Andalusian Solar Powered UAS Prototype Unveiled

Leaders from the tech centres IAT (Andalusian Institute for Technology, CATEC (Centre for Advanced Aerospace Technologies), CITIC (Andalusian Centre for Innovation and Information and Communication Technology) and CTAER (Advanced Technological Centre for Renewable Energy), grouped under the consortium C4T, have provided a preview of the PEGASO project (Aerial Experimental Platform for Advanced and Sustainable Management of on-board energy), which is seeking to produce a demonstrator of an unmanned solar aircraft, equipped with efficient management of on-board energy. The first prototype rolled out in Andalusia represents an innovation in the national and international sphere within the aerospace market.

Photovoltaic cells to improve the energy management system and increase flight autonomy have been already installed in the first prototype being developed. In addition, works connected to improve aircraft aerodynamics, on-board electronics, optimal integration of systems and characterisations of environmental footprint have also progressed.

The goal is to promote technologies associated with the development of environmentally friendly RPAS (Remotely Piloted Aerial System), applied to new advanced materials, renewable power sources, microelectronics, robotics, software or management processes analytics as a prior step to develop applications in large aircraft.

Within the framework of the III Transfiere Forum, the IAT’s president, José Luis Calvo Borrego; CTAER’s president, Valeriano Ruiz Hernández, FADA-CATEC’s president, Antonio Valverde Ramos; and CITIC’s manager director, Ramón Rivas Menchón; met and analyzed the level of progress of the project, which currently already has a prototype-demonstrator.

The project promoters highlight the importance of PEGASO, as the liberalisation within the sector of light unmanned aerial systems (less than 25 kg) is expected to be achieved in the next few years. Consequently, the forecast of market growth in this field seems to be very optimistic, as well as the number of applications connected to RPAS and its application to new on-board systems within unmanned aircraft.

Promotion phase: in the search of interested companies in marketing the project

The project is aimed to set up a flight test campaign with the demonstrator, where flight behaviour in typical missions will be tested as well as the level of efficiency and reliability of the energy management system. The initiative is expected to achieve important results in approximately one year.

PEGASO leaders state that the initiative will keep being developed in the next few months with their own resources so they ask for the collaboration from technology companies which might be interested, given the great potential of its industrial application, and exploit it commercially in the future.

New market niche

After a thorough revision of the state of technology, the leaders of the PEGASO project have identified new emerging market niches which haven’t been commercially exploited yet and seem to be very promising. This is about scalable or modular on-board systems for a wide range of applications: surveillance and monitor and management of fire fighting, surveillance of natural areas, plant and animal population, crop and farming products monitoring and a great many others, grouped under a new concept that can be called Smart agriculture.

As a result of this analaysis, the investment and work developed by these four tech centres is expected to be profitable by means of transferring part of the results of the project to aerospace companies mid-term and by participating in future R&D projects connected to the technologies playing out in the framework of PEGASO in collaboration with the industry.

This is the first project for the four Andalusian tech centres which is intended to improve the experience existing in energy management within aerial systems, particularly in the area of unmanned aviation,  combining knowledge and capabilities of each of them in R&D projects connected to unmanned systems, renewable energy and management and communication systems.

Source: Press Release