Parrot UAS Built with Windform Materials and Additive Manufacturing

By Caroline Rees / 24 May 2016
Follow UST
Parrot's Bebop 2 UAS

The Bebop 2 UAS. Image courtesy of Parrot.

CRP Technology (part of the CRP Group) and Parrot have confirmed that the two companies collaborated on the development and manufacture of the Bebop 2 UAS.

Parrot developed the initial Bebop 2 structure using injected parts, then moved to CRP’s Windform GT material, a polyamide-based glass-reinforced composite material. The use of Selective Laser Sintering (SLS) allowed Parrot to develop and refine new versions of the structure quickly and without the high costs often associated with injection tooling.

Watch the video:

Throughout the development process, Parrot aimed to improve the quality of video capture during flight, primarily by reducing vibrations throughout the drone structure. As such, the design was optimized to reduce vibrations and also weight, whilst ensuring the structure remained tough and resilient.

Finite element analysis (FEA) confirmed that the natural frequencies of parts manufactured with Windform GT material were similar to injected parts with polyamide based glass reinforced composite material.

Windform GT material has been used for the Bebop 2’s main structure (central body) which is robust and flexible, and all single arms which are reinforced.

The use of Additive Manufacturing and the Windform GT material dramatically reduced the development time of the Bebop 2 UAS and allowed Parrot to manufacture small batches of component parts in order to improve flying performance.

Released in 2015, the Parrot Bebop 2 is a lightweight and compact UAS that offers impressive stability and maneuverability even in extreme conditions.

Posted by Caroline Rees Caroline co-founded Unmanned Systems Technology and has been at the forefront of the business ever since. With a Masters Degree in marketing Caroline has her finger on the pulse of all things unmanned and is committed to showcasing the very latest in unmanned technical innovation. Connect & Contact