BlueHalo’s Newest UAS Incorporates Alpine’s Reinforced Polymer Injection Molded Chassis
by DRONELIFE Staff Writer Ian M. Crosby
BlueHalo has partnered with Alpine Advanced Materials for the newest version of its Intense Eye Unmanned Aerial System (UAS).
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This new model incorporates an injection molded chassis built with Alpine’s HX5 multi-scale reinforced polymer, which has been proven in the harshest of environments. HX5 renders the Intense Eye UAS both stronger and lighter, increasing its efficiency and payload capacity.
The Intense Eye UAS family is a 750-mm class 4 rotor Vertical Take Off and Landing (VTOL) UAS with applications in both commercial and military operations. Its software and avionics are enhanced with BlueHalo’s advanced artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) technologies–granting unrivaled autonomy, communications systems, and swarm logic capabilities.
“Through our strategic focus on small business partnerships, BlueHalo has worked closely with the incredibly talented Alpine team to develop a lighter, stronger, more capable UAS through injection molding engineering,” said BlueHalo Chief Growth Officer James Batt. “The next generation of our Intense Eye UAS product line features this innovative HX5 airframe in combination with BlueHalo’s industry-leading autonomy and AI/ML capabilities, providing new mission-critical solutions to warfighters and expanding opportunities for our commercial partners.”
“This is a victory for injection molded HX5, which is ideal for the drone industry for many reasons,” said Alpine CEO David Brantner. “Our engineering team worked closely with BlueHalo throughout the process, leveraging all of HX5’s material advantages to create an innovative, tough-to-kill unmanned aerial system designed for complex battlespace environments.”
The BlueHalo team worked in close collaboration with Alpine throughout the development process in order to enhance the frame design based on mold flow analysis, guaranteeing ideal fiber alignment and strength in critical areas. Along with its mechanical and environmental benefits, the injection molding process using the HX5 polymer enabled BlueHalo to speed up its production and delivery.
“Through the injection molding process and the high specific strength provided by the HX5 material, we were able to consolidate parts on a 7:1 ratio,” said Mary Clum, BlueHalo Sector President and Corporate Executive Vice President. “Working with Alpine gave us the opportunity to develop an ultra-light and mechanically superior aerospace-grade thermoplastic UAS frame designed for the most capable, versatile, and high-performance applications.”
The Intense Eye product line has been fully designed in partnership with US companies and small businesses such as Alpine. The most recent Version 3’s software and avionics were approved through the Defense Innovation Unit’s Blue UAS 2.0 Cleared List. The new IE-V3 will be the first BlueHalo UAS to use the HX5 injection molded chassis. BlueHalo will be able to further modify the IE-V3 for additional use cases, such as autonomous swarming solutions, payload development and deployment, test targets, fire and rescue operations, atmospheric profiling, and education and research.
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Ian attended Dominican University of California, where he received a BA in English in 2019. With a lifelong passion for writing and storytelling and a keen interest in technology, he is now contributing to DroneLife as a staff writer.
Miriam McNabb is the Editor-in-Chief of DRONELIFE and CEO of JobForDrones, a professional drone services marketplace, and a fascinated observer of the emerging drone industry and the regulatory environment for drones. Miriam has penned over 3,000 articles focused on the commercial drone space and is an international speaker and recognized figure in the industry. Miriam has a degree from the University of Chicago and over 20 years of experience in high tech sales and marketing for new technologies.
For drone industry consulting or writing, Email Miriam.
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