Defence

AIRBAG SYSTEM
for landing unmanned drones

Challenge: To cushion the landing of unmanned drones.
Early drones had problems landing. They would often flip over and damage expensive electronics. GERADTS recognised the problem and set about inventing a reliable landing system using an airbag, at first on our own and then together with a defence systems company for the German army.

Solution: To ensure safe landing, we developed an airbag with several chambers to absorb the shock. The airbag is filled by a high-pressure gas bottle made from titanium, which we invented and patented. The system is triggered electronically.

We provided and indeed continue to provide the following services:

• Redesign of existing landing system to create a reliable system and meet industry standards 
• Analysis and research to adjust the system correctly
• Further adjustment to integrate the system into the drone’s existing interfaces
• Construction and production of the system including the airbags in our own factory
• Programming, data collection and testing using our own drop tower
• Servicing and overhauls
• System control while in operation: current location, duration of usage, state of repair etc.

Special details: To improve the lifetime of the system, we developed and patented a titanium gas bottle. And to test the system we constructed our own drop tower including a high-speed camera and sensors to measure pressure, velocity, damping and rebound. We have not only invented and now produce these landing systems, we monitor the systems we have made to ensure that they are always in good condition.