Trek Aerospace OVIWUN (production model)

(Picture credit: Trek Aerospace)

OVIWUN (production model)
Trek Aerospace, Inc.
Folsom, California, USA
www.trekaero.com

Trek Aerospace, Inc. is a small engineering company based in Folsom, California, USA. Founded on March 18, 1996 as “Millennium Jet, Inc.”, the company changed their name to Trek Aerospace on July 3, 2002 because people thought the company was building jets. To clarify, SoloTrek was a name for certain models of Trek Aerospace's aircraft. SoloTrek was never the name of the company. The company is dedicated to understanding and improving shrouded propeller performance and efficiency. In the process, they developed their own proprietary CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) software, TASPA (Trek Aerospace Shrouded Propeller Analysis).

The company has stated all of their aircraft designs are very flexible when it comes to scalability, electric motors used, propeller types and the type of power source used. That is, all previous conventionally powered aircraft the company has created can be converted to eVTOL aircraft and can be updated with the latest in avionics, electronics, propellers and electric (all batteries or hybrid-electric) power sources. All of the company's aircraft have been designed for advanced air mobility (AAM).

The company has designed and made multiple vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) aircraft including its exoskeleton backpack "helicopters" using shrouded propellers in the airframe design. Some articles refer to the exoskeleton backpack helicopter as a jetpack, even though there are no jet engines involved in the backpack aircraft. The company has also designed and made watercraft. Trek Aerospace also assists and teams with other companies, large and small, in the design, fabrication, and licensing of projects involving shrouded propellers and/or autonomous control systems. For example, Trek Aerospace built XTI Aircraft Company's TriFan subscale proof of concept (POC) aircraft.

Trek Aerospace Shrouded Propeller Analysis
Testing at NASA and university wind tunnels has validated the accuracy of the Trek Aerospace Shrouded Propeller Analysis (TASPA). Flight testing of both crewed and uncrewed vehicles has further verified the real-world applications of Trek’s technology. The company states their core technology has the highest specific thrust (lb/kW) in the industry. Aircraft designed by Trek define the efficiency curve used in the UBER Elevate white paper.

This efficiency allows aircraft to carry more weight in a smaller footprint. According to the company, their shrouded propellers require less power, use fewer batteries, have a greater payload and have a farther range than other battery powered aircraft. Furthermore, the company states their shrouded propellers have outperformed similar free propellers to airspeeds in excess of 230 mph (371 km/h), negating much of the drag penalty associated with ducted propellers.

OVIWUN scalable air cargo hybrid-electric eVTOL production model drone
The OVIWUN is a scalable radio controlled air cargo hybrid-electric eVTOL production model drone. The original method for piloting is through line-of-sight radio control. At the time of its conception in 2005, the company was working with an engineering team at Stanford University (USA) testing code and flight capabilities. The company has stated this design and all of its aircraft designs are very flexible when it comes to scalability, the power source, motors used, engines used and propeller types.

The drone has two counter-rotating propellers, eliminating the torque that is normally associated with a single rotor, such as on a helicopter. The ducted propellers tilt, individually, about a common axis for pitch and yaw control. The ducts can be easily removed and replaced for ease of transport. The aircraft was designed to be powered by rechargeable batteries and has fixed skid landing gear.

The vehicle comes with open source flight control software and is equipped with a navigation and a servo control board as well as a XScale based network interface and single board computer. This vehicle also comes with a seven channel FM transmitter and receiver. Endurance can be extended with supplemental, optional battery packs which can be easily added. Newer aeronautical electronics and components could always be added to this drone if it was decided to place the drone into production. The aircraft could also be powered by a hybrid-electric power source if a customer would specify this.

According to the company, the ducted propeller design is inherently safer for the operator and observers and also protects the vehicle during operation. The ducted propellers allow the OVIWUN to brush against items, without damaging them or the machine. Drones can be flown into areas that are too dangerous for humans or too small for normal aircraft.

The company has stated many of these drones were sold to research facilities and the aircraft is no longer being produced.

Specifications:

• Aircraft type: Scalable air cargo eVTOL drone production model
• Piloting: Radio controlled. The 7 channel radio is in the upper portion of the fuselage.
• Capacity: Air cargo. The detachable bottom portion of the drone is the payload bay. The upper portion of the drone is where the electronics and batteries are located.
• Cruise speed: Varies depending upon the size of the drone, propellers, power source and payload
• Maximum payload weight: Varies depending upon the size of the drone, propellers, power source and payload
• Propellers: 2 ducted propellers
• Electric Motors: 2 electric motors
• Power source: Lithium polymer batteries
• Fuselage: Carbon fiber composite
• Landing gear: Fixed skid type landing gear

Related Aircraft:

• Trek Aerospace Dragonfly (prototype)
• Trek Aerospace DuoTrek 1.0 (concept design)
• Trek Aerospace DuoTrek 2.0 (concept design)
• Trek Aerospace Elesi (concept design)
• Trek Aerospace FlyKart 1 (prototype)
• Trek Aerospace FlyKart 2 (prototype)
• Trek Aerospace FlyKart 3 (prototype)
• Trek Aerospace LogDrone (concept design)
• Trek Aerospace Mule (concept design)
• Trek Aerospace Nightingale (concept design)
• Trek Aerospace Nytngale (concept design)
• Trek Aerospace OAV-II (concept design)
• Trek Aerospace Scorpion (concept design)
• Trek Aerospace SoloTrek Springtail (prototype)
• Trek Aerospace SoloTrek XFV (prototype)
• Trek Aerospace SoloTrek XFVC (concept design)
• Trek Aerospace SoloTrek XFVM (concept design)
• Trek Aerospace Tern (concept design)
• Trek Aerospace Tyrannos (concept design)

Company Insights:

• Crunchbase

Resources:

• Trek Aerospace website
• Trek Aerospace Twitter
• Trek Aerospace LinkedIn
• Trek Aerospace Wikipedia
• Article: Ducted Fan Designs Lead to Potential New Vehicles, NASA, 2010