Additive manufacturing continues to receive demands from aviation world with its advantages. Developed within the scope of USA Ministry of Defense, 3D micro-drones are getting positive reactions.
3D printed parts offer advantages in plane and drone(Unmanned Aerial Vehicle-UAV) manufacturing in terms of performance and lightness. That’s why given a special importance to 3D projects, USA Ministry of Defense preferred this technology for a micro-drone prodcution going on for a long time.
Perdix is one of the first examples of the DoD using teams of small, inexpensive autonomous systems to perform missions previously conducted with large expensive systems. It fits into the DoD’s concept of future battle network scenarios in which autonomous systems allow humans to make better decisions more rapidly. “Due to the complex nature of combat, Perdix are not pre-programmed synchronized individuals, they are a collective organism, sharing one distributed brain for decision-making and adapting to each other like swarms in nature,” said SCO Director William Roper. “Because every Perdix communicates and collaborates with every other Perdix, the swarm has no leader and can gracefully adapt to drones entering or exiting the team.”
Originally designed by Massachusetts Institute of Technology engineering students, the Perdix drone was modified for military use by the scientists and engineers of MIT Lincoln Laboratory starting in 2013. Drawing inspiration from the commercial smartphone industry, Perdix software and hardware has been continually updated in successive design generations. Now in its sixth generation, October’s test confirmed the reliability of the current all-commercial-component design under potential deployment conditions speeds of Mach 0.6, temperatures of minus 10 degrees Celsius, and large shocksencountered during ejection from fighter flare dispensers.
Test boyunca oldukça ilgi gören bu droneler, 3D baskının üretimde sağladığı kolaylığın yanı sıra uçuş güvenliğinden ödün vermeyecek kadar kaliteli olduğunu da kanıtlar nitelikte. Bu testten sonra dronelerin toplu üretimi için ortaklık arayışına girdiği dile getirilen SCO’nun 1.000 kadar Perdix üretimi gerçekleştirmeyi amaçladığı açıklandı.