UAVOS has announced that it has developed a High Altitude Pseudo Satellite (HAPS) control system for for high-altitude flexible wing unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).
Utilising these new flight control principles, UAVOS’ HAPS technology will be able to shift the geographic area of solar aircraft flights to more northern latitudes. UAVs powered by solar energy can undertake long-term continuous monitoring of areas of interest on the Earth’s surface to get real-time information.
A high-altitude unmanned aerial vehicle powered by solar batteries is called an atmospheric satellite because it can perform a lot of functions commonly attributed to spacecraft located in low Earth orbits.
UAVOS’ solar powered test aircraft has so far achieved a total flight time of more than 1000 hours. Test flights took place at an altitude of up to 66 feet (20,000 meters). Test flights confirmed that this type of control allows aircraft with a large wing elongation to fly in difficult weather conditions.
The aircraft successfully copes with turbulence, actively changing the bend of the wing. The flying model has a 46 feet (14 meter) wingspan and weighs 33 lb (15 kg). The airframe of the unmanned vehicle is made of materials based on carbon fibers, which have very high strength, low weight, and are designed for long-term continuous operation.