Bell, believing its Autonomous Pod Transport is ready to begin the certification process, completed NASA trials demonstrating flight in complex airspace.
US Army seeks Micro-UAS CRADA extension with Bell
30 April 2021
by Pat Host
The US Army’s corporate research laboratory wants to continue its collaborative efforts with Bell that lead to the development of the company’s Micro-UAS (Unmanned Aerial System), according to John Hrynuk, US Army Combat Capabilities Development Command (DEVCOM) Army Research Laboratory (ARL) mechanical engineer.
The service official told
Janes on 29 April that ongoing collaboration with Bell through the 2018 Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) would enable the ARL to continue providing emerging autonomous behaviours and leverage new artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) techniques on a production-ready vehicle. The Micro-UAS emerged from a 2017 discussion between members of Bell’s innovation team and ARL researchers and became a flying concept vehicle with multiple flight demonstrations. This includes the 2021 US Army Expeditionary Warrior Experiment (AEWE) hel
Bell s Autonomous Pod Transport (APT) has flown several times over increased distances.
Despite the establishment last month of a new division eAviation within parent company Textron to explore electric aviation opportunities, Bell continues to move cautiously on its two marquis electric demonstration aircraft the Nexus passenger eVTOL and the Autonomous Pod Transport (APT) UAS cargo vehicle.
The design of the ducted fan tiltrotor Nexus continues to evolve, according to Bell v-p of innovation Jason Hurst. “The focus is to come up with something that is safe for public usage, is affordable, quiet, and meets public acceptance in the regulatory environment,” he said. “It is a very dynamic and complex problem set.”
Bell sees its APT cargo UAV as being attritable in combat flightglobal.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from flightglobal.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
AVweb
Image: Bell Textron
Bell Textron has announced that its Autonomous Pod Transport (APT) flew successfully with a payload of 110 pounds, completing an 8-mile route over the company’s testing site near Fort Worth, Texas, last week. According to Bell, it plans to begin demonstrating a series of military and commercial applications for the aircraft in 2021. The company says it is also working on simplifying the vehicle’s user interfaces and enhancing its autonomous features.
“The APT flight test team continues to push the capabilities of our aircraft, and we are excited to hit this milestone,” said Bell UAS program manager John Wittmaak. “This is yet another example of how Bell continues to adapt to customer needs.”