Thrust-Vectoring SICDrone Delivers Speed & Stability

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In this episode, the Roswell Flight Test Crew speaks with John Mellesmoen, the Chief Innovation Officer at SICDrone, a start-up drone company based in Portland, Oregon. The company's aircraft, which resemble a conventional hexacopter at first glance, take advantage of thrust vectoring to simultaneously deliver both increased speed and improved stability by rotating two of the six motors. This delivers substantial thrust without requiring the entire airframe to pitch or roll – allowing the aircraft to achieve greater speed while remaining level to the horizon. This could have immediate benefits for applications such as aerial cinematography, but in the future, more advanced versions of this system could allow for robotic arms to manipulate the environment from a completely stable platform.