Free Yourself. Fly FreeBird.
STRUCTURALLY-ENCLOSED PATENT-PENDING CARBON FIBER AIRFRAME (SURROUNDFRAME)
A Unique Design Concept with Significant Practical Benefits
Unibody frame construction provides significant strength over other blade protection offerings.
Only commercial UAV with complete blade enclosure.
Provides real protection against in-air collision with objects like trees and structures.
Allows operation in tight spaces.
Protects operators and bystanders from accidental contact.
Enhances overall strength with minimal flexing in the air, but sufficiently flexible to withstand hard landings.
Replacement parts can be snapped in if frame sustains partial damage.
Stress from motor torque and thrust is absorbed throughout the frame with motors attached to the frame through a total of 12 arms.
Motor mounts double as sturdy landing pads (with built-in bright navigation lights underneath) that can be extended to provide ground clearance for larger payloads.
Entire SurroundFrame (including motor mounts) weighs only 3 pounds despite its size (3 ft. diameter) and strength.
Our proprietary manufacturing process makes this unique design possible without sacrificing flight time and performance.
FreeBird One Scrapes Snow From Ground with Front/Rear Attachments
We mounted a "scraper" below the front and rear landing pads to dig into 12 inches of frozen-over snow on a driveway in order to loosen it so that the prop wash could blow the snow clear.
We show this as a demonstration of some of the unconventional uses that FreeBird One is capable of.
Our goal here is not to perfect snow scraping but rather to demonstrate the toughness of the frame, precision maneuvering, stability control by the autopilot while experiencing unusual forces on the airframe (trying to fly forward while the front scraper is stuck in snow it has dug into), and the ability to sustain collisions without destroying the drone or property.
FreeBird One Scrapes Snow From Ground with Front/Rear AttachmentsFreeBird One Scrapes Snow From Roof With Front Attachment
We mounted a "scraper" to the front of FreeBird One's frame, giving it the ability to dig into 12 inches of frozen-over snow on a roof top.
We show this as a demonstration of some of the unconventional uses that FreeBird One is capable of.
Our goal here is not to perfect snow scraping but rather to demonstrate the toughness of the frame, precision maneuvering, stability control by the autopilot while experiencing unusual forces on the airframe (holding one end up while the other end is angled against the roof), and the ability to sustain collisions without destroying the drone or property.
FreeBird One Scrapes Snow From Roof With Front AttachmentFrame Impact Absorption
FreeBird One's SurroundFrame is rigid in the air, but flexible enough to absorb a rough landing.
Frame Impact AbsorptionThe SurroundFrame Advantage
In this video, FreeBird One is temporarily pushed into some trees by a strong gust of wind. Not only does the autopilot make its way back to its original hover position, but it does so while bumping into numerous branches along the way. You can see the remnants of leaves stuck to the frame as it emerges as well as hear the impacts.
This clip plays at full speed followed by a slow-motion replay.
We are not aware of another commercially-available UAV in this size class that can sustain impacts like this while flying.
The SurroundFrame AdvantageFreeBird One In-Flight Collision Protection
FreeBird One's advanced patent-pending carbon fiber SurroundFrame enables it to bump into objects in-flight without damaging itself or objects it comes into contact with.
This makes FreeBird One ideal for working in tight spaces.
It also gives the operator peace of mind in the event of a mishap that results in accidental contacts with something in the air.
FreeBird One In-Flight Collision ProtectionFLY FARTHER AWAY WITH FREEBIRD ONE
FreeBird One's large footprint, measuring 3 feet/1 meter in diameter, bright bottom-mounted red and green navigation lights, and dark contrasting black exterior with large flat reflective surfaces enable it to be seen at much greater distances than most other drones like the DJI Phantom, Inspire or Matrice.
With normal vision, the human eye can distinguish points separated by about 1 minute of arc. For a UAV operator, this means FreeBird One's 3-foot diameter airframe can be distinguished up to about 1.5 miles away. In contrast, reliable visual line-of-sight for the DJI Phantom 4, with a frame size 1/3rd as large, extends only about 1/2 mile.
For operators with line of sight flight requirements like in the U.S., this means you can fly FreeBird One at greater distances from your position than competing models.
FREEBIRD ONE IS THE SAFEST HEAVY-LIFT UAV ON THE MARKET
Safety features are often under-rated in the early days of a new technology where focus is on new features and functionality. We expect enclosed frames will eventually become industry-standard, if not required, for commercial use.