Power Tethering Solutions for Commercial UAVs

Blue Vigil's tethering solutions enable persistent hovering and unlimited flight time By Mike Ball / 19 May 2022
Drone Tethering System
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Blue Vigil, a leading developer of innovative drone power tether systems, has partnered with Unmanned Systems Technology (“UST”) to demonstrate their expertise in this field. The ‘Silver’ profile highlights how the company’s tethering solutions enable persistent hovering and unlimited flight time for enterprise-class drones.

tethered drone power supplyThe RS1000 tether system provides unlimited continuous power for persistent drone missions, and can be connected to a generator, inverter, or shore power (wall outlet) that supplies 110V or 220V. With no need to swap out batteries or provide constant operator input, the RS1000 reduces downtime as well as manpower requirements, allowing you to launch the drone and trust the system to hold position.

The highly portable system consists of a base station in a ruggedized Pelican carrying case, and a lightweight air module unit that can easily be installed on the drone in seconds in the field. The base station features smart automatic cable management that keeps constant tension on the reactive tether, and includes built-in thermal overload shutdown protection for enhanced safety.

The RS1000 tethered drone power supply is compatible with most commercial drones using 4S or 6S batteries. Supported models include:

  • DJI Matrice M300, M200 and M210
  • DJI Inspire 1 and 2
  • Inspired Flight IF750 (Blue UAS approved)
  • Ascent Spirit (Blue UAS approved)
  • SubUAS The Naviator
  • Tarot X4

The compact air modules support both bottom and top-mounted drone payloads, and do not interfere with collision avoidance or imaging sensors.

Drone Power TetherBlue Vigil also provides a solution that allows OEMs and systems integrators to easily incorporate their drone tether management and power delivery technology into custom drone and base station builds. The drone tether kit consists of four independent modules – tether, power, motor unit, and UAV power conversion – providing flexible design options.

Air modules are available in 12V, 24V or 48V, and support 4S, 6S and 12S batteries. Tether options include power only, power and Ethernet, or power and optical fiber.

To find out more about Blue Vigil and their power tether systems for commercial drones, please visit their profile page: https://www.unmannedsystemstechnology.com/company/blue-vigil/

Posted by Mike Ball Mike Ball is our resident technical editor here at Unmanned Systems Technology. Combining his passion for teaching, advanced engineering and all things unmanned, Mike keeps a watchful eye over everything related to the unmanned technical sector. With over 10 years’ experience in the unmanned field and a degree in engineering, Mike’s been heading up our technical team here for the last 8 years. Connect & Contact