I will be the first person to admit when I am wrong. I
thought choosing a fixed wing UAS platform for the Chicago Fire Department
(CFD) was going to be a cake walk. After a lot of research, I was able to
settle on a platform. The platform is from the company UASUSA and can be flown
completely autonomous, but does not have to be. The platform is called the
Tempest. The Tempest has stabilized cameras that sends a live video back to the
user. The camera also has infrared capabilities. The Tempest has 127in (10ft)
wing span and can carry 7+ pounds of payload. The platform is launched by hand
and does not require a mechanical launching system. The cruising speed of the
aircraft is 50mph and has a max speed of 110mph. The aircraft only weighs 10lbs
but can fly in up to 60mph winds. The Tempest can fly up to 15,000ft however
the Chicago Fire Department would not be flying it at that high of an altitude.
With a standard battery in the aircraft and it being in fully autonomous mode
it can fly for 1.5hrs. Flying at 400ft the tempest is able to cover 3.6 square
miles with a standard battery. This platform is extremely stable which makes it
great for cameras or sensitive payloads such as sensors. According to UASUSA
the Tempest has more COA’s issued in the US then any other commercially
available platform. With a modular radio system equipped on the aircraft it has
a range of 7-50 miles of range. These specs are what made me choose this
platform. This aircraft could easily be launched anywhere in the city and
quickly get to the scene of an emergency. CFD could also equip this UAS with
sensors used for hazmat’s and fly them over Lollapalooza, spring awakening, or
sporting events instead of just having ground-based sensors. This platform
could fulfill all of CFD’s needs such as search and rescue in the lake,
monitoring large open-air events, or even evaluating buildings on fire. This is
why I chose the Tempest as the fixed wing platform for the Chicago Fire
Department.
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