We operate a fleet of Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) of various types in support of internally-held research projects and teaching programmes, with some platform development ongoing. DJI M300 RTK The DJI M300 RTK is the flagship of our UAS fleet, providing a state of the art platform for the latest commercially available sensors for drone survey. DJI Mavic 3 Multispectral The DJI Mavic 3 Multispectral (Mavic 3M) is an extremely portable, highly sophisticated platform with built-in high quality 20Mp photogrammetry and 4-band multispectral sensors, supported by cm-level RTK positioning. DJI M600 Pro The DJI M600 Pro is an advanced heavy-lift unmanned aircraft capable of supporting a wide range of third party sensors. DJI Mavic 2 Pro The Mavic 2 Pro is a lightweight multi-rotor UAS with a high-quality built in camera and sophisticated flight safety features. DJI Mini SE The Mini SE is a sub-250g drone and as such is exempt from the majority of the separation requirements within the UK regulations. It is equipped with a 12Mp stills / 2,7K video camera system. T680 Pro The T680 Pro is a mid-weight multi-rotor UAS with a useful payload of approximately 1 kg. 3DR Iris+ The Iris+ is a lightweight multi-rotor UAS for training and survey with a variety of sensors up to approximately 0.4 kg. Cinestar 8 The Cinestar 8 (or C8) multi-rotor UAS is a mid-heavy lift system with a maximum useful sensor payload of approximately 4 kg. Bormatec Explorer The Explorer is a twin-motor fixed wing platform with a payload of up to ~ 1-2kg. In development. FX-61 The Zeta Science FX-61 is a lightweight fixed wing platform with a payload of a few hundred grams. In development. Training Systems In addition to the above we operate a number of systems dedicated to training. These include very small multi-rotors for indoor use, and an e-Flite Apprentice S15e fixed wing trainer – a relatively low cost platform, available ready-to-fly (and with spare parts easily available), and featuring a very useful system known as ‘Sensor Assisted Flight Envelope’, or SAFE, technology. The SAFE system is able to provide auto-stabilisation or attitude limitation (i.e. preventing the aircraft from entering extreme attitudes), and can be switched between modes mid-flight. This article was published on 2024-06-25
