Autonomous Helicopters: The Drones of Tomorrow?

We have autonomous cars on the streets and autonomous drones in the skies. But is that enough? Cars are slow and bound by roads, while drones have very limited capacity—something as big as a car and as fast as a drone could help us in many fields. Rotor Technology’s autonomous helicopters aim to make this a reality.

Agriculture in the old way

For Rotor’s CEO, Hector Xu, this innovation began with personal experience. In his college days piloting at night, he recounts having a few “nasty experiences.” Indeed, while helicopters are safe for travel, piloting them in challenging conditions, such as during dark hours, with fatigue after a day of work, or in low visibility areas, can be risky. Let’s take the example of agriculture. Helicopters meant for crop dusting (spraying) fly at low altitudes and have to account for obstacles like power lines and trees.

Autonomous or semi-autonomous drones have recently surged in popularity and have lowered the risks. Still, their limited battery and weight capacities mean they are considerably less efficient. Naturally, a drone can spray less water than traditional piloted helicopters.

Autonomous helicopters could mitigate the risks by removing the pilot from the equation. The latest innovation of its kind, Rotor’s Sprayhawk, comes with advanced radars, sensors, and communication systems that work together to ensure its size isn’t a hindrance but an advantage.

Next steps

Rotor has already built two Sprayhawk autonomous helicopters and aims to bring another 20 to market next year. There have been various tests and showcases, the latest one in Texas, where potential customers and aviation experts could see the Sprayhawk in action. They are working on getting all the safety measures approved by the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration). This shouldn’t be too hard as other companies who saw the gap in the market, such as Pyka and their Pelican Spray helicopters, have already been approved.

Rotor’s current focus is on agriculture, but they have plans to expand to other fields where helicopter autonomy could help, too, such as wildfires and cargo transport. Both fields are already being tested, such as Lockheed Martin’s Dark Hawk for Wildfire suppression or Airbus turning military helicopters into autonomous cargo transporters. Autonomous helicopters will not replace cars or drones, at least not completely. But it does sound weird, at least to me, how, until now, it was reasonable to believe in the future, drones flying all around us would be the norm. Instead of drones, the future could reserve something bigger for that role.

YouTube: Rotor Flies Sprayhawk In Texas | Showreel | Rotor Technologies 2024

Photo credit: The images used are owned by Rotor Technology and were made available for press usage.
Source: Michael Casey (AP News) / Rotor Technology / Lockheed Martin / Stephen Losey (DefenseNews)