1. Development

2. Design

3. Hybrid airplane models
     H-Aero Zero    H-Aero One  

4. Awards

5. References

6. Further reading

7. External links

The Hybrid-Airplane Technology H-Aero (styled as H-AERO) is a small German hybrid electric unmanned aerial vehicle^[1] by a Baden-Baden based start-up Hybrid-Airplane Technology GmbH.^[2] Compared to some other UAVs it features vertical take-off and landing and extended flight endurance.

Development

The prototype H-Aero One, which can source its energy completely from renewable sources via solar cells, was first presented to the public at ILA Berlin Air Show from 1–4 June 2016.^[3][4] The aerial vehicle was developed by Csaba Singer in co-operation with the University of Stuttgart.^[5][6] The prototype and pre start-up phase was sponsored with public funds from "EXIST", an initiative for science transfer administered by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy.^[7] In June 2012 the jury of the NASA-Congress "Concepts and Approaches for Mars Exploration" praised the concept, among others, as an alternative way of exploring Mars from a bird’s eye perspective and invited Singer to present his concept in Houston.^[8][9]

Design

The aerial vehicle combines static and dynamic lift, mirror or symmetric rotation flight modes and flies like a balloon, airplane and helicopter. It has a gas cell and two wings with a symmetric profile which can be rotated by 180° and one Electric motor at the end of each wing. As usual with balloons, the static lift vector (buoyant gas) and the vector of payload with batteries are positioned opposed to each other. The cell does not resemble a cigar form but a rotation-symmetric Frisbee disc. The vectors of the carried components - unlike with airships - are not distributed over the total length of the body between prow, cabin and stern. Opposed to this hybrid universal aircraft shows high potentials to more efficient sustainable flight missions and therefore applications with longer abidance in the air.^{[10][11][12][13]}

The aircraft has a cell of a diameter of three metres, can take off and land vertically (VTOL), like a helicopter and fly like an airplane. Cruise speed is about 20 km/h and maximum altitude up to 4000 metres. With an empty weight of 4.4 kg, the H-Aero One can lift payloads of up to three kilograms.^[14] Helium provides H-Aero with its static lift, enabling a duration of up to nine hours. H-Aero can be steered via radio modem, cellular network (GPRS, 3G, 4G, LTE) or within a closed room by Wireless LAN.^[15]

H-Aero is intended as an observation platform, for filming or also as a reusable Weather balloon. Larger versions, currently under development, will enable the quick establishment of mobile communication networks.^[16][17]

Hybrid airplane models

H-Aero Zero

The H-Aero Zero is the smallest model with a wingspan of 3 meters, 2qm Volume at sealevel and is suitable for indoor and outdoor applications at wind speeds of up to 10 km/h including gusts. With a payload of up to 550 grams and a top speed of 10 km/h, the Zero can stay in the air for up to 160 minutes.^[18]

H-Aero One

The H-Aero One has a diameter of 5 meters and can carry up to 3 kilograms at sealevel for up to 400 minutes. With a top speed of 15 km/h, it is suitable for indoor and outdoor applications with a headwind of up to 10 km/h including gusts of wind.^[19][20]

Awards

• Innovation award, Deutsche Luft- und Raumfahrt 2017, Finalist in the category emissions reduction^[21]
• European Satellite Navigation Competition (ESNC), Baden-Württemberg Challenge, LiveEO – Integration of autonomous UAV "h-aero"“ constellations into satellite services for real-time Earth Observation 2017, Platz 2
• Copernicus Masters, LiveEO – UAV Integration into Satellite-EO 2017, Platz 1^[22]
• Award of the label “Member of Solar Impulse Efficient Solution” of the Solar Impulse Foundation, June 2018^[23]

References

Further reading

• "Welt der Wunder: Innovationspreis für Hybrid Flugzeugkonzept", Universität Stuttgart windenergie.de/NewsLetterSS2008.pdf Universität Stuttgart – Fakultät Luft- und Raumfahrttechnik und Geodäsie{{dead link|date=November 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
• "Fliegen mit Solar-Luftschiffen", Solarenergie-Förderverein Deutschland e.V. Solarenergie-Förderverein Deutschland e.V.
• Concepts and Approaches for Mars Exploration (2012): Ultralight Solar Powered Hybrid Research Drone, Lunar and Planetary Institute Lunar and Planetary Institute
• A Novel Non-Polluting VTOL Hybrid Airplane (2008), German Aerospace Center (DLR) DLR

External links

• Website Hybrid-Airplane
• Vision-Website Hybrid-Airplane

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