Learning from Feedback – Next Generation Tethered Drones

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Tethered drones have various advantages, including the fact that there is no need for a trained pilot to operate them, they have a continuous power supply from the ground, etc.

Novadem’s first generation tethered solution for drones had brought a real added-value during several missions, yet customer feedback also allowed to identify limitations of such a configuration.

The drone linked to a cable is naturally deprived of action capability while the situation would necessitate getting closer to the event. The cable constrains the drone to hover above its power unit which does not allow the drone to keep a visual contact on a target moving behind vegetation or a building. Eventually, the transition between the tethered and non-tethered configuration necessitates to land to unplug the cable and then plug a battery before taking off again. This transition leads to an observation loss of several minutes during which the target can disappear, reports roboticstomorrow.com.

To solve these problems, the company has developed a second generation of tethered drone, the NXWIRE 2.0, allowing to unlock the drone from its cable while it is still airborne and at the same time, from all the constraints of a tethered configuration.

Designed as an equipment of the NX70 drone, the NXWIRE 2.0 is composed of three main parts:

A ground-based power supply, rugged and compact, that can be connected to a main supply or an auxiliary power unit, a 50-meters cable allowing the power to climb from the ground to the drone, and an embedded module, taking the place of the battery, which allows to unlock the cable on demand of the pilot.

The new model gathers the best of both worlds: the capability to ensure improvised and long-lasting observation missions thanks to the ground-power supply and the capability to get closer to the target without never losing sight on it to support response teams, according to the company.