Otonom Teknoloji conducted the first flight of “Doruk Aerostat System”
During the flight which took place on 16th July 2014, operational altitude, payload, tether system and mooring station tests have all been performed successfully.
The hull material of the prototype system was designed by Otonom Teknoloji and manufactured using domestic capabilities. The payload was an electro-optical camera for the two hour test. 802.11n-based wireless access devices were used for video and image transfer. The mooring station of the system was developed and assembled by Otonom Teknoloji. The test was carried out at two stages: 65m and 155m altitudes above ground level. The video and images obtained at different altitudes were downloaded to the ground control station via wireless connection.
The pre-flight installation & transportation, operational flight and post-flight stages were completed by 9 personnel in action. The prototoype of the system is 10m in length and has 12 kg payload capacity. Although being the first prototype of “Doruk Aerostat System”, the test performance indicated that 20kg payload capacity at different wind speeds in real flight conditions which were beyond expectations. In line with the test results, the platform stands out as being able to perform long endurance tasks with a variety of payload types such as thermal cameras, radar, LIDAR, etc. With “Doruk Aerostat System”, many long endurance operations for public safety and environmental surveillance requirements, where remote sensing technology is utilized (e.g, early detection of forest fires, search and rescue operations, etc.), can be carried out much more cost effective than conventional methods.
With its R&D activities started in May 2013, Otonom Teknoloji aims to design and produce aerostat and airship systems to be utilized in long missions so as to provide innovative unmanned and autonomous system solutions for the contemporary public safety and environmental surveillance requirements.
Among Otonom Teknoloji’s other R & D projects are the “Solar-powered autonomous airship platform, TepeGöz”, JAUS (Joint Architecture for Unmanned Systems) compatible “Electronic Control unit, MiniSteer” and “ground control station” which are easily re-programmable and therefore can be used for many types of unmanned air and ground vehicles.
