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 The University of Leuven team behind VertiKUL 2 (KUL is the
acronym for Katholieke Universiteit Leuven) say the drone combines
the ability of quadcopters to take-off and land vertically with both
the speed of conventional aircraft and their capacity to fly long
distances.
By adding wings to a multi-rotor and enabling a transition between
hover and cruise flight they say they were able to decrease the
required power for flying at high speeds.
Lead researcher Bart Theys told Reuters that combining aspects of
multicopters and conventional aircraft created great potential for a
future drone delivery service.
"We made a combination that uses the flight efficiency of an
airplane and combines this with the vertical take-off and landing of
a quadcopter or a helicopter," he said. "So we added wings and
aerodynamically shaped profile to a quadcopter to make it fly fast
and far."
 VertiKUL 2 takes off and lands vertically by using four propellers.
Once cruising altitude is reached the automatic flight controller
can tilt the craft forward, so that its top effectively becomes its
nose. Using Global Positioning System (GPS), it can reach its
destination quickly, using markedly less energy than other
multi-rotor craft.
Upon reaching its destination VertiKUL 2 reverts to hovering mode.
Onboard electronics then identify the landing platform and
automatically enable the drone to descend onto it.
"When we take off it flies like a multicopter and all the lift is
generated by the four propellers," explained Theys. "After take-off
we make a transition and we tilt the whole vehicle 45 degrees and
after this the wings provide a lot of lift and the propellers do not
consume so much energy anymore. When we want to land we just make a
transition back to hover and all the lift is provided by the
propellers and we can land vertically on a very small spot."
In outdoor tests VertiKUL has been able to travel for up to 30
kilometers (18.6 miles), with a cargo payload of up to one kilogram
(2.2 lb).
The university's first prototype, VertiKUL 1, was designed in 2014
by master's students Maarten Verbandt, Cyriel Notteboom, and Menno
Hochstenbach.
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Production engineering researchers Theys and colleague Stijn
Debecker felt that, although it performed impressively in field
tests, VertiKUL 1 struggled in windy conditions. So they decided to
construct a new model with smaller wings.
"We had to shrink the wing, which made it less efficient
aerodynamically, but we compensated by making the fuselage also part
of the lift producing surface," said Theys. "To compensate further
for adding extra lift in forward flight, also the propellers in
forward flight deliver 50 percent of the lift because they are at an
angle of 45 degrees."
The pair says the result is a wind tolerant, efficient and fast
multi-rotor. Field tests involving VertiKUL 2 being flown
autonomously are now planned. "We are now ready to fly fully
autonomously with VertiKUL," Debecker told Reuters. "It's also
possible to land with very precise position of ten centimeters. We
use very accurate real-time kinematic GPS for that and in the next
stage we want to automatically exchange batteries and a package out
of our drone."
Debecker and Theys say they have received much commercial interest
in the drone and are seeking additional funding to improve it
further. After that they will face the additional hurdle of getting
permission for it to take to the skies on a commercial basis.
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