UAV Successfully Flies over Antarctica

UAV Successfully Flies over Antarctica

This post is also available in: heעברית (Hebrew)

The Tiburon Jr. UAV platform successfully flew multiple runs in a series of tests on the coast of Antarctica in February.

The flights were operated by Intuitive Machines, in cooperation with the UTIG (University of Texas Institute for Geophysics) and ICECAP (Investigating the Cryospheric Evolution of the Central Antarctic Plate).

According to the company’s website, this series of flight tests proved out cold temperature engine performance and flight characteristics and allowed to evaluate storage and logistics in extreme environments.

The onboard software also proved to be robust as it dealt with sensors whose response to the extreme conditions was not previously known.

The UAV has an 80-knot cruise speed and a 15-minute assembly, and the company claims that deploying it saves time and is significantly safer than manned flights in hazardous environments such as Antarctica.

The carbon-fiber Tiburon Jr. has a swappable nose cone, enabling a modular ISR sensor pod including visible, infrared and multispectral options. A remote ground station can accompany the ground transportation trailer for a portable stand-alone solution. Aircraft operations can be fully autonomous or man-in-the-loop.

Beginning in summer 2017–18, Tiburon Junior’s big brother, Tiburon, will join the survey team.