航空環(huán)境公司的長(zhǎng)續(xù)航無(wú)人機(jī)Puma

????小型無(wú)人機(jī)如果用于民用用途，一般都是用來(lái)檢測(cè)輸電線、農(nóng)田或基礎(chǔ)設(shè)施的情況。但小型無(wú)人機(jī)的一個(gè)主要缺限就是其續(xù)航能力不足。小型固定翼無(wú)人機(jī)的電量通常只夠飛行一兩個(gè)小時(shí)。

????從這個(gè)角度上看，加州門羅維亞市的航空環(huán)境公司（AeroVironment）研發(fā)的固定翼無(wú)人機(jī)Puma AE創(chuàng)下的9小時(shí)11分鐘的飛行紀(jì)錄可謂意義重大。Puma無(wú)人機(jī)只有13磅重，讓它起飛也非常簡(jiǎn)單，操作者只要把它舉起來(lái)，像拋?zhàn)闱蛞粯影阉鼟伋鋈ゾ托辛?。這架無(wú)人機(jī)最近還通過(guò)了美國(guó)聯(lián)邦航空管理局（the Federal Aviation Administration）的商業(yè)飛行測(cè)試，而這也是第一次針對(duì)此類小型無(wú)人機(jī)的商業(yè)飛行測(cè)試?，F(xiàn)在Puma已經(jīng)獲準(zhǔn)在北極地區(qū)進(jìn)行商業(yè)飛行，再過(guò)幾年，等解決了美國(guó)航空規(guī)定方面的限制后，它也將可以在美國(guó)境內(nèi)進(jìn)行商業(yè)飛行。

????Puma AE無(wú)人機(jī)利用太陽(yáng)能電池技術(shù)提高了續(xù)航時(shí)間。雖然目前該機(jī)型仍處于試驗(yàn)階段，但是明年它應(yīng)該就會(huì)投入量產(chǎn)。屆時(shí)，在北極工作的商業(yè)公司和科研團(tuán)體就將擁有一款物美價(jià)廉、能長(zhǎng)時(shí)間航行的航空成像設(shè)備了。

AeroVironment's long-endurance Puma

????One of the limiting factors of small UAS -- the kind that civilians might use to inspect power lines, food crops, or infrastructure -- is endurance. Small fixed-wing UAS can often only get an hour (maybe two) of power.

????So it's significant that Monrovia, Calif.-based AeroVironment's fixed-wing Puma AE recently logged a continuous flight lasting 9 hours and 11 minutes. The 13-pound, hand-launched Puma (to take off, the operator simply heaves it into the air like a football) also recently received a first-of-its-kind commercial flight certification from the Federal Aviation Administration, clearing it for commercial operation in the Arctic and, in a few years when national airspace regulations are settled, in the U.S.

????Though currently experimental, the solar-cell-augmented Puma AE should be ready for production sometime next year, offering commercial companies and research groups working in the Arctic an affordable, long-endurance source of aerial imagery.