Many people think about drones being largely for recreational purposes. And indeed, many consumers buy them for kids as gifts or for hobbyists to race. But, drones are increasingly being deployed for professional services – particularly for surveillance and information collection.
XSun’s founders set out to design new types of UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle), powered by solar energy. Because they use a renewable energy source, these drones can be used for long range trips for as long as multiple days. Their innovative architecture is made of composite materials, which allows for a wide surface of solar panels and sensors, giving the machines enough energy to be highly autonomous. Each of their UAVs blends the latest satellite and cellular technology to provide a secure and permanent link between the drone and the control center.
These high-potential solar flying machines must be controlled by aerospace professionals or aircraft pilots. XSun is focusing on four key areas of monitoring:
- Terrestrial Infrastructures and Networks: for large industrial networks and energy distribution, pipeline, railways and power grids
- Environmental: for natural sites, civil security and search & rescue
- Agriculture: for predictive analysis and optimizing farm operations
- Maritime Borders: surveillance and detection of species
To help bring their vision to reality, XSun applied to join the 3DEXPERIENCE Lab. Through this program, Dassault Systèmes provides XSUN with the 3DEXPERIENCE platform with a range of solutions for design and simulation. This includes optimizing for the constraints of aerodynamics, surfaces for solar cells, onboard systems, etc. and designing/simulating systems of systems. As with all participants in the 3DEXPERIENCE Lab, XSun also has access to Dassault Systèmes’ experts for mentoring and networking.
Alyssa is a Communications Director on the Dassault Systèmes Corporate Publishing team. She’s been part of DS for over 20 years, in roles ranging from public relations to marketing programs. Twitter: @DS_Alyssa