Honeywell’s Compact Fly-By-Wire system to fly Pipistrel’s Nuuva V300

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Pipistrel has selected Honeywell’s Compact Fly-By-Wire system for its autonomous, large-capacity cargo unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), Nuuva V300.

Fly-by-wire computers act as the “brains” of an aircraft’s flight controls by operating them electronically and can be found inside nearly all large fixed-wing aircraft.

Honeywell’s fly-by-wire systems – which have been used extensively with airliners – will be more compact, at roughly the size of a paperback book to fit smaller autonomous cargo and urban air mobility (UAM) vehicles.

“One of the toughest challenges logistics companies face today is meeting the demand for same-day delivery. Vehicles like Pipistrel’s Nuuva V300 are going to be a real breakthrough in the race to solve this problem,” said Stéphane Fymat, Vice President and general manager, unmanned aerial systems (UAS)/UAM, Honeywell Aerospace.

With a hybrid powertrain, the V300 can carry loads up to 300kgs (about 660lbs) for more than 186 miles (around 300kms).

Ivo Boscarol, founder and CEO of Pipistrel Group said: “After years of excellent cooperation in the UAM sector, we chose to work with Honeywell in the development of the Nuuva V300 as well.”

Pipistrel hopes to extend the same technology to the passenger-carrying Pipistrel 801, its proposed air taxi concept for Uber Elevate.

Honeywell recently set up a new research and development lab to advance in the UAM sector. It aims to provide a full line of avionics, flight control and turbo-electric propulsion systems — all tailored for piloted VTOL urban air mobility and unmanned cargo vehicles.

For more information on Honeywell’s advanced solutions, visit the UAS/UAM page on the Honeywell Aerospace website.