Herndon, VA —10/06/2020 — Blue Vigil has announced its OEM integration kit that enables manufacturers and integrators to embed components of its ground unit power tether system into broader platforms. The integration kit provides a set of operating components designed to be integrated into 3rd party ground platforms. The overall system is designed for operation in highly challenging environments both from physical operation (such as on a vehicle) as well as support for adverse weather conditions. Key components of the kit include fully reactive tether management; support for optical and non-optical tethers up to 300’; a power subsystem capable of supplying up to 1500 Watts of sustained power; and a JSON-based control interface.
The reactive tether management component provides up to 300’ feet of lightweight tether, with both optical and non-optical tether options. The tether system has an extremely robust reactive spooling mechanism allowing the controlling system to set tension levels while providing smooth cable operation. The system is configured to provide a single exit point for the tether during operation. In addition, the tether system is configured to enable field replacement of a tether if necessary.
The power component supports both 110V and 240V environments. It can provide up to 1500W of sustained power from a 240V supply and 1100W of power from a 110V supply. The power component provides a 400 Volt output which is compatible with all of Blue Vigil’s associated aircraft components including the popular 6S 24V air unit.
The JSON-based control interface allows integrators and OEMs to receive command and control information from the spooling system in real-time including information such as current power usage, deployed tether length, and cable status.
Blue Vigil’s core technology has already been integrated into other commercial and government solutions that require a reactive power tether solution to support drone operations. These applications typically involve incorporating the tether management system and power delivery modules with mobile land or marine based vehicles that allow ‘on the move’ operation of the drone without the mission disruption required by the need to change batteries. The tether can also be used reduce the risk of leaving the drone in the area of operation.
“Our commercially available RS1000 power tether solution is a lightweight, portable solution that is perfect for a lot of commercial and public safety use cases “ said Rob Schumann, Blue Vigil’s CEO. “However” he continued “there are even more scenarios where that packaging just doesn’t make sense. We can make the core components available for incorporation into other manned and unmanned systems that need a power tether as part of the program. Our platform is easily adaptable for commercial and special use drones. Our OEM integration kit is the perfect starting point and is augmented by our versatile engineering team.”
In addition to the integration kit, Blue Vigil provides engineering and development of aircraft customized solutions to enable OEM’s and system integrators to maximize the performance of their tethered-based solution while minimizing the time to market.
About Blue Vigil
With offices in Reston, Virginia, Blue Vigil provides tethered power systems for off-the-shelf commercial drones, as well as custom solutions for OEM’s. Blue Vigil products are available through authorized dealers around the world. See https://www.bluevigil.com/sales/ to find a dealer near you.
Additional information is available at: www.bluevigil.com