Swift021 VTOL Drone: PX4 Open Source Code

In this episode, the Roswell Flight Test Crew speaks with Michael Lyons of Swift Engineering about his company's new Vertical Take-Off And Landing (VTOL) Uncrewed Aircraft System (UAS). Designed for missions such as precision agriculture, emergency response, linear infrastructure inspection, maritime and aerial surveillance, the Swift021 is capable of flying for more than two hours. It incorporates a hybrid battery system, using both lithium-polymer and lithium-ion batteries. The Li-Po batteries are used during launch, to power the aircraft through its vertical ascent. Then, after transitioning to horizontal, fixed-wing flight, two smaller motors driven by the Li-Ion batteries maintain the aircraft in flight. Swift Engineering is releasing the aerodynamic calculations, simulations and other tools to the open-source PX4 community to drive the entire industry forward.