The Spanish company UAV Navigation, experts in automatic pilots and ground station software both for planes and helicopters, is renowned internationally in the flourishing field of UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles).
Unmanned aerial vehicles represent one of the fastest growing sectors in aeronautics. The reasons for this increase are diverse. First of all, they offer a drastic reduction in the cost of operation: one hour of manned flight costs on average €600, while an hour of unmanned flight only about €100. Further, they also reduce the risk factor in dangerous missions, whether this be for rescue, surveillance, the military or antiterrorism.
One of the most complex technological aspects of this type of aircraft is the system of flight control. These must monitor all of the parameters of the aircraft, such as telemetry, the flight path, position, orientation and data on propulsion, and offer them to a human pilot on the ground or manage them according to an automatic flight plan. The possible uses are unlimited: fire control, the military, border surveillance, crop management or even searching for schools of fish.
The Spanish company UAV Navigation is positioned at the highest level of this competitive field, thanks to its systems for both unmanned aircraft and helicopters. In fact, because of the complexity of the latter, there are only two flight control systems in the world capable of handling them. And the system from UAV Navigation is one of them.
The company equips Israeli drones from IAI (Israel Aircraft Industries), the country that invented unmanned aircraft in the 1980s as part of its surveillance systems. The company’s systems are so precise that they equip the aerobatics squadrons of RED BULL Air Race in high-level competition.
UAV Navigation has actively participated in important projects such as the unmanned helicopter “Condor” used by the US Army, and the Phoenix/Firejet, a high-speed target plane developed in Australia and the US. Recently the company unveiled AP04OEM2, the smallest and lightest flight control system in the world. It weighs only 20 grams, developed for use in the miniaturized avionic equipment of new generation microdrones.