Nowadays, with the continuous breakthrough of technology and the continuous increase of attention, the UAV industry is developing more and more rapidly. According to relevant data, as of 2019, the scale of civil unmanned aerial vehicles in our country has exceeded 20 billion yuan. It is not only widely used in consumption fields such as aerial photography and entertainment, but also widely used in agricultural plant protection, logistics and transportation, industry-level application fields such as commercial performances are also very glorious.
However, different applications in different fields have different requirements for unmanned aerial vehicles. For example, commercial performances pay more attention to the maneuverability of unmanned aerial vehicles, agricultural plant protection pay more attention to the adaptability of unmanned aerial vehicles, and logistics and transportation pay more attention to the endurance of unmanned aerial vehicles, etc. However, no matter what kind of application, they all pay close attention to the takeoff mode of unmanned aerial vehicles, because the takeoff mode of unmanned aerial vehicles directly determines the possibility of its landing application.
So do you know what kind of takeoff modes unmanned aerial vehicles have in reality? Today, we might as well take a look at it together!
Slide and take off
This belongs to one of the most common takeoff modes of airplanes. The unmanned aerial vehicle is started remotely by the ground operator to slide on the runway, and it can be lifted off the ground at a certain speed. This takeoff mode is suitable for large fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicles, such as military unmanned aerial vehicles. The disadvantage of skid takeoff is that it has higher requirements for infrastructure facilities such as airport runways.
Slide rail takeoff
This can be seen as a simple version of gliding. By building a simple gliding track, the unmanned aerial vehicle can glide for a short distance and then take off. This method is commonly used in small and medium-sized fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicles, such as unmanned aerial vehicles for film and television shooting, unmanned aerial vehicles for meteorological monitoring, etc. The advantage is that it is simpler and cheaper than running, but the disadvantage is that self-built runways are troublesome and restrictive after all.
Air delivery
This way is just like paratroopers, taking unmanned aerial vehicles into the air with planes and other aircrafts, and then directly launching them into flight. This method can be applied to large fixed-wing and small multi-rotor unmanned aerial vehicles according to different delivery heights. The disadvantage is obvious, that is, takeoff has extremely high requirements for supporting facilities, even exceeding that of skid takeoff, but the advantage is that takeoff is more flexible.
Vertical takeoff
This is the most popular takeoff mode for multi-rotor unmanned aerial vehicles. Unmanned aerial vehicles can take off directly without the help of any run-up and facilities, which greatly supports the application of unmanned aerial vehicles in different fields. Let’s not talk about the advantages. There are many advantages. As for the disadvantages, it may be that the technical requirements for UAV landing are relatively high. At present, this is the mainstream way to take off.
Ejection takeoff
This takeoff method was originally mainly applied to fixed wings, but recently it is reported that California Institute of Technology has developed a UAV ejection pipeline that can be applied to multi-rotor, so it can be used as long as it is a small and medium-sized UAV. Ejection takeoff is to place the unmanned aerial vehicle in a device like a pipeline, and then go out like a missile and fly autonomously. Military field adopts more.
Load takeoff
This kind of takeoff mode is a bit like the combination of vertical takeoff and gliding takeoff. The unmanned aerial vehicle itself still takes off vertically, but the speed from the ground needs to be provided by the unmanned aerial vehicle carried by the vehicle and so on, which is equivalent to the gliding of the vehicle carried by the unmanned aerial vehicle. This method is commonly used in small multi-rotor unmanned aerial vehicles. It is reported that many plant protection unmanned aerial vehicles use this method to lift off.
Hand throw takeoff
This is very simple and intuitive, that is, to throw the unmanned aerial vehicle by hand and let the unmanned aerial vehicle take off. It is conceivable that this method is only applicable to small unmanned aerial vehicles, and it is more likely to be the takeoff mode of unmanned aerial vehicles toys. The advantage should be that the technical requirements are not high and the takeoff is flexible. The disadvantage is that the dependence on manpower is too high, and the departure location is also quite restrictive.
