Draganfly Inc. has announced the awarding of a new patent for a vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) cargo delivery drone with variable center of gravity. The design is ideal for Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) and for transporting goods in hard to reach areas or flight over people at night.
US Patent No. 10,807,707 is an unmanned aircraft system (UAS) configured for both vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) and fixed-wing flight operations includes forward, and aft wing assemblies mounted to the fuselage, each wing assembly including port and starboard nacelles terminating in motor-driven rotors powered by an onboard control system capable of adjusting rotor speeds.
The UAS may transition between a powered-lift VTOL configuration to a winged-flight configuration by shifting its center of gravity forward, pivoting the wing assemblies from a powered-lift position perpendicular to the fuselage to a winged-flight position parallel to the fuselage.
The forward rotor blades may be folded back so that the aft rotors may provide primary thrust for winged flight operations. Onboard attitude sensors may detect rotor or control failures, to which the control system responds by triggering a conversion to the winged-flight configuration for recovery operations.
Draganfly views this patent as an important addition to its robust patent portfolio and believes it to be a core innovation for the industry and the drone delivery vertical.
Draganfly recently announced it had been selected by Coldchain Technology Services, LLC to immediately develop and provide flight services of a robust vaccine delivery payload for use in critical regions for drone delivery of the COVID-19 vaccine.
Coldchain Technology Services, LLC provides comprehensive solutions for healthcare supply chain management for multiple government and commercial clients, including the US Army, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Reserve Component forces, Johnson & Johnson brands, Chicago Department of Public Health, and others and has been leading the deployment of COVID-19 vaccines throughout the United States.
Polaris Market Research estimates the medical drone market at USD 947.6 million by 2027. Facts and Factors estimates the global drone package delivery market was estimated at USD 530 million in 2019 and expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 42% from 2020 to 2027.
“With the signing of a signature customer and now this key industry patent we are confident in our role as an important global player in drone delivery space.” said Cameron Chell, CEO of Draganfly. “This showcases Draganfly’s continued focus on IP and highlights the strength and innovation of our engineering team.”
Source: Press Release