Dragonfly Pictures’ DP14 Hawk, a dual-rotor unmanned aerial system, could one day evacuate wounded soldiers from the battlefield. It resembles a miniature CH-47 Chinook helicopter, can carry 430 pounds in its six-foot by 20-inch cargo space for about 2.4 hours. It has a cruising speed of about 82 miles per hour and is capable of flying in crosswinds up to 46 mph.
The DP14 Hawk uses onboard LIDAR, or 3D laser scanning, and advanced algorithms to self-navigate in complex, restricted environments, according to DPI’s website. This includes advanced intelligence for path planning, course corrections, perception, obstacle avoidance, and landing-site selection.
It can be transported in a truck.
It can be assembled, readied to fly and launched in 30 minutes.
Dragonfly Pictures is the industry leader in small rotary wing unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) in the U.S. DPI UAV have successfully flown thousands of hours, are military proven, and are now available for industry. Our UAV are ideal for critical missions where stable precision flight, self launch/land, high payload capability are key. DPI is recognized for robust low-cost UAV, world-class innovative rotorcraft design, extensive testing, and successful UAV deployment.
DP-14 Hawk: Key Capabilities
Payload: 430 lbs
23 Cubic foot cargo area, over 6 feet long, over 20 inches wide
No runway or recovery equipment required
Self-launch and self-recover in unprepared sites
Autonomousoperation, including self-launch and self-recover in unprepared sites
Extend range: Vary fuel versus payload to optimize range and endurance for each mission
Precision control, precision flight via autonomous flight path programming.
Precision cargo drops better than 3 meters
Fast and agile: Speed up to 105 kts, rapid climb 500 ft/minute under load
Nap of earth (NOE) flight even in complex terrain, such as jungle, mountain, forest, and urban environments
Non-line-of-sight (NLOS) flight even in GPS-denied environments
Croswinds 40 knots
Stable hover, no stall speed
All-terrain landing gear for uneven ground, slopes to 15 degrees, and heaving pitching rolling ships
High bandwidth encrypted comm link
Fits in Sprinter* van or utility trailer
They also have the DP-12 Rhino. It is a small, rugged, autonomous UAV designed to carry multiple payloads over long distances. The DP-12 delivers precision control, stable hover, nap-of-earth flight, and secure communications.
DP-12 Rhino: Key Capabilities
Payloads: 150 lbs
VTOL: No runway or recovery equipment required
Fits in pickup truck bed, humvee, small utility trailer, or van
Designed to operate autonomously in complex environments
Fast and agile: Speed up to 112 kts, rapid climb 500 ft/minute under load
Crosswinds up to 30 knots
Stable hover, no stall speed
High bandwidth encrypted comm link
The DP-12 Rhino is a small, powerful, autonomous UAV designed to carry payloads of up to 150 lbs over long distances up to 300 nautical miles (about 340 miles). The DP-12 delivers precision control, stable hover, nap-of-earth flight, and secure communications.
Small and easy to maneuver, the Rhino fits in the back of a standard pickup truck, humvee, small utility trailer, or van. The Rhino is a VTOL — vertical take-off/land — UAV; no runway or recovery equipment required. It can take off and land in unprepared sites with little clearance — including from the bed of a pickup truck or trailer. It takes only 1 person to operate, with user-friendly waypoint navigation.
Operators can take advantage of multiple hard points (fore, aft, sides, and belly) on the Rhino to carry many different kinds of payloads. With a modular design and wide center of gravity (CE) envelope, you can configure the tandem UAV for your specific industry or application.
Typical payloads for the DP-12 Rhino include cameras, stereo vision, synthetic aperature radar, ultra wideband radar, LIDAR, EOIR, magnetometers, ground-penetrating radar, lasers and mapping packages, IMU, acoustic and ultrasonic sensors, secure communication relays and links, and other useful payloads.
Brian Wang is a Futurist Thought Leader and a popular Science blogger with 1 million readers per month. His blog Nextbigfuture.com is ranked #1 Science News Blog. It covers many disruptive technology and trends including Space, Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, Medicine, Anti-aging Biotechnology, and Nanotechnology.
Known for identifying cutting edge technologies, he is currently a Co-Founder of a startup and fundraiser for high potential early-stage companies. He is the Head of Research for Allocations for deep technology investments and an Angel Investor at Space Angels.
A frequent speaker at corporations, he has been a TEDx speaker, a Singularity University speaker and guest at numerous interviews for radio and podcasts. He is open to public speaking and advising engagements.