Aircraft

Arcturus gets the Jump on vertical takeoff and landing for fixed wing UAVs

Arcturus gets the Jump on vertical takeoff and landing for fixed wing UAVs
The Arcturus Jump system is designed to give UAVs VTOL capability without the weight penalty
The Arcturus Jump system is designed to give UAVs VTOL capability without the weight penalty
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The Arcturus Jump system can be installed in 15 minutes
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The Arcturus Jump system can be installed in 15 minutes
The Arcturus Jump system is a self-contained add-on system providing VTOL capabilities
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The Arcturus Jump system is a self-contained add-on system providing VTOL capabilities
The Arcturus Jump system taking off
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The Arcturus Jump system taking off
The Arcturus Jump system in transition to horizontal flight
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The Arcturus Jump system in transition to horizontal flight
The Arcturus Jump system is designed to give UAVs VTOL capability without the weight penalty
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The Arcturus Jump system is designed to give UAVs VTOL capability without the weight penalty
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Fixed-wing Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) have a lot of advantages over manned aircraft, but much of that is lost when they get too big to be launched by hand and start needing runways and catapults to get aloft. Vertical Takeoff and Landing (VTOL) systems seem like an obvious alternative, but the extra weight of these systems can limit the advantages they offer. Arcturus UAV in Northern California unveiled its solution this week with its Jump VTOL system. Using self-contained electric lift motors, this add-on system is designed to provide tactical UAVs with VTOL capabilities without the usual penalties of payload and range.

One big advantage of UAVs is that you can base them anywhere. Instead of calling back to base for aerial reconnaissance, or even sticking their heads over a wall, foot soldiers can pull a UAV out of backpack and launch them as easily as a child's toy. Unfortunately, once UAVs get beyond a certain size, launching them is as hard as with a small plane, requiring landing strips or some sort of catapult and recovery system for takeoff and landing.

At first glance, VTOL systems seem the obvious answer. They don't need runways, they're self-contained, and they don't need a reinforced airframe that catapult systems demand. But VTOL systems add their own weight and complexity to the craft. VTOL on conventional aircraft is notorious for reducing payload and range. On the smaller scale of a UAV, this is even worse.

The Arcturus Jump system taking off
The Arcturus Jump system taking off

Designed for border protection, aerial mapping, search and rescue, and defense, Arcturus Jump works as an add-on to current Arcturus T-20 and T-16 fixed wing UAVs. The basic idea is that by retrofitting the UAVs with self-contained electric lift motors instead of redesigning the craft as a specialized VTOL version, the weight penalty can be kept down. That means more payload and greater range.

According to Arcturus, the Jump units can be installed by two technicians in 15 minutes, turning the UAV into a hybrid fixed-wing/quadcopter. To further reduce the penalty of the added units, the lifting props minimize drag by feathering while in horizontal flight. Control of the UAV and the Jump system is by a Piccolo autopilot command center software and Latitude Engineering’s Hybrid-Quadrotor technology, which provides seamless transition between vertical and horizontal flight. Arcturus says that the flight systems are fully autonomous and can be controlled by a ground crew of two.

"This is a pivotal moment in the history of small unmanned air vehicles," says D'Milo Hallerberg, president of Arcturus UAV. "JUMP™ is to UAVs what the touch screen was to smart phones."

The video below shows the JUMP system in action.

Source: Arcturus

The Arcturus UAV JUMP™15 Electric

View gallery - 5 images
7 comments
7 comments
Leonard Foster Jr
No landing gear lol pusher prop hit the ground?
MQ
tractor prop.
eminently solvable.
dsiple
anything that loud would be shot out of the sky in no time.
the.other.will
Engineers have encountered the weight issue with manned V/STOL aircraft designs from the '50s through the current day. Separate propulsion for vertical flight always detract from payload & range in forward flight. It may be better to incur the weight penalty of separate propellers for forward flight & vertical flight than the complexity of the same ones for both, but not the engines as well.
The Skud
Presumably the weight of the VTOL addition must reduce payload a little, plus the addition of a small amount of extra drag, but put up against the versatility of retro-fitting existing UAVs, this should be a winner on several fronts. If a little extra power capacity exists on the 'donor' UAV, the main problem is solved, but adding a little more power would remove that worry easily anyway. The noise factor seems to be a worry only on take-off and landing, not when deployed, then it can be 'stealth' as usual. Shielding the cruise prop should be simple, or just add landing skids/pads for a little ground clearance.
Douglas Bennett Rogers
Thought the lift engines might be jettisoned after launch like JATO units.
ChinaMike
That looks so archaic! Haha! I mean, was that designed in the 50s??? Too much wait for the payoff me thinks.