At Goodwood Speed Week, Airspeeder unveiled to the world the Mk3 racing prototype. This remotely-piloted craft showed the form of the world’s first full-scale and functional electric flying racing car.
Today, the production version of this revolutionary vehicle is being created at the sport’s technical headquarters in Adelaide, South Australia.
Pending their participation in remotely piloted races throughout the second half of 2021, Airspeeder on Thursday confirmed the technical specifications of the craft.
The Mk3 remotely-piloted electric flying racing car is at its heart a performance machine. At maximum power it delivers 320kW, equalling an Audi SQ7 performance SUV. The Audi weighs 2,500kg while an Airspeeder racing craft (without pilot) weighs just 130kg. It can lift a weight of more than 80kg, proving the viability of the powertrain for piloted races. Acceleration from 0-62mph takes 2.8 seconds and the Speeder can climb to 500 meters.
A Speeder can turn with extraordinary speed when compared to a traditional fixed-wing aircraft or helicopter. The Mk3 vehicle has a thrust-to-weight ratio of 3.5, which exceeds that of an F-15E Strike Eagle (thrust-to-weight ratio of 1.2), one of the most advanced fighter aircraft in the world. The thrust-to-weight ratio, along with other powertrain characteristics, has been verified as part of the exhaustive testing and development programme that preceded the start of full production. Indeed, the rapid hairpin turning potential achieved through an octocopter format has been compared to that of a Formula 1 car, generating up to 5Gs, with the added capability to manoeuvre vertically.
The Airspeeder engineering and technical team is drawn from some of the leading names in performance and racing vehicle engineering including Mclaren, Tom Walkinshaw Racing and Brabham. On the aviation side of the garage, members of the team have led major projects in both civil and military aviation, including Project Lead Brett Hill’s experience as a flight dynamics specialist on the Boeing 747-8 programme.
Together they have developed an advanced carbon fibre structure, carrying strength and weight-saving benefits. Indeed, there is an obsession at Alauda with shedding grams to gain critical seconds in performance. An Airspeeder vehicle consists of a chassis and carbon fibre moulded ‘tub’-style skin. This ensures overall strength to maintain the structural integrity of the vehicle under extreme racing conditions and maneuvers.
Batteries have been re-designed versus the previous iteration of the Airspeeder to have 90% more capacity with only a 50% increase in weight. The specification of these cells also delivers an exciting strategic layer. Power delivery profiles can be changed by ground crews to respond to the different requirements of the electronically governed sky-tracks that Airspeeder pilots will follow. For example, a layout that demands rapid maneuvers through sharp turns and ascents will require a different power delivery curve from those that demand outright straight-line speed. Ground crews will have to make instant decisions around sacrificing raw power for outright range.
Every Airspeeder includes rapid pit stops. To facilitate this, Alauda’s engineers have developed an innovative ‘slide and lock’ system for the rapid removal and replacement of batteries when on the ground. This technology debuts on the Mk3. Intense internal competition between in-house pit crews has driven the pitstop time down to just 14 seconds, which is entirely compatible with any form of ground-based legacy motorsport. This is expected to continue to fall. For context, a Formula 1 pitstop used to take more than a minute.
Airspeeder employs a systems-based approach to safety. This is a recognized methodology from military, civilian and performance aviation. This means that no single operational failure can lead to the loss of the primary function of the vehicle, which is controlled flight.
In the early stages of the Mk3’s development simulation, bench testing and integration testing techniques were employed to fully map out these systems. Ahead of live testing, this gave engineers confidence that in the event of a systems failure, vehicles will remain in the air but at reduced performance to ensure the pilot, whether operating remotely in the case of the Mk3, or in the cockpit in future iterations, will be able to safely return to the ground.
During flights, all systems are monitored on the ground through state-of-the-art telemetry. This means that groundcrewss are immediately aware of issues and can take appropriate action to bring the craft to the ground under control.
Prioritizing safety is also inherent to the architecture of the vehicle. The octocopter layout ensures stability in the event of rotor failure or breakage, while the carbon fibre structure of the Speeder has been engineered for overall structural integrity.
The Mk3, which will be operated by an expert remote operator from the ground, features a suite of technologies and engineering elements never before seen on an eVTOL craft. These innovations will be validated in this key uncrewed proving phase and include LiDAR and Radar collision avoidance systems that create a ‘virtual forcefield’ around the craft to ensure close but ultimately safe racing.
THE AIRSPEEDER Mk3 | DRIVEN BY DATA
Terabytes of data from sensors within every area of the Speeder’s architecture is drawn over any testing or racing cycle. This means on-the-ground pit crews are able to constantly analyze and react to even the smallest variance in performance. From a racing perspective this dictates strategy and pilot approach, and in overall technical terms allows engineers to understand details like aerodynamic performance and even adjust propeller settings in accordance with Speeder behaviour in a multitude of conditions.
Airspeeder works with global cyber protection leader Acronis and their delivery partner Teknov8 to secure this data.
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