Category: Technologies

As already reported by tsuru.su, mobile operator MTS has opened a platform for developing and testing digital solutions for devices running on 5G – MTS StartUp Hub network. Tsuru Robotics became one of the first residents was with a project for controlling a swarm of drones.

Our company conducted the first tests on integrating drones into the 5G network. And the management of drones in the MTS 5G network was absolutely successful.

Now Tsuru Robotics team is preparing to present its achievements at the MTS STARTUP HUB Demo Day.

The new Cablewalker system, designed for diagnostics of live high-voltage power lines by utilizing drones, was tested on the 110 kV line between the Novo-Sverdlovsk Thermal Power Station and the village of Dachnaya. Tsuru Robotics has designed the system that an unmanned vehicle to land on the line and take off from it in various landscapes and weather conditions. We have also solved the problem of electromagnetic compatibility of the flying devices with a working line.

During the tests, the Cablewalker took off automatically, reached the given location over the line, and landed on it. At that point, the wheel module was engaged, and the Cablewalker began moving along the section of the line. At the previously determined distance from the pole, the drone stopped, automatically took off from the wire, and flew over to the next section. The entire time during these maneuvers, it was submitting data to the control center.

As a result, the Cablewalker has become the first working live power line diagnostics robot in the world.

Altium, a leading global developer of PCB designing software, announced the start of cooperation with our company. Within its framework, Tsuru Robotics created drone reference design in Altium Designer. The main objective of the partnership was to develop the design of a compact unmanned multirotor that includes features from complex professional devices. As a result, Tsuru Robotics created a smart device that differs significantly from a conventional drone. Some of the important features are the presence of a powerful microprocessor, support for computer vision and the ability to connect various external devices. And all this in a compact assembly of PCBs the size of a mobile phone.

“We are confident that the scope of drone applications will constantly be expanding: they are already used for aerial photography, patrolling and monitoring of various objects. Tsuru Robotics manufactures high-tech drones using its own electronics, which has no analogs in the world, – said Alexey Sabunin, head of product marketing for Altium. “We are pleased to help to create such a unique project not only for Russia, but for the whole world, and we continue to help the company create innovative products.”

“We noticed that many specialists on the Russian market work with Altium,” said Nikita Rodichenko, Technical Director of Tsuru Robotics. “We had a desire to work with Altium long before we initiated this project, during which we were able to fully use the functionality of the software at all stages of the project. Previously, for some individual tasks, we used other engineering software, but now all the design work for printed circuit boards in the company is fully carried out in Altium Designer. ”

Voronezh hosts the “robots’ festival” from February 28 to April 7. The festival features more than 70 robots, VR, and several techno shows. One of the show is the drones’ theater, that was created on the basis of Tsuru Robotics mobile show complex.

Our team delivered the complex to the customer in Voronezh. Five drones give a show inside the frame with dimensions of three meters. The performance is not simple — drones, dressed in costumes, play a fairy tale in the automatic mode according to the programmed scenario.

FutureLab developed a contact technology “cablewalker” for the diagnosis of power lines under voltage. After takeoff, the drone sits on the line, switches off the propellers, and starts moving along the wire with the help of the wheel module. The advantages of this technology are the ability to deliver diagnostic equipment without disconnecting the voltage and the possibility to overcome obstacles on the power wire. The detailed information about the project can be found on the company’s website.

The main problem is to ensure an accurate automatic landing on the wire. Tsuru robotics joined the project to help FutureLab with this problem. We will develop a system of an automatic drone landing on the wire in different types of landscapes and weather conditions, as well as optimize flight characteristics of the current vehicles.

The photo is taken from the FutureLab photo report.

Tsuru Robotics installed its autopilots on several large drones, developed by Taiwan Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI). Tsuru delivered autopilots to Taiwan then mounted and configured them.

The integration was done for drones with six, eight and 18 propellers, ranging in size from 2 to 3.5 meters. Drones with Tsuru Robotics autopilots showed excellent flight quality.

The drones will be used for fast delivery and lifting of telecommunications equipment for commercial purposes.

Kursir LLC. (Skolkovo resident) completed tests of its innovative ILS calibration system installed on the drone, created by our company, in Noyabrsk (Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug).
Kursir developed a mobile device for operational checks of airport systems, responsible for the safety of the landing. Today, the verification of radio equipment for flights around the world are carried out with the help of specialized aircraft laboratories, which makes verification very expensive. In Russia, airports should carry such tests once a year. The new system allows to carry out low-cost inspections every day.
The project uses Tsuru Robotics drone. The size of the UAV is 1 m, weight is 3 kg, and flight duration is up to 50 minutes. Kursir installed measuring complex that weighs about a kilogram as a payload. Measurements of the direction finder ARP-75 and landing system SP-75 parameters were taken. Tests confirmed the possibility of measuring the necessary parameters of landing systems with the device.
It should be noted that such light measuring systems to check the airports do not exist in the world yet.
The drone involved in the complex is a modification of the Tsuru Robotics security drones developed by our company.