Aircraft Expected To Debut In 2018

Yamaha Motor Co exhibited the YMR-01 ... a prototype industrial multi-rotor drone type aircraft scheduled for launch in 2018 ... at the 4th Next Generation Agriculture Expo Tokyo held at the Makuhari Messe in Chiba October 11 to 13. The YMR-01's design features coaxial rotors and a lightweight carbon body to enable continuous spraying of one hectare per flight, delivering a spraying quality comparable to Yamaha Motor’s industrial-use unmanned helicopters.

Yamaha Motor has been engaged in the business of agrochemical spraying using unmanned helicopters for over 30 years, and Yamaha Motor products now cover more than 40% of the total rice paddy cultivation area in Japan. For small fields which are difficult to cover with unmanned helicopters, in addition to manual work, the use of drones for agrochemical spraying has been increasing in recent years.

Through combining coaxial rotor technology with the latest weight-reduction technology, the new YMR-01 delivers high spraying performance, ease of use, and reliability to meet the demanding requirements of today's farmers. The adoption of a layout in which two of the six rotor axes (one each on the left and right) have “vertical coaxial” rotors - for a total of eight rotors - creates the ideal downward air currents, and the placement of the spraying nozzles near the coaxial axes achieves consistent agrochemical application down to the roots of the crops.

In addition to supplying multi-rotor aircraft, Yamaha Motor also provides practical training services using its proprietary flight simulator.

Yamaha says that some of the main features of the YMR-10 include:
 

• Excellent spraying quality through optimal layout of the vertical coaxial rotors and spraying nozzles comparable to Yamaha Motor’s unmanned helicopters
• Monocoque shell structure carbon fiber body delivering an excellent balance between light weight and rigidity
• Double-air-intake design for cooling of the electrical system
• Landing gear to reduce the impact on touchdown

Yamaha Motor has formed an alliance with Yamabiko Corporation regarding multi-rotor aircraft, with Yamaha Motor planning to supply multi-rotor aircraft and Yamabiko planning to supply granule spraying equipment to each other. In addition to existing Yamaha Motor distributors, the new YMR-01 will also be sold through the Yamabiko sales network.

(Images provided with Yamaha Motor news release)

FMI: global.yamaha-motor.com