MONROVIA, Calif., 1 July 2007. AeroVironment in Monrovia, Calif., flew its Puma small unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) for nearly five hours powered by an onboard fuel cell battery hybrid energy storage system.
This demonstration completed the first task under AeroVironment's contract with the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) to develop advanced propulsion technologies for unmanned aircraft.
The $4.7 million, five-year contract calls for several development tasks designed to improve the efficiency and flight duration of small unmanned aircraft systems (UAS).
Other tasks under the contract include improvement of electric motor efficiency, integration of solar cells into aircraft wings, and the exploration of hydrogen storage technologies.
For this flight demonstration, AeroVironment worked with Protonex Technology Corp. in Southborough, Mass., to develop the fuel cell battery hybrid energy storage system, which included hydrogen generation technology licensed from Millennium Cell Inc. in Eatontown, N.J.
Puma's standard propulsion system comes with rechargeable batteries with a listed flight time of 2.5 hours. The nearly five-hour duration of the Puma flight using fuel cell battery hybrid power surpassed the longest previous Puma flight achieved by AeroVironment using any technology.
Looking forward, AeroVironment and Protonex expect Puma flight durations to increase further through optimization and continued development of the hybrid system.
"We are delighted with the performance of AeroVironment's fuel cell hybrid-powered Puma," says 1st Lt. Don Erickson of the Air Force Research Laboratory. "This system has the potential to provide extended duration capabilities for a variety of missions supporting operational units around the world."
Each of AeroVironment's small UAVs is powered by a replaceable and rechargeable battery pack. Using standard propulsion systems, Wasp, Raven and Puma can fly for up to 30, 90 and 150 minutes, respectively, while wirelessly transmitting live video and other information generated by electro-optical or infrared sensor payloads, enabling their operators to view and capture images on a hand-held ground control unit.
Their high degree of portability and flexibility in real world applications enable these systems to provide tactical units with critical information when and where they need it, facilitating faster, safer movement through urban and rural environments. Consistently high levels of operational availability in areas of operation insure that AeroVironment's small UAS are ready and able to perform their missions reliably when required. To date, AeroVironment has produced more than 6,000 small unmanned aircraft.
With a wingspan of 8.5 feet and weight of 12.5 pounds, Puma is a lightweight, hand-launched UAV that provides aerial observation at line-of-sight ranges up to 10 kilometers. Operating from the same ground control system used for Raven and Wasp, Puma incorporates avionics that enable autonomous flight and precise GPS navigation.
Puma delivers advanced flexibility and endurance, with an adaptable design that allows for custom payloads to be added in lieu of the air vehicle's standard configuration of color and IR cameras. Puma is easy to deploy, easy to use, and allows the operator to view both stationary and moving targets easily, providing real-time intelligence with persistent low-altitude reconnaissance.
For more information contact AeroVironment online at www.avinc.com.
