COBRA delivers GFRP covers for agricultural UAVs

 

COBRA International Ltd. (Chonburi, Thailand) is collaborating with HG Robotics (Bangkok, Thailand), a leading drone manufacturer that specializes in unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) for the agricultural market, on a composite fuselage cover for the cutting-edge Tiger Drones. 

Undertaking a full range of services with HG Robotics and having been involved from the outset: from the design and engineering through to the prototyping of the composite drone fuselage cover, COBRA has now delivered nearly 100 sets and will produce approximately 500 units throughout 2019.

The multi-rotor Tiger Drones typically carry spraying equipment and can also carry high definition cameras that provide a wide range of field information. Farmers can measure land profiles, identify any problem plants or areas and manage their cultivation in the most efficient way. The 420 millimeter square-shaped fuselage cover protects the drone’s electronic controls and forms an aerodynamic fairing between the central fuselage and the craft’s 4 rotor arms.
 
The COBRA Design and Development team selected a composite laminate of glass fibre reinforcements for the cover — which do not interfere with GPS signals used by the drone — and combined these with epoxy laminating resins in a hand laminated, vacuum bag consolidated production process. 

COBRA also designed all of the mold tools for the project. The 2-piece aluminium mold was produced by one of COBRA’s long-term tooling partners. This metallic tooling provides a good surface finish to the part with minimal trimming and finishing required. Molded parts then go through a painting and clear coating process before final inspection and delivery to the client.

Danu Chotikapanich, CEO of COBRA International says, “Our collaboration with HG Robotics is going well, and we are hoping to collaborate further with them on other multi-rotor and fixed wing VTOL (vertical take-off and landing) drone models in the future. These are COBRA’s first parts for the agricultural industry, and they provide an exciting vision as to just a few of the possibilities for lightweight composites in this area and also in the wider commercial UAV market as a whole.”