Israeli "Steadicopter" Requires No Pilot

Israel's latest UAV is on track for market entry soon. The new helicopter, called the Steadicopter, offers new military and rescue capabilities. However development of the Steadicopter was slowed down due to the suspicious disappearance of the Steadicopter prototype last month.

The Steadicopter, which weighs 30 pounds and is five feet long, had just completed its final test flights according to CEO Tuvia Segal. He said the helicopter was unique in that it was capable of independent flying without remote control. "Many companies have tried but none of their tests worked," he told Globes.

The Israeli developers of the Steadicopter were surprised last month to find its prototype had been stolen - presumably by someone who wanted to copy it - from their plant in Kfar Maccabi near Tel Aviv. No money or computer software was taken during the break-in, leading the company to suspect espionage.

Steadicopter's Business Development Manager, Amir Rochman told Israel21c.com that the theft proved that the company is onto something good. "There's something positive that came out of the burglary. We're on the right track," he said, adding that the setback has only delayed the Steadicopter's development schedule by a few weeks. "The theft of the prototype has influenced our very short-term goals, but not the long-term goals," said Rochman. "We have just completed a number of very successful autonomous flight tests, and were scheduled for some live demonstrations for police, military, and other defense agencies and companies. Obviously, those demonstrations had to be delayed, and we now have to produce another prototype. However, since we have the knowledge and the technology, we can deliver a new prototype ! with equal capabilities within the next few weeks."

According to Rochman what makes the Steadicopter unique is that the unmanned robotic helicopters are fully autonomous. The Steadicopter can take off, hover, fly, and land in a fully autonomous manner, and therefore can be operated by novice users. "The Steadicopter is fully autonomous," explained Rochman. "The performance of flight mission can be implemented without the need of human control."

Although major advances have been made in many of the technologies involved in developing a successful unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), such as visual guidance systems, high precision image sensing cameras, and aerial navigation systems, devising an effective stabilizing technology for the rotating-wing craft has proved a serious hurdle that has held back widespread adoption of UAVs for many applications. Steadicopter says it's developed a unique system that overcomes stabilization and flight control problems, paving the way for the first completely autonomous unmanned helicopter

"The system is designed for surveillance and control of designated areas, and provides real-time information to the command center for passing on to the operating ground forces. The helicopter is equipped with stabilized flight control systems, cameras for day and night vision and receivers/transmitters for real time operation and monitoring. The ground control system is composed of a PC with navigation and flight control software that enables the operator to guide the helicopter to the location of the event using a digital map or an aerial image of the area," said Rochman.

"During the course of the flight, real-time video images of the events are sent to the PC or to an external video screen with vital information for the control of the events on the ground. The system is designed to be integrated in a command control center operation, as we'll as a field mobile operation from a portable computer," he added.

Steadicopter, founded in 1999, is a graduate of the prestigious TEIC (Technion Entrepreneurial Incubator Company) which is a entrepreneurial program located in Haifa that has received grants from the Office of the Chief Scientist of the Israel Ministry of Industry and Commerce.

According to Rochman, the Steadicopter can carry up t! o 18 kilograms of video equipment and will sell for approximately $125,000, depending on the electronic components installed. This price would be only a fraction of the $1 million cost of currently available unmanned aerial vehicles of this type.

"We're looking at a period of four months until the product hits the market," Rochman said. "Our first thrust will be to the Israeli market, in order to get feedback close to the customers. But then we certainly plan to focus on the U.S. market."

FMI: www.steadicopter.com