AeroVironment Announces Quantix Recon, Automatic VTOL Reconnaissance Drone

AeroVironment Inc. today unveiled the Quantix Recon, a fully-automated reconnaissance drone that delivers high resolution, geo-referenced terrain, vegetation and infrastructure imagery.

The lightweight and rapidly deployable drone provides ground forces with on-demand actionable intelligence, a company release said.

With its unique hybrid Vertical Takeoff and Landing (VTOL) design, Quantix Recon combines the VTOL advantages of a multi-rotor drone with the range, speed and efficiency of a fixed-wing unmanned aircraft.

Featuring fully-automated flight operation, Quantix Recon surveys up to 1.6 square kilometers (0.6 square miles), or 20 linear kilometers (12.4 miles) per 45-minute single battery flight. Multiple automated reconnaissance mode options allow users to choose between line (route), area and waypoint targeted data capture. Collected aerial imagery data is compatible with a wide range of available geographic information system (GIS) analytical tools to facilitate further analysis.

“AeroVironment’s Quantix Recon is a low-cost reconnaissance solution that can be in the air within minutes, capturing high-resolution georeferenced imagery of hard to access areas or dynamically changing environments.” said Rick Pedigo, vice president of sales and business development for AeroVironment.

“Because it does not rely on radio signals during flight, Quantix Recon offers greater stealth for concealed operations and is unaffected by radio frequency jammers, providing greater protection for frontline troops while reducing cognitive load,” Rick Pedigo added.

Quantix Recon is fully-automated and hands-free with five optional flight altitudes, ranging from 150 feet to 800 feet. Users can vary the coverage area and image resolution to suit their aerial reconnaissance need.

Equipped with dual 18-megapixel cameras, the Quantix Recon can capture both high resolution true color and multispectral geo-referenced imagery. On-board processing allows users to immediately view the high-resolution geospatial imagery on the included operating tablet as soon as the aircraft lands, requiring no other devices, internet or software.

Through the operating tablet’s Quick-Look HD app feature, users can pinch and zoom navigation down to centimeter-level ground sampling distance, enabling them to pinpoint and react to critical issues with precision and speed.