By Evan Ackerman4 GMTWatch This Massive Drone Launch and Recover Another Drone in Flight

Photo: Insitu

We’ve written entire posts on how tricky it can be to recover a fixed-wing drone. Only the ridiculously large and expensive and over-engineered drones are able to land themselves (Predators, Global Hawks, things like that). Most other fixed-wing drones land themselves by crashing into the ground as gently as possible if they’re small and cheap, or maybe using a parachute if they’re slightly less small and cheap. Bigger fixed wing drones have to get more creative, especially if a precision landing is required (like recovery to a ship). Unmanned aircraft system developer Insitu, a Boeing subsidiary based in Bingen, Wash., hasdeveloped one of the most creative and awesome drone launch and recovery systems I’ve ever seen, using an enormous octocopter carrier aircraft.

This thing is called FLARES, for Flying Launch and Recovery System, and it’s been flying since late 2014, with the first successful launch and recovery taking place this past August. Insitu is the maker of theScanEagleUAV and the company says FLAREScan handle a “low-weight ScanEagle,” which is probably 18 to 20 kilogramsin total weight: quite a payload.

The launch is mostly self-explanatory: the ScanEagle gets hauled up a few hundred feet, throttles up, and drops, quickly achieving enough lift for horizontal flight. The catch is a bit trickier: the octocopter is attached to an anchor on the ground with a long cable that it carries up into the air, acting as a sort of sky-anchor. The ScanEagle drone navigates to the cable and flies into it, catching it in a little hook at the tip of one of its wings.

Insitu tells us thatpulleys on the ground anchor release tension on the cable,“letting it unwind, like a fishing reel.” This allows the cable toabsorbsome of the drone’s energy (although you can hear the octocopter’s engines revving up a little bit). Finally, the cable is reeled in, and both drones are recovered. It’s pretty incredible to watch on video, but according to Andrew Hayes, Director of Advanced Development for Insitu, it’s way better in person:

“There’s a tremendous amount of power in the system—the vehicle almost leaps off the ground at takeoff. It’s surprising to watch. Also, the vehicle is completely rock solid in the air throughout capture—meaning it doesn’t move at all when ScanEagle hits the line. It’s like someone bolted it into the sky.”

This version of FLARES was built primarily with commercial off-the-shelf parts. At this point, it’s mostly autonomous, although Insitu is working on making the system even more flexible, with the capability of (among other things) operating on ships. They’re also working on increasing the launch weight, which probably means a ScanEagle with a heavier payload, although watching FLARES deal with one of Insitu’s 60-kg Blackjack drones would be pretty cool, too.

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看看這個巨大的無人機是如何回收另外一架無人機的 由Evan ackerma gmtwatch這個巨大的無人機發射和回收在flight

照片另一架無人機：原位
我們所寫的文章；整個多么棘手的事情可以恢復固定翼無人機。只有大的離譜，昂貴和過度設計的無人機可以土地本身（食肉動物，全球鷹，像這樣的事情）。其他大多數固定翼無人機的土地自己撞向地面，如果他們都盡量輕柔；再小的便宜，或者使用一個降落傘，如果他們再稍便宜的小。更大的固定翼無人機必須有更多的創意，特別是如果需要一個精確的著陸（就像是一艘飛船的恢復）。無人飛機系統開發商現場，波音公司總部在賓根洗有；。發最具創新性和令人敬畏的無人機發射和回收系統我見過。使用一個巨大的octocopter運輸機。

這個東西被稱為耀斑，用于飛行發射和恢復系統，自2014年底以來一直在飛行，今年8月首次成功發射和恢復。現場是SunGeaveUAV的制造者，該公司稱耀斑可以處理“低重量ScanEagle”，這大概是18到20公斤的總重量：相當的有效載荷。

發射主要是自我解釋：“掃描鷹”被拖到了幾百英尺，加大油門，迅速獲得足夠的升力下降，水平飛行。問題是有點棘手：的octocopter連接到一個帶到空中長索地錨作為一種天空錨?！皰呙楮棥睙o人機導航到電纜和飛到它，抓住它在一個小的鉤在一個翅膀尖。

現場告訴我們；滑輪在地面錨放松電纜 ；讓它放松，像一個漁線。這使得電纜；吸收；一些無人機的能量（雖然你可以聽到octocopte的引擎加速一點點）。最后，索繞，和無人機回收。它的看視頻相當驚人，但據安得烈海因斯，原位晚期發展總監，它的方式更好的人。

&ldquo；有&rsquo；的巨大的能量在系統車輛幾乎跳下地面起飛。它是令人驚奇的；看。同時，車輛完全是巖石固體在空氣捕捉意義也；不動時掃描鷹撞線。它&好像有人在天空上。這個版本的耀斑是建立主要商業現成的零件。在這一點上，這是自主的，雖然；原位是致力于使系統更加靈活，有能力（其中包括）上運行的船只。他們還致力于增加發射重量，這可能意味著一個更重的有效載荷的“掃描鷹”，雖然看的耀斑一原位'交易；60公斤二十一點飛機會很酷太。