99 “That’s typical while carrying an EO/IR camera such as those from NextVision, as well as either a standard commercial cellular radio or a 100 g high-end Radionor data link, which gives some extra resilience for defence users plus 20 km of effective comms range, or more with a bigger ground antenna. “There are many further payload possibilities. We’ve successfully integrated and combined a radiation sniffer and camera on another of our UAVs for highly georeferenced and detailed radioactivity surveys, which we could also do with the FX-Y now.” The UAV can carry up to 5 kg of payload, which reduces its flight time, but keeping to a 2 kg payload typically enables an hour of flight, and integrating a tether enables continuous power and endurance. Mission management can be performed via open-source GCSs, such as Mission Planner or QGroundControl or via Robot Aviation’s own SkyView GCS, depending on customer preference. Among the FX-Y’s present customers are Lithuanian border control, which owns and flies 24 units as of writing (Robot Aviation having trained 320 operators for that customer), after starting to use the hexacopter two years ago. Romania’s Ministry of Internal Affairs is also now using the FX-Y in an emergency response capacity. “We’re trying to source all components from within Europe, wherever possible. This is now very achievable for things like motors, propellers and flight controllers, for instance, although, historically, it has been hard to get European batteries. But, with this trade show, we’ve now found some really promising prospects for high-end batteries that are European,” Nyroth says. To further its supply chain resilience, Robot Aviation has set up its own composite production facility. This fact, along with its parent company owning one of Norway’s largest CNC machining suppliers, enables veritable independence and extensive customisation of all mechanically engineered components. Mejzlik Propellers continues to expand its high-end product portfolio, reporting considerable advances in its r&d in engineering and producing helicopter-type blades, particularly for smaller, UAV-type helicopters. These often use unoptimised RC-type blades and do not benefit from the elasticity of traditional, fibreglass-based helicopter blades (and hence can benefit more from Mejzlik’s lighter and stronger carbon-composite blades). We spoke to the Czech manufacturer’s Jan Hruska. “We’re now able to accurately simulate the behaviour of the helicopter blades in both static and dynamic conditions, which gives us the same platform for designing and optimising those as we have for the fixed-wing and multirotor UAV propellers that we’re best known for,” he says. Following geometric design and optimisation, Mejzlik aims to perform additional structural design optimisations, followed by manufacturing. For low-volume batches, the company can use its traditional composite manufacturing procedures, but higher volume production runs are increasingly anticipated to be carried out using its new hot-press plant. “The hot press is now running very proficiently and consistently, and we have six or seven project customers whose propellers are in production via the hot-press machinery, and we’re now preparing to get that new plant certified to ISO:9100,” Hruska adds. “Through the hot press, we anticipate becoming the highest-volume supplier of carbon-composite propellers outside of China, particularly for the bigger sizes of multicopter UAVs we supply for. With supply chain resilience being more important than ever, we anticipate a need to increase our output by maybe three or four times for sudden surge orders coming in at short notice. That’s what the hot press will be really good for.” Xponential Europe 2025 | Show report Uncrewed Systems Technology | April/May 2025 Robot Aviation’s SkyRobot FX-Y UAV Mejzlik continues to forge ahead with its carbon helicopter propeller-blade engineering and its new hot-press production facility
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