It is well known that UAVs commonly use runways, heliports or landing pads to take off and land, but… Have you ever wondered how it would be to recover an UAV directly from the sky?
Embention responds to this question with only three simple words, RN86 recovery net, a sophisticated recovery system recently updated and improved thanks to its great acceptance in the market since it was released several years ago.
A multirotor, a VTOL fixed wing & a fixed wing UAV
There are many ways to recover a UAV to the ground depending on the type of the aircraft. A multirotor or a VTOL fixed wing (vertical take off and landing) for example can take off and land vertically so it will not need much space to execute these maneuvers.
On the other hand, a fixed wing UAV will need a runway to take off and land, that in many cases will be very long depending on the size, weight and power of the aircraft to get the minimum speed needed to take off, and the same regarding the minimum space to land breaking the UAV until it is completely stopped. The problem comes when we need all the capabilities and performances of a fixed wing (for example its endurance) but there is no runway or we don’t have enough space to land in the area that we are working in. In those cases, a UAV recovery net is the perfect solution to make sure that our UAV lands safely and quickly in the minimum space possible.
In this sense Embention has recently updated its RN86 recovery Net, by improving its materials (aluminium frame and nylon in the net) at the time that assembling mechanism has been redesigned to allow a fast and efficient set up, that now includes security bolts rather than the traditional old screws. Besides, there are fixed wing systems without landing gears, specially designed to be launched by catapult and which necessarily will need a recovery net to land. In this sense, the combination between the L200/L400 catapult and the RN86 recovery net is a perfect symbiosis.
Main features of RN86
Main structure
The structure is used to support the net and ensure to absorb the energy of the UAV to stop it, to do this, the structure counts with a mechanical stopper in order to prevent movements of inertia and swinging that would be dangerous for the uav. It is made with a lightweight structure composed of aluminium 6061 that brings a great resistance, a high grade of reliability along the time and maintains the low weight to ensure the ease of transportation and mount. The weight of the full elements is under 500kg, The base has a length of 6 m and a width of 13 m, the maximum height of the frame is 7m. The frame has pin bolts to assemble its parts, with this type of design no tools are needed, this allows an easy and fast mount. The structure of the Net is fastened to the ground with ground pegs.
Net
The Net solution provides an advanced accurate-point recovery method for UAVs.
The net is a high grade quality industrial safety net with 8m x 6m, 48 square meters of surface ,with this area the net allows to recover safely a uav with 3 meters of wing-span (with a margin of a 5 meters of net to ensure the safety of the uav) , 40 kg of weight and 25 m/s of speed once the uav reaches the net . The whole system is fully transportable in two aeronautic suitcases specially designed for this product. This suitcases allows a practical transportation system bringing the maximum protection to the equipment.
Embention keeps working to offer the best solutions for the actual UAV market offering the most recent and reliable solutions to face present and future challenges in order to enable drones to populate our skies.
