Frequently Asked Questions
Why should I buy a UAV helicopter and not a quad or a multicopter UAV?
A Velos V3 UAV helicopter can carry larger payloads and have much longer flight times of up to 90 minutes. In addition, the Velos V3 is fully redundant, which allows it to be flown in harsh weather conditions and over populated areas more safely. Quad and multicopter UAV models do not have these capabilities.
What is the difference between the electric Velos UAV and a gasoline powered UAV?
Gasoline helicopters are noisy and have gas emissions and turbulence that may create problems for sensitive equipment and sensors. In addition, gasoline motors are prone to failure while Velos UAV has a fully redundant twin motor design, which is more reliable and requires less maintenance.
Why to buy a Velos UAV helicopter and not a UAV airplane?
UAV airplanes may have longer distance range, but they have more limited payload capacity and require a larger airfield for takeoff and landing. UAV airplanes also cannot hover or maintain a low speed, which makes them more difficult to maneuver and unable to be used for more industrial applications including LiDAR inspection, rescue, surveillance or other high-resolution data gathering missions.
How long does it take to receive my Velos UAV?
Velos UAV orders are filled within four to six weeks, which is less than half the typical turnaround time of other suppliers. Our modular design and stock availability of all parts help us deliver orders in a timely fashion.
Do you integrate a custom payload for us?
Velos V3 UAVs are equipped with a unique payload rail system, which provides the flexibility to quickly design and customize most payload configurations. Specifically, the Velos V3 payload rail is 55cm long with 14 sets of extruded bases along the length placed four centimeters with M4 threaded holes. This gives the Velos V3 28 different locations for mounting payloads off the shelf. Our team can customize, integrate and test more sophisticated payloads as required.
Velos UAV has a fully redundant twin engine design. What failures can be tolerated in air?
The Velos UAV is the only UAV helicopter in its class that can tolerate a complete failure of most major components and safely land protecting its payload and the surrounding area. The patented drivetrain gearbox automatically isolates the faulty part without introducing additional drag, allowing it to land safely in the following conditions: motor failure, a broken belt, broken gear, one-way bearing failure, burned ESC, main battery failure, BEC failure and servo failure.
How easy is it to fly a Velos Rotors UAV?
With the advanced autopilot system and different flight modes, the Velos UAV is as easy to fly as a quad or multicopter in normal weather conditions. In case of strong winds, Velos UAV is easier to fly compared to multicopter UAVs.
Is the training you provide sufficient in order to fly a Velos UAV for my project?
We offer a three-day training session that covers the Velos UAV hardware, parts and maintenance with actual flight training in different mission scenarios. We can provide additional training if you have specific project or payload requirements.
What flight controller and ground software are used with the Velos UAV?
The Velos UAV flight controller uses custom firmware, which is compatible with all the autopilot-supported ground control software including mission planner, Q ground control, UgSC and many others.
Do you support Autopilot mode? What are its flight capabilities?
The Velos UAV has an autopilot system equipped with capabilities that include emergency auto landing, return to Land/home base, different missions with waypoints and automatic navigation/mission.
Quads vs. Helicopters
Velos UAVs are simple to fly while offering more reliability, longer flight time and more payload capacity than any quad or multicopter in the same class today. Velos UAVs are more stable in bad weather, achieve higher cruising speeds, and have higher ascend and descend speeds, which results in longer flight times.
Why is helicopter technology superior?
Lift is proportional to wing area. Considering that the outer 30% part of a blade–rotor–propeller produces more than 60% of the total lift it is clear that as the propeller gets smaller we will have to use more propellers rotating at much higher RPMs to compensate for the reduced wing area and produce the same thrust. The efficiency goes down and energy is wasted in rotating many small props at high speeds. Also according to the Reynold numbers, the larger a wing–rotor–propeller gets, the more the lift coefficient increases. In other words, you get more lift for less energy. So you can fly more with the same payload or have heavier payloads in the same flight time.
Additional reasons helicopters are superior to quads include:
FLIGHTS UNDER WINDY CONDITIONS
Helicopters are much more stable in windy conditions compared to multicopters. The reason for that is that the angle of attack of the helicopter blades is constantly changing, adapting to the environmental conditions instantly, compensating for any external forces, and keeping the ship in complete balance.
MORE PAYLOAD
Helicopter drones are capable of carrying heavier payloads and staying in the air for long flying times, unlike multirotor drones that can carry light payloads with reduced flight times. This capability combined with fast cruising speeds and hovering ability makes helicopter drones a one-way option for the execution of demanding missions such as Search and Rescue.
HIGHER CRUISING SPEED
As the angle of attack of the helicopter blades is constantly changing helicopters can fly with much higher cruising speeds while saving energy in comparison with the multicopters that spend more to fly fast. So even if a helicopter and a multicopter have the same flight time with the helicopter you can travel much longer distances, cover more area and finish your mission in less time or do more at the same time.
ACCURATE FLIGHT PLANS
Helicopter drones can do more accurate and efficient flight routes than airplane drones even if flight routes include square, triangle or any polygonal paths. This results in a fast and accurate mission implementation with minimum energy consumption.
DESCEND AS FAST AS THEY ASCEND
Another benefit of the helicopters is their ability to descend at the same rate they ascend by varying the pitch of the blades. This is not possible with multicopters as they are using fixed pitch propellers and the only way to descend is to reduce rpms. Doing so you lose stability and you can only descend at very slow rates.