AeroVironment Quantix: Autonomous VTOL Mapping Drone

In this episode, the Roswell Flight Test Crew speaks with Jeff Dickens of AeroVironment about the company's Quantix VTOL autonomous mapping platform. The Quantix was designed and produced to serve the agricultural market. As a result, it carries two 18-megapixel cameras that capture both visible light imagery as well as multispectral data, which can be used to evaluate the health of crops. The Quantix has been developed to fly at altitudes between 150 to 800 feet above ground level (AGL). It takes off and lands vertically but pitches over into fixed-wing flight at altitude, providing a 45-minute flight time. Operating at 360 feet, that allows the aircraft to map 400 acres in one flight. The Quantix flies autonomously and is controlled via an Android-based tablet computer with no direct control input from the pilot.