Skydio, a leading US drone manufacturer and leader in autonomous flight technology, and Arris, a leader in advanced manufacturing of high-performance products, have used Additive Molding, Arris’s breakthrough carbon fibre manufacturing technology, to design airframe. This will lead to lighter, longer-range, and more robust aircraft structures at scale.
Starting with the new Skydio X2 drone, enterprise, public sector and defence customers will benefit from lighter, longer-range, and more robust aircraft structures at scale.Skydio, a leading US drone manufacturer and leader in autonomous flight technology, and Arris, a leader in advanced manufacturing of high-performance products, have used Additive Molding, Arris's breakthrough carbon fibre manufacturing technology, to design airframe. This will lead to lighter, longer-range, and more robust aircraft structures at scale.#
The collaboration has resulted in the first-of-its-kind production use of Arris’s technology in the UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) industry, further extending Skydio’s technology leadership and enabling game-changing advantages. There is now an advanced airframe design with component consolidation allowing Skydio to replace a 17-part assembly with a single, multi-functional structure. It has also provided strength and stiffness of titanium at a fraction of the weight, enabling the Skydio X2 to increase range, and speed.
The partnership has led to optimsed carbon and glass fibre layout based on functional requirements of individual regions of the airframe, and scalable US-based manufacturing and innovation to bring peak aerospace performance at lower cost.
“We are excited about the value that our partnership with Arris will bring to our customers. At Skydio, we pursue cutting edge innovation across all facets of drone technology. The unique properties of Arris’s Additive Molding carbon fibre allows us to optimise the strength, weight, and radio signal transparency of the Skydio X2 airframe to deliver a highly reliable solution that meets the needs of demanding enterprise, public safety and defence use cases,” says Adam Bry, Skydio’s CEO.
Skydio X2 is Skydio’s latest autonomous drone solution for enterprise, public sector and defence. X2 pairs Skydio’s breakthrough autonomy software with a rugged, foldable airframe for easy “pack and go” transportation, and up to 35 minutes of flight time. The X2 airframe will include a newly designed core structural element manufactured with Arris’s Additive Molding technology. Arris’s first-of-its-kind Additive Molding leverages 3D-aligned continuous fibre composite materials for complex shapes where material composition can change within regions of a single part. As a result, Skydio has been able to use a single carbon fibre component with the structural results that would have otherwise required 17 parts.
“The evolution of aerospace design has been punctuated by breakthroughs in manufacturing and materials. Such a moment has come where manufacturing of optimised structures has converged with composite materials ideals to unlock previously impossible, high-performance aerospace designs,” says Ethan Escowitz, founder and CEO of Arris. “While we’re working with leading aerospace manufacturers to improve aircraft performance, sustainability and costs; Skydio’s culture and market have enabled an unsurpassed pace of innovation that has fast-tracked this transformation to deliver the next-generation of aerostructures. It’s simply amazing to see such a revolutionary product broadly available and flying today.”
Skydio X2 is the ultimate solution for a wide range of use cases, including situational awareness, asset inspection, security and patrol use cases. Designed, assembled, and supported in the US, Skydio X2 is NDAA compliant and has been selected as a trusted UAV solution for the US Department of Defence as part of DIU’s Blue sUAS programme.
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