Russia’s UVS Avia is building higher-end sUAS to examine nuclear reactors and waste sites, along with doing search-and-rescue in remote areas.
It built a quadcopter that weighs about 1 kilogram, can fly above 100 meters and has at least 1 hour of battery life. It costs a hefty $40,000, but that’s because local Russian taxes effectively double the price and because they target government and military clients. Commercial drones for hobbyists cost a few hundred dollars, but often only have about 15 minutes of battery life. So far, UVS Avia has sold a “few dozen” systems.
It can be equipped with infrared vision, night vision or radiation protection to fly over sites like nuclear reactors or to monitor nuclear waste.
“Civilian versions weigh about 100 grams, while this is a kilo, which is a lot,” said CIO Maxim Shaposhnikov. “Everything is stronger and better.”
While the hardware for these UAS is being commoditized, Shaposhnikov says the real advantage in the future will come from software.
“Normally, even for military use, all UAS are managed by humans,” he said. “But our idea is to make them completely automatic, like maybe they could fly for months and charge automatically.”
The other thing they want to add is the ability for UAS to communicate with each other. He said, you could eventually get 100 or more UAS to monitor an entire city in a completely automated process.
“We think the whole industry is going in the same direction,” he said. “In five years, it will be really cheap to make drones, but the intelligence should be really advanced. New batteries are being developed that will allow a five hours of battery life. Everything is moving ahead, so software will be the key.”
The company has raised about 3 million euros in funding from private angels.
Source: Techcrunch