The Secret of Pegasus – Its Hybrid Capabilities
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Changing shape between ground and aircraft modes can be a substantial advantage for unmanned vehicles. The Pegasus drone series is a hybrid air/ground drone platform with three variants, including the Mini model which has been launched recently.
The combination system developed by Robotic Research provides various capabilities for industry, first responders, law enforcement and military that previously had not been possible with single-mode autonomous drones or land vehicles.
The new Mini variant combines advanced GPS-denied mapping with fully autonomous high-speed flying and driving capabilities. Potential applications include inspection, search & rescue, rapid response, oil and gas, law enforcement, public safety, and more.
All three models can roll quietly on the ground on narrow side-mounted tracks. In that mode it may use its four rotors to perform short hops over obstacles such as train tracks that are insurmountable to many unmanned ground vehicles (UGV).
When a Pegasus switches to sustained flight mode, its tracks flip upwards, shifting the center of gravity to improve aerodynamic stability. That opens up a 360-degree field of view for its cameras, and shields the rotors from collision damage, particularly while indoors. All three models can fit through a typical doorway or window.
The tiny football-sized Pegasus Mini model can be stuffed into a backpack and is designed primarily for surveillance/reconnaissance roles in tight spaces using a fixed electro-optical/ infrared camera.
The medium-sized Pegasus IIe (15 pounds total including batteries) can also carry CBRNE hazard sensors which detect chemical, radiations, explosives, etc.
Finally, the 38-pound Pegasus III can carry payloads, including a more flexible gimbaled camera. Other equipment options include systems to detect and dispose of explosives, LIDAR sensors used to create three-dimensional terrain maps, and potentially even electronic warfare jammers and sensors.
The Pegasus drones have up to 30 minutes of flight endurance, but can drive much longer on the same battery, ranging from 2 hours for the mini to 8 hours for the Pegasus III.
What are the benefits of a hybrid platform? In addition to the logistical advantage, having a single hybrid drone that can do the jobs of both systems, hybrid UAS/UGVs may be particularly useful for accessing hard-to-reach places like building interiors.
An unmanned system’s command link is vulnerable to disruption by everything from dense terrain (hills, buildings, concrete walls) to inclement weather and hostile jamming. Terrain especially limits remote-control range for ground vehicles.
To mitigate these problems, Robotic Research integrated redundant control, communication and navigation systems into the Pegasus series, beginning with their ability to execute missions autonomously, with surveillance data recorded internally, should their command link be disrupted.
A robust radio link has been ensured by integrating Embedded Modules developed by Persistent Systems into its Pegasus II and III drones. The modules are a miniaturized derivative of Persistent’s MPU5 smart radio, which runs the company’s Wave Relay mobile ad-hoc network (MANET), as reported by forbes.com.
The company envisions the development of a larger Pegasus IV hybrid UAV/UGV that could potentially fulfill the U.S. Army’s requirement for a drone that can haul up to 800 pounds of supplies to help sustain ground formations in the field, as well as a Navy requirement for a 50-300 lb load-hefting delivery drone. While aircraft that can lift large payloads intrinsically require larger landing zones, the advantage of Pegasus is that it can land at a different location than where it’s supposed to deliver resupply and continue on the ground.
