. It now has vertical thrust in each corner instead of all in a row. 2. It can now have full length wings without taking up a lot of space.
That looks like a winner in the VTOL market - compact when folded, simple robust mechanism, dual purpose motors, smooth fast transition. What’s not to like. Good luck.
@@thedandy6765 Not so much… On the Osprey the engines rotate, not the wings, not to mention a host of other differences. Aside from them both being vtol aircraft there’s not a lot of similarity on closer examination. The Osprey could best be characterised as a helicopter with wings! This has more the attributes of a “fixed wing” aircraft that can take of vertically.
@@robinhodgkinson actually the osprey also has wigns that turn but for storage purpose and the osprey could carry a humvee and troops and its technically both an airplane and helicopter cus it has to take off like a helicopter but can fly as a plane. i do feel like if theyh could enlarge that system for troop carry aswell it would be a very good vehicle since itll be in and out real quick like a normal helicopter but i can reacher higher top speeds. theres loads of uses for the new design and im wondering where itll go maybe even island hopping would be usefull
Stable transition? I was just going to comment how glitchy and unstable the transition looked. The craft was bouncing fore and aft pretty intensely. I'm sure they will iron that out though. I do like the concept.
@@theobserver9131it doesn't need to be scaled up significantly though as it is intended as a drone. At this scale I am not sure of the need for VTOL though (possibly for package delivery drones).
I am Pilot and Flight Instructor for more than 40 years now .. and I thought i've seen it all. But this is the most genious attempt for VTOL i have ever seen. Well done boys .. WELL DONE !!!
This VSTOL configuration is possible because 1) no mechanical power transmission needed thus not interfere with wing pivoting ( power linkage for more than one rotor type) 2) unmanned vehicle so deleting all the human incorporating factors out. The folded position will obviously obstruct pilot's and passenger 's around view whether static or in helicopter flight mode. Somebody might think of it before but old technology and objective ( manned vehicle ) blocked them from implementation.
It looks neat, but it's probably way, way more cost effective to just use ICE engines lol. And getting this going with 4 ICE engines would be interesting..
While this is obviously aimed at the defense market, I could see this being extremely useful in the wildland firefighting space. Having something we can launch from a remote helispot with the ability to loiter for long periods as an “eye in the sky” would be incredibly useful to increase effectiveness of boots on the ground as well as increase overall safety
describe to me how this is more useful than the standard fixed wing UAVs we toss into the air with bungee slingshots every day? Unless the scale is enormous and it doubles as a sky crane, this is all just a dumpster full of money burning.
@@ZennExile it isn't. At least not yet. The venture capital for sUAS died out shortly after 107 came out due to FAA's overregulation. Then, UAM/UTM/AAM/EVTOL became the new buzzwords and more venture capital was thrown into the fire. Drone amplified is offering the most realistic use case for sUAS in firefighting by integrating EO/IR and paintballs filled with agent that allows setting of controlled burns remotely.
All the lockheed, northrop, and amazon drone guys are seriously facepalming right now. This truly fits the definition of Brilliant and Elegant. Wonderful design, wishing your company all the best. -Sincerely, A farmer.
Like everyone, I am amazingly impressed. Such an elegant way to transition. Interesting moment there at 2:20 as it transitions from forward flight to vtol. As the wings are in mid transition, can see the moment that the pid controller is trying to take control, and there is a herky jerky moment there. I can totally see the struggle to smooth that out must be the most complex pid tune ever.
The pivoting of the wings is going t generate significant increases to both lift and drag. Its the equivalent of trying to from no flaps to full landing flaps while also activating a lifting fan and reversing your control inputs. It has to be one of the most difficult low-alt/low-speed flight regimes design for.
@@zj6074 Indeed - and the airflow is going to get very weird for a while. Interesting engineering challenges, but it sure looks like they have it under control - really impressive!
Generally during transition you have both sets of cascade PIDs running simultaneously. The ones for fixed wing flight of which there are 3-4 per axis The ones for quadcopter flight of which again there are 3-4 per axis Then you blend the output of each together based on the current angle of the wing as it transitions. Tuning VTOLs in general is a lot of work as you said.
Looks like something they need to get a shitload of data for and test empirically in a myriad of conditions. Figuring that out probably requires close to rocket science.
Thanks for the kind words Drew. Out team worked very hard on this project. A lot of longs days spent testing in the hot desert sun, sweat cascading down ballsacks
So many positive things to say. 1. Integration of the landing gear on the back of the engine cowls was a great way to get rid of the bulky VTOL landing gear that would hinder efficiency in the fixed-wing configuration. 2. The transition between modes was really elegant and simple. From VTOL to fixed-wing, the transition adding in forward thrust looked very stable. From fixed-wing to VTOL, the motion seemed very smooth. These kind of inertial transitions make me feel like this could be scaled to human flight. I hope you make a light craft someday. I could also see a large scale version of this beating the pants off of an Osprey.
I really like y’all’s solution to the tilt mechanism. The strength to weight must be pretty good. Seems a logical combination of spar and landing gear type linkages. I can’t imagine how much adjusting had to be done to get that last few inches of movement right, in both directions. Very impressive.
I like the fact that it can also be efficient by turning off the other 2 motors when in fixed wing mode. Also that transition at the end is just so seamless. I love it!
The fact it gets such a large wingspan with four prop engines into such a small on the ground footprint is fantastic, I can't wait to see the flight stats like overall fuel efficiency and payload capacity.
Why has no one thought of this design before now? Now that I see it it's so damn simple. What a brilliant way to combine drone technology with a proven twin-engine aircraft design. So awesome how the geometry allows the wings to Pivot and allows you to get in to the nose down position to start moving forward to gain lift.
It looks simple but it isn't. The joint is more complicated since the wing has to rotate on two axis instead of just one and also the transition unstable. You can actually see the wobble when you go from lift from the wings to thrust from the motors. It doesn't matter for an unmanned drone and you can fix that with the right flight system but this method is not without its drawbacks. Best of luck to them.
That's clever in how the flight transition appears to be inherently smooth to some extent, although I bet that pivot point must be one of the most stressed components on that aircraft in the way the type of loading its under changes from torsion to levering and back.
It’s cool how it can just transition so smoothly without losing altitude I expected it to dip in altitude but I guess as long as the props are at constant speed it remains in forward and level flight
My guess is that software modulates the rotary speed and increases it during the beginning of transition as some of the vertical thrust is converted to horizontal.
You can design a control mechanism that can fix that. It would take quite a bit of tweaking. Not sure if they use some form of neural network, MPC, of just PID.
I am stunned by this design. In retrospect, it’s so obvious a solution to hybridizing quad-rotor principle with traditional forward flight, it’s a wonder this isn’t a more common approach by now. My concern is the forces on the outboard engines when transitioning. At model scale, these are negligible, but at full scale there will be some interesting problems to solve.
I take it you mean the forces pulling at the wing joints during the transition? If that's the case I'm not sure if this style of joint can be scaled up by much without astronomically increasing maintenance costs.. 😅
@@Squee7e It would probably at minimum have to be on par with the pivot mechanism of the F-14 Tomcat on a full-size aircraft in terms of robustness requirements, because not only does the functionality depend on mechanism action but the type of loading and stresses changes between flight modes.
I'd love to fly in a full scale model! Best of both worlds - EVTOL and winged flight. Are we going to see more videos as your model progresses? Any plans to make a passenger carrying model? Congratulations on your prototype!
I had a similar idea long time ago, but I had to open my mouth and give you the details. Lets just say that is not all free! A modification for the V22 osprey is what I was working on so it was mean to be for the country. Specifically, the addition of winglets for better lift and stability. They would need to fold up as to not cause degradation of the thrust when in liftoff and they would also fold/rotate backwards with the engine as to not create drag when propelling forward. So I am guessing that your patent is specific to this air craft? And not the idea it self?
Makes so much sense that I am surprised nobody has done this before, or have they? I am guessing the props are angled in a way that allows to replace the wing lift as much as possible at any stage of retraction.
This thing is spectacular! Can't begin to believe how this drone - aircraft can be scaled up! Caught it on Sandbox News w/ Alex Hollings...hope nobody gets into a "Jam" over that Many thanx for the vid. 👍👍
I am just shocked at how smooth the transition is while folding or unfolding the wing !!!! It almost seems that it should crash due to stall, CG movement, but nooooo... it just go it's merry way and if nothing happen. Brilliant design. It almost seems this would obsolete any attempt by big and small companies to have quad-type copters as taxis and or short hop type service. It also seems it should scale up to large planes too... with the ability to land horizontal or vertically if needed. Excellent design. Kudos guys!
That is so cool!!! Reminds me a little bit of the folding wing system that Grumman used for the F4F and F6F during world war 2. Of course, that was for storage aboard carriers, not for flight. I can really see a future for this.
@@danmallery9142 and since you bring up the patent. Grumman folding wing was leading edge down when folded back. This system is leading edge UP! (face palm... why didn't I think of that)
I really like this design. The only question I would have is how they would go about preventing dust and particle intrusion into the hinge mechanism. It would seem like there’s a lot of potential for contaminants to enter the folding parts since it would be throwing up a lot of dust during the VTOL phase.
I guess if you look at the wing profile, even in rotated mode the hinge side is low pressure...so the air being pushed over it from the props would tend to be lifting off the surface.
What if they come up with some sort of flexible "sleeve" or "accordion" that can fit over the hinge? Best analogy I can come up with is like the skin between your fingers or the skin that stretches out between the arms of flying squirrels. Something you can secure to the side of the craft so you can take it off for servicing. At this smaller scale, it should be OK if the aerodynamics aren't great for that part of the wing.
This is a genius elegantly simple mechanism! Even using the backs of the engine pods as landing legs! Will we see something like this on a consumer level drone?
Awesome design !! I'd like to see a future video going 'in-depth' with the design process and to learn how strong the wings are. It looks very delicate having those large wings pivot on a single point. How do they lock in place during conventional flight?
You know, I've seen a lot of drone companies' videos that show their drones transition from rotor to fixed wing mode, but yours is the first I've seen where the drone demonstrates changing from fixed to rotor. It definitely shows your confidence in its design, and I for one am sold on it.
@@animatek6171 Yes, but I doubt it will scale. These transformer type designs rarely scale in a fashion that makes them competitive versus existing designs w similar functionality. They already have helicopters.
@@wageslave387 right but look at what the military did with the osprey, and now the new bell valor. There's clearly a need for compact transforming aircraft. One of the biggest criticizations of the Bell Valor is how much space it takes up, this design solves that
@@wageslave387 It's true, I don't see this design scaling well (though I hope I'm wrong), but the military is every more reliant on drones now so scaling isn't needed really
Really clever design, guys. Well done!! A truly original and creative solution to the transition problem. Robustness/reliability of the mechanism is , of course, key, but I'm sure you've been thinking about that.
That is a really sleek looking design. the VTOL capability is huge, eliminating the need for a runway. Is this the final size, or are there plans to upscale it at all? Remarkably stable during transition. Love this.
Wouldn't be less likely to fail due to rotary position change if the wings were fixed and the props rotated on the wings? This would also allow for distributed rotation instead of two fixed catastrophic failure points.
Amazing design and teamwork to bring this to life! I’m curious what software you used to model this in and what software was used for your CFD tests. Great work!
Supposedly this is what we are seeing in the skies over NJ? Ppl in NJ with thier own drones are trying to fly close to the unidentified ones and its disabling them. Ppl with high powered zoom cameras trying to get pictures of them and some kind of shielding is making the pictures look a blob looking thing.
There must be sooooo much stress on the joint between the wing and the body of the plane. The blades push it up, while the weight of the body pulls it down and the joint in the wing takes all that stress.
Most likely. If you look at their website, they had an investment/deal with the US navy which funded them. They are seen coming from and leaving to the ocean. It all makes sense that this is what's flying over us in NJ
So THIS is what those mystery drone ins New Jersey actually are? Why didnt the Pentagon just say as much. This is not the kinds stuff that requires super secrecy...especially when plying in the open over populated areas repeatedly.
How much are Raffle Tickets for a 2023 Model? From a Charging port to Downloads...you just need a ...Stop on a Dime landing spot with 2 Ports. I would be creative and test it to do this for 500 cycles. It could learn so much for other models.
@@brendansmith7842 The best current idea is they are looking for a lost nuke, so the guess is they are launching off a US Navy ship using geiger counters. I have to assume the worse since the government wont tell us anything.
@honchoryanc well I saw one in Connecticut tonight. That doesn't explain it. And it was not a helicopter, sikorsky has a lot of them so I know what they look and sound like.
Which max distance of flying? lipol accumulators are used for power source? it's necessary new type of energy storage that can have more than 1kA/h capacity and have small size and weight simultaneously.
yep - my first thought was - this design could replace the Osprey - and also the newest one the Textron Bell V-280... ingenious design... really a D'oh! moment for some aerospace design engineers out there...
Doubt this is scalable past UAVs. Tilting the entire wing like this adds some huge single failure points, and heavily affects the strength of the wing. You lose the closed web of the skin and lose the strength from continuous spars running through the wingbox. It's why carrier aircraft today don't tend to have folding wings anymore. I don't mean to detract from this, the idea and execution is amazing, but it is not without flaw, and there is still a reason the v-22 is built how it is
@@tomfoolery2913 - aye - you're probably right - but would be a very cool ppl mover - if they could engineer it so that it worked properly. A robust hinge would probably add too much weight tho...
I'm not convinced this would scale up so great. All that weight of the aircraft plus the shock of landing on those twisting joints. Maybe adding a retractable link on the tip of the wings to the fuselage could do the trick. Also, if you want to build bigger, you're gonna have to add shock absorbers
Absolutely impressive. I'm sold this is probably the best mid size military application drone . Only question how would you carry hellfires or munitions
My friends and I love flying these things around New Jersey at night!
😂😂😂😂
Ha, I think you found this video clip bc there r some social media posters who r saying this is the model that the Navy is using for the experimental drills they r running in the NJ area
We on to them lmao
My locked in guess
Yep these are one of them sighted in NJ. A Navy base is just south of there.
Are you guys the ones flying them over N.J for the past month
They aren't, your military is 🙃
Look up 'Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division' or NAWCAD. One of their centers is in Lakehurst, NJ and what is known is that these drones were purchased to carry cargo from land to ships, and ship to ships.
If you see the civilian videos of them in a vertical formation and dropping down to the sea, they are likely testing cargo drops. I'm reading that they are also testing and practicing homeland security scanning sweeps over a major port in case there are 'dirty bomb' threats that may be attempted to be snuck in. They're essentially drilling their response on a larger scale after receiving enough drones and testing the public's response.
I'm not saying that this is all they're doing though.
No comment !
Search NAWCAD or Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division. They're in Lakehurst, NJ and part of the drone tests.
Yes. It's us. Sorry about the noise.
Another thing to try building in KSP
JUST DO IT!
Ha! You are such a big kid Scott! LOL!!!
Sod KSB, I want a RC version to fly around my home lol
I went on the internet today, and I found this! 😂
They launder money well
Have youve been testing in NJ by any chance?
😂
🤫
Uncle Eddie Voice: Bingooo! 😎🎄
That’s what I’m thinking, otherwise, why is this under a video about NJ and it’s drones 😂
They need to be boycotted !!!
That looks like a ridiculously simple and elegant approach to the wing reconfiguration mechanism. Well done on the innovation.
It's more complex than a regular tiltwing, which only requires one hinge.
The advantage of this might be a smaller footprint on the ground. Not sure how valuable that is.
@@freetrade8830 It looks like it only uses one hinge in the video as well
@@freetrade8830 as Icesphere pointed out there's only one hinge angled at 45° inside the wing, seen briefly in the video.
Additionally I guess tilting the wings backwards results in more VTOL stability, as the rotors form a square shape instead of a straight line (looking at the drone from above).
@@freetrade8830 This is still one hinge, it's just placed at a ~45° angle.
@@freetrade8830 It's only one hinge per wing and the original purpose of this design (it's copied from WW2 era Grumman aircraft but with the wing folded leading edge up instead of down) was indeed to reduce footprint for the carrier aircraft
Been flying mine all over New Jersey recently. Highly recommend getting one, or multiple and freaking your neighbors out.
Haaaa. I needed this.
Geez I hope the fbi sees this (but not read)
@@shivaxshiva420 🧐...2 late 😂
It is , by far, the best VTOL system I have seen to date ! With a moving C.G. to adapt to configuration and a minimum complexity, it should dominate the industry.
for sub scale field drones
@@elijahf111why this limit?
@@elijahf111 I think it can be developed to be like the Osprey & Bell aircraft.
@@ekadana1328 Osprey had decades of engineering hardships to iron out. The larger you go the more non-linearly expensive and difficult VTOL gets. The vortex issues, engine power, weight balance, reliability. That's just with 2 engines, imagine 4. There's a reason the osprey only tilts the engines and not the wings themselves like this.
I can see why it looks like the cg is moving but its not, thats the magic. Its able to move its wings like counter weights along its cg in such a way i assume it does not change. Differential thrust can help stabilize this. As i would like to see how it copes in windy conditions? If the cg changed its body would tilt fw or backw etc. Clever how it does it, but if there was a strong side wind is where differental thrust would be cruial.😊
This is the best approach to small VTOL UAV design I've seen. Congratulations and I wish your company great success in that market!
Have you found the increased weight from the wing folding mechanism to be a substantial improvement in regards to range and payload capacity when compared to designs with separate lift motors?
Right
^^^
Keep in mind that in more advanced models the mechanism to articulate the wings could fit inside the wing itself... and by doing without the mechanism inside the fuselage they not only save weight, but also cargo volume.
@@animatek6171 That's true, assuming the actuators fit within the wings themselves also l. Otherwise you'd have the opposite affect.
@@animatek6171 It is probably just a linear screw that draws the bars back in unison to unfold the wings; light weight and simple. This ensures the wings deploy in exact synchronicity and then the bars can act as a structural brace in concert with the pivot point. If it was all in the pivot points you would have to make them much stronger (i.e. heavier) while running the risk of the wings deploying out of sequence or one not at all.
The masterpiece in my eyes is the full stability during every moment of the transition. What would further interest me is the distance the transition takes from full speed ahead to full stop.
This is such a "Why didn't I think of that!" moment.
Brilliant design. I have a feeling we'll be seeing a lot of these in the future.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bell_Boeing_V-22_Osprey
Almost all innovations are that. Putting ideas into practice, no matter how straightforward they might be, should never be underestimated. It needs to be done by someone, and if you are the first you deserve to be able to reap the rewards.
@@johnhopkins6260 The Osprey has many unstable regimes, that's why they crash so often when attempting a semi-aerobatic maneuver. A Quad copter would be much safer.
wonder why they have music playing, these are incredibly lound and will not be able to enter civilian airspace
It is small, but major change it has that extra angle of motion in the twisting of its wings.
1. It now has vertical thrust in each corner instead of all in a row.
2. It can now have full length wings without taking up a lot of space.
That may be the most elegant design of a VTOL plane i have ever seen.
Whoever came up with this simplistic yet extremely functional design is a genius. 👏 👏 👏
This has easily the most simple and stable transition I've seen. I love it.
Have you seen many? At back-transition it’s only an inch away from breaking apart…
@@steffenschaeuf6759 Metric, please.
There's a point in this vid where the gopro view gets shaky during transition
That looks like a winner in the VTOL market - compact when folded, simple robust mechanism, dual purpose motors, smooth fast transition. What’s not to like. Good luck.
so like the v22 osprey? which was made over 30 years ago
@@thedandy6765 Not so much… On the Osprey the engines rotate, not the wings, not to mention a host of other differences. Aside from them both being vtol aircraft there’s not a lot of similarity on closer examination. The Osprey could best be characterised as a helicopter with wings! This has more the attributes of a “fixed wing” aircraft that can take of vertically.
@@robinhodgkinson actually the osprey also has wigns that turn but for storage purpose and the osprey could carry a humvee and troops
and its technically both an airplane and helicopter cus it has to take off like a helicopter but can fly as a plane.
i do feel like if theyh could enlarge that system for troop carry aswell it would be a very good vehicle since itll be in and out real quick like a normal helicopter but i can reacher higher top speeds.
theres loads of uses for the new design and im wondering where itll go
maybe even island hopping would be usefull
Its a drone the weight and difficulty of scaling the wing hinges is probably not viable to make it much larger.
@@jackdburyes its a whole new ball game at a bigger scale. Especially with much larger engines hanging off those wings.
This is just like the one flying over New Jersey...
That looks SO cool! Would love to see the flight controller programming that allows for such a stable transition!
What's up man I love your voice impressions dude and ur channel
Stable transition? I was just going to comment how glitchy and unstable the transition looked. The craft was bouncing fore and aft pretty intensely. I'm sure they will iron that out though. I do like the concept.
If this was scaled up, they would need some amazing material for the wing supports. Lot of stress during transition.
Who cares what you think.
@@theobserver9131it doesn't need to be scaled up significantly though as it is intended as a drone. At this scale I am not sure of the need for VTOL though (possibly for package delivery drones).
I am Pilot and Flight Instructor for more than 40 years now .. and I thought i've seen it all. But this is the most genious attempt for VTOL i have ever seen. Well done boys .. WELL DONE !!!
This VSTOL configuration is possible because 1) no mechanical power transmission needed thus not interfere with wing pivoting ( power linkage for more than one rotor type) 2) unmanned vehicle so deleting all the human incorporating factors out.
The folded position will obviously obstruct pilot's and passenger 's around view whether static or in helicopter flight mode. Somebody might think of it before but old technology and objective ( manned vehicle ) blocked them from implementation.
You are a liar. Prove that you are a "flight instructor". Liar.
Genious?
It’s beautiful
How much they costing us to fly around NJ? 1.5m a piece?
I love this design, so clever and nothing is wasted, so efficient.
i do like how the landing gear is the tips of the engine making it dual purpose and getting rid of the need for landing gear
Not true-- the props optimizsed for lifting and bad for cruising, and vice versa
Also.. motors for wing movement are dead weight
@@geegee101 well, true, but i meant in comparison to other VTOL designs
You guys crushed it. So many dynamical problems solved so elegantly!
It looks neat, but it's probably way, way more cost effective to just use ICE engines lol. And getting this going with 4 ICE engines would be interesting..
Flying around NJ again tonight?
While this is obviously aimed at the defense market, I could see this being extremely useful in the wildland firefighting space. Having something we can launch from a remote helispot with the ability to loiter for long periods as an “eye in the sky” would be incredibly useful to increase effectiveness of boots on the ground as well as increase overall safety
I can imagine how it might find use in package delivery, too.
jeepers, i just want this in a small FPV drone
Imagine 4 of these instead of the police helicopter. That should save some money
describe to me how this is more useful than the standard fixed wing UAVs we toss into the air with bungee slingshots every day? Unless the scale is enormous and it doubles as a sky crane, this is all just a dumpster full of money burning.
@@ZennExile it isn't. At least not yet. The venture capital for sUAS died out shortly after 107 came out due to FAA's overregulation. Then, UAM/UTM/AAM/EVTOL became the new buzzwords and more venture capital was thrown into the fire.
Drone amplified is offering the most realistic use case for sUAS in firefighting by integrating EO/IR and paintballs filled with agent that allows setting of controlled burns remotely.
Best designed VTOL so far! Excellent transition.
Im agree
All the lockheed, northrop, and amazon drone guys are seriously facepalming right now. This truly fits the definition of Brilliant and Elegant. Wonderful design, wishing your company all the best.
-Sincerely, A farmer.
Like everyone, I am amazingly impressed. Such an elegant way to transition.
Interesting moment there at 2:20 as it transitions from forward flight to vtol. As the wings are in mid transition, can see the moment that the pid controller is trying to take control, and there is a herky jerky moment there. I can totally see the struggle to smooth that out must be the most complex pid tune ever.
The pivoting of the wings is going t generate significant increases to both lift and drag. Its the equivalent of trying to from no flaps to full landing flaps while also activating a lifting fan and reversing your control inputs. It has to be one of the most difficult low-alt/low-speed flight regimes design for.
@@zj6074 Indeed - and the airflow is going to get very weird for a while. Interesting engineering challenges, but it sure looks like they have it under control - really impressive!
That is an acceptable amount of herky jerky for a prototype IMO! Just for fun I’d like to see it try with some wind shear to see how it fights.
Generally during transition you have both sets of cascade PIDs running simultaneously.
The ones for fixed wing flight of which there are 3-4 per axis
The ones for quadcopter flight of which again there are 3-4 per axis
Then you blend the output of each together based on the current angle of the wing as it transitions.
Tuning VTOLs in general is a lot of work as you said.
Looks like something they need to get a shitload of data for and test empirically in a myriad of conditions. Figuring that out probably requires close to rocket science.
As an aviation enthusiast it's such a pleasure to witness innovations such as this. Well done. Congratulations!
As a non-planetary moon onion this is neat
Thanks for the kind words Drew. Out team worked very hard on this project. A lot of longs days spent testing in the hot desert sun, sweat cascading down ballsacks
As a genious overqualified for MENSA, this is esthetically a masterpiece in my eyes. LOL
wait till it drops bombs on some 3rd world arab country..
Same here!
Is this the drones that have been flying around the NJ
yes
Totally. The question is: why not just say it.
Also why over NJ.
Yes
Now THAT is freakin' awesome. Look how smoothly it transitions, even the flow of the engines isn't really disturbed.
crazy how transwing evolved i remeber the first concept and the test in the garden. Keep it up :)
Glad to see you here, Tennessee Bureau of Investigation
So many positive things to say.
1. Integration of the landing gear on the back of the engine cowls was a great way to get rid of the bulky VTOL landing gear that would hinder efficiency in the fixed-wing configuration.
2. The transition between modes was really elegant and simple. From VTOL to fixed-wing, the transition adding in forward thrust looked very stable. From fixed-wing to VTOL, the motion seemed very smooth. These kind of inertial transitions make me feel like this could be scaled to human flight. I hope you make a light craft someday. I could also see a large scale version of this beating the pants off of an Osprey.
I really like y’all’s solution to the tilt mechanism. The strength to weight must be pretty good. Seems a logical combination of spar and landing gear type linkages. I can’t imagine how much adjusting had to be done to get that last few inches of movement right, in both directions. Very impressive.
I like the fact that it can also be efficient by turning off the other 2 motors when in fixed wing mode. Also that transition at the end is just so seamless. I love it!
this is such a cool and simple design, kudos to anyone involved in this.
Looks good! Finally an intelligent, practical design.
Not very practical, I don't think it's good for battle, needs improvement.
Fast blowing winds can rip it's wings apart.
@@blackpanthar906 Wonder if there will be comments from a troll gamer kid who is expert on aerodynamic structures? Oh, wait...
@@shazam6274 and that's coming from someone with a profile name of "shazam", real mature..
@@shazam6274 Know the difference between a prototype and a battle ready model first before you start talking nonsense.
@@blackpanthar906 You might want to check the spelling of "Panther"
The fact it gets such a large wingspan with four prop engines into such a small on the ground footprint is fantastic, I can't wait to see the flight stats like overall fuel efficiency and payload capacity.
Stealth it up and you've got one hell of a good drone or 'cruise missile.'
It should be possible to make the wings even longer - these wings seem short to me :/
@@InfiltrateIndustries not for it's weight
hello sir can i use 5 second video in this footage for my project
Why has no one thought of this design before now? Now that I see it it's so damn simple. What a brilliant way to combine drone technology with a proven twin-engine aircraft design. So awesome how the geometry allows the wings to Pivot and allows you to get in to the nose down position to start moving forward to gain lift.
It looks simple but it isn't. The joint is more complicated since the wing has to rotate on two axis instead of just one and also the transition unstable. You can actually see the wobble when you go from lift from the wings to thrust from the motors. It doesn't matter for an unmanned drone and you can fix that with the right flight system but this method is not without its drawbacks. Best of luck to them.
Best piece of aero engineering I've seen in a LONG time.
latest really cool aero engineered vehicle mustve been the v22 osprey
This may be the most Terminator looking drone to date! Well done PteroDynamics!... on bringing us one step closer to the robopocalypse.
That's clever in how the flight transition appears to be inherently smooth to some extent, although I bet that pivot point must be one of the most stressed components on that aircraft in the way the type of loading its under changes from torsion to levering and back.
It’s cool how it can just transition so smoothly without losing altitude I expected it to dip in altitude but I guess as long as the props are at constant speed it remains in forward and level flight
With GPS data, it could be I a loop control, where the motor controllers adjust the speed of the propellers, to keep the set altitude.
My guess is that software modulates the rotary speed and increases it during the beginning of transition as some of the vertical thrust is converted to horizontal.
I wonder how difficult the transition back to landing is.
Constant prop speed is probably not how it does that.
You can design a control mechanism that can fix that. It would take quite a bit of tweaking. Not sure if they use some form of neural network, MPC, of just PID.
Wild we saw you in Jersey how much under 5k I hope also dose it have FPV?
bro its 1mil+
I am stunned by this design. In retrospect, it’s so obvious a solution to hybridizing quad-rotor principle with traditional forward flight, it’s a wonder this isn’t a more common approach by now. My concern is the forces on the outboard engines when transitioning. At model scale, these are negligible, but at full scale there will be some interesting problems to solve.
I take it you mean the forces pulling at the wing joints during the transition?
If that's the case I'm not sure if this style of joint can be scaled up by much without astronomically increasing maintenance costs.. 😅
@@Squee7e It would probably at minimum have to be on par with the pivot mechanism of the F-14 Tomcat on a full-size aircraft in terms of robustness requirements, because not only does the functionality depend on mechanism action but the type of loading and stresses changes between flight modes.
Titanium.
I'd love to fly in a full scale model! Best of both worlds - EVTOL and winged flight. Are we going to see more videos as your model progresses? Any plans to make a passenger carrying model? Congratulations on your prototype!
I had a similar idea long time ago, but I had to open my mouth and give you the details. Lets just say that is not all free! A modification for the V22 osprey is what I was working on so it was mean to be for the country. Specifically, the addition of winglets for better lift and stability. They would need to fold up as to not cause degradation of the thrust when in liftoff and they would also fold/rotate backwards with the engine as to not create drag when propelling forward. So I am guessing that your patent is specific to this air craft? And not the idea it self?
これほどシンプルな機構で美しい動作を実現しているのは本当に素晴らしいです。変形中の挙動を制御できているのが奇跡を見ているような気分！
素晴らしい設計🎉
it's nice to see the team behind the project, and also, nice to understand the scale of the craft. Very cool design.
Makes so much sense that I am surprised nobody has done this before, or have they?
I am guessing the props are angled in a way that allows to replace the wing lift as much as possible at any stage of retraction.
“We believe in making the world a better place” shows a weapons platform and selling it to the military less than 30 seconds later.
what you'll say when this shit get into your window
They said better, not peaceful lol
Peace through superior firepower, bitches
glad I am not the only one perceiving it that way
Better for shareholders. lol. Orwell would be proud, maybe
I saw the first prototype Harriers take off and was amazed then and looking at this I must SAY the potential is going to be staggering !
This thing is spectacular! Can't begin to believe how this drone - aircraft can be scaled up! Caught it on Sandbox News w/ Alex Hollings...hope nobody gets into a "Jam" over that
Many thanx for the vid. 👍👍
This design looked ridiculous on the thumbnail and I didnt believe it woked! Looks so good, and works amazingly!
You guys flying around in New Jersey?
OMG this thing is awesome. You guys have designed and built something tremendous. I wish I worked for a company innovating like this.
I am just shocked at how smooth the transition is while folding or unfolding the wing !!!!
It almost seems that it should crash due to stall, CG movement, but nooooo... it just go it's merry way and if nothing happen.
Brilliant design.
It almost seems this would obsolete any attempt by big and small companies to have quad-type copters as taxis and or short hop type service.
It also seems it should scale up to large planes too... with the ability to land horizontal or vertically if needed.
Excellent design. Kudos guys!
i mean over 30 years ago they made the v22 osprey which does the exact same
compact when folded fully
which also didnt stall when transitioning
Military should be all over this can you imagine a full-size actual airplane like that perfect for aircraft carriers
That is so cool!!! Reminds me a little bit of the folding wing system that Grumman used for the F4F and F6F during world war 2. Of course, that was for storage aboard carriers, not for flight. I can really see a future for this.
My thought exactly
I was thinking TBM Avenger
@@maker-matt Yes, TBM as well. It was a Grumman patented system.
@@danmallery9142 and since you bring up the patent. Grumman folding wing was leading edge down when folded back. This system is leading edge UP! (face palm... why didn't I think of that)
That's Grumman's Sto-Wing. It was also used for the E-1 Tracer and is still used for the E-2 Hawkeye and C-2A Greyhound.
I really like this design. The only question I would have is how they would go about preventing dust and particle intrusion into the hinge mechanism. It would seem like there’s a lot of potential for contaminants to enter the folding parts since it would be throwing up a lot of dust during the VTOL phase.
I guess if you look at the wing profile, even in rotated mode the hinge side is low pressure...so the air being pushed over it from the props would tend to be lifting off the surface.
What if they come up with some sort of flexible "sleeve" or "accordion" that can fit over the hinge? Best analogy I can come up with is like the skin between your fingers or the skin that stretches out between the arms of flying squirrels. Something you can secure to the side of the craft so you can take it off for servicing. At this smaller scale, it should be OK if the aerodynamics aren't great for that part of the wing.
Is this what’s over NJ?
Yes actually
This is a genius elegantly simple mechanism! Even using the backs of the engine pods as landing legs! Will we see something like this on a consumer level drone?
この構造にイチャモンをつけるとするならば、整備をするときにエンジンポッドを不用意に外せないことです。必ずちゃんとした整備工場で行わないといけない。
Awesome design !! I'd like to see a future video going 'in-depth' with the design process and to learn how strong the wings are. It looks very delicate having those large wings pivot on a single point. How do they lock in place during conventional flight?
You know, I've seen a lot of drone companies' videos that show their drones transition from rotor to fixed wing mode, but yours is the first I've seen where the drone demonstrates changing from fixed to rotor. It definitely shows your confidence in its design, and I for one am sold on it.
This is incredibly cool. i hope you guys much success so that maybe one day this design will be in general aviation
Doubt this design will scale well or be competitive with an Osprey type design.
@@wageslave387 the clear advantage of this design is how compact it becomes... imagine it as a tanker on an aircraft carrier like the USS Wasp-Class
@@animatek6171 Yes, but I doubt it will scale. These transformer type designs rarely scale in a fashion that makes them competitive versus existing designs w similar functionality. They already have helicopters.
@@wageslave387 right but look at what the military did with the osprey, and now the new bell valor. There's clearly a need for compact transforming aircraft. One of the biggest criticizations of the Bell Valor is how much space it takes up, this design solves that
@@wageslave387 It's true, I don't see this design scaling well (though I hope I'm wrong), but the military is every more reliant on drones now so scaling isn't needed really
Beautiful engineering.... best of luck to your team!
Now that is different.
What kind of torsion and flex are the joints getting on rotation and landing? That will be its weakest point.
That is simply sensational. What a superb piece of engineering design. I wish you every success.
I am amazed that it seems to slow down just as fast as it sped up during its transition/transformation. Great out of the box thinking!
Really clever design, guys. Well done!! A truly original and creative solution to the transition problem. Robustness/reliability of the mechanism is , of course, key, but I'm sure you've been thinking about that.
That really is purebred. The whole aesthetics, tiny landing feet integrated into the tail cones from engines is 🔥
What’s specs? Air speed? Payload? What can carry? Weapons? Chemspraying?
That is a really sleek looking design. the VTOL capability is huge, eliminating the need for a runway. Is this the final size, or are there plans to upscale it at all? Remarkably stable during transition. Love this.
Who is here because of New Jersey? Hahaha
Me! And it’s kinda crazy these look oddly similar to the ones spotted in NJ as well 😂
Wouldn't be less likely to fail due to rotary position change if the wings were fixed and the props rotated on the wings? This would also allow for distributed rotation instead of two fixed catastrophic failure points.
So this is what’s flying over Nj?
Indeed these XP-4 transwing drones look exactly like what is being seen in New Jersey. The similarity is uncanny.
There probably is a mix of drones now up in the air doing reconnaissance.
@@thepresentmoment369bullshit
Amazing design and teamwork to bring this to life! I’m curious what software you used to model this in and what software was used for your CFD tests. Great work!
That folding wing design is very innovative!! I love seeing new ideas that work!
Supposedly this is what we are seeing in the skies over NJ?
Ppl in NJ with thier own drones are trying to fly close to the unidentified ones and its disabling them.
Ppl with high powered zoom cameras trying to get pictures of them and some kind of shielding is making the pictures look a blob looking thing.
1/ is possible but unlikely
2/ is not physically possible
Totally looks like those drones though.
How much does it cost?
6,000 USD
$16, currently on sale in NJ
You got night shots with light on?
There must be sooooo much stress on the joint between the wing and the body of the plane. The blades push it up, while the weight of the body pulls it down and the joint in the wing takes all that stress.
Love the simplicity of design. Fantastic and impressive. I can see this moving to scale.
You guys about done scaring the shit out of everyone yet?
It's not this. Way bigger than this crap
@frameofmind229 It's 6' x 13' or roughly "...the size of an SUV!". The bigger ones are MQ-8s.
MQ-8 Fire Scout Autonomous Helicopter ? Those have been around for a while
Are these the things flying over NJ right now? 2024
Most likely. If you look at their website, they had an investment/deal with the US navy which funded them.
They are seen coming from and leaving to the ocean.
It all makes sense that this is what's flying over us in NJ
i love how you put "VTOL killerdrone" and "we believe to change the world for the better" in one sentence!! bravo!
arms manufacturing company acting altruistic in their promotional material, and people think we don't live in a cyberpunk dystopia
So THIS is what those mystery drone ins New Jersey actually are? Why didnt the Pentagon just say as much. This is not the kinds stuff that requires super secrecy...especially when plying in the open over populated areas repeatedly.
How much are Raffle Tickets for a 2023 Model?
From a Charging port to Downloads...you just need a ...Stop on a Dime landing spot with 2 Ports. I would be creative and test it to do this for 500 cycles. It could learn so much for other models.
Awesome design
Can now been seen in use over New Jersey 😂😂
Oh that is such an elegant solution. Bravo.
Ask these guys what they think is going on over New Jersey atm
What up my New Jersey peeps who are here before the feds.
Who is commanderring the drone then? The gvt? That kinda doesn't make sense
@@brendansmith7842 The best current idea is they are looking for a lost nuke, so the guess is they are launching off a US Navy ship using geiger counters. I have to assume the worse since the government wont tell us anything.
@honchoryanc well I saw one in Connecticut tonight. That doesn't explain it. And it was not a helicopter, sikorsky has a lot of them so I know what they look and sound like.
New Jersey peeps are the feds. lmao :")
Which max distance of flying?
lipol accumulators are used for power source? it's necessary new type of energy storage that can have more than 1kA/h capacity and have small size and weight simultaneously.
pure genius in the transition from vertical to horizontal. I am very impressed! Compared to this, the v22 Osprey is a dinosaur
yep - my first thought was -
this design could replace the Osprey - and also the newest one the Textron Bell V-280...
ingenious design...
really a D'oh! moment for some aerospace design engineers out there...
Doubt this is scalable past UAVs. Tilting the entire wing like this adds some huge single failure points, and heavily affects the strength of the wing. You lose the closed web of the skin and lose the strength from continuous spars running through the wingbox. It's why carrier aircraft today don't tend to have folding wings anymore.
I don't mean to detract from this, the idea and execution is amazing, but it is not without flaw, and there is still a reason the v-22 is built how it is
@@tomfoolery2913 - aye - you're probably right - but would be a very cool ppl mover - if they could engineer it so that it worked properly. A robust hinge would probably add too much weight tho...
NJ explained
Thanks
I'm not convinced this would scale up so great. All that weight of the aircraft plus the shock of landing on those twisting joints. Maybe adding a retractable link on the tip of the wings to the fuselage could do the trick. Also, if you want to build bigger, you're gonna have to add shock absorbers
The best thing about this are the auto-generated captions that convert PteroDynamics to "Terror Dynamics".
"Mystery" solved!
Huh, these are being spotted all over the world in the hundreds not a chance this is what is up there
Absolutely impressive. I'm sold this is probably the best mid size military application drone . Only question how would you carry hellfires or munitions
Santa.. Listen up
Glad to see the p3 mechanism was refined to what looks like a super reliable system. Keep up the awesome work.