What is the purpose of the electric helicopter? The ultimate goal of the EPSAROD Program is to produce electric-powered semi-autonomous aircraft that are capable of distributing manufactured organs to hospitals for transplantation. Semi-autonomous avionics, navigation and controls will be implemented later in the EPSAROD development program. The purpose of the aircraft is to demonstrate the feasibility of battery-powered VTOL and cruise for a manned helicopter. There were no semi-autonomous features in the EPSAROD proof-of-concept aircraft flown on September 21st. Your press release says EPSAROD is an acronym for Electric Powered Semi-Autonomous Rotorcraft for Organ Delivery, but are there any Semi-Autonomous features to the electric helicopter? There are fixed wing electric aircraft but we do not believe there is another electric helicopter in this weight class. The retrofit with electric motors, weighing a 100lb, provided useful load for batteries.Īre there other similar electric aircraft? The R44 helicopter has a heavy 500lb Lycoming piston engine. Why was a Robinson R44 helicopter chosen? The motor assembly, which has a very a high power-to-weight ratio, was installed by one person by hand. The motors are stacked together and provide redundancy in the event of a motor failure. There are two three-phase permanent magnet synchronous motors. The battery modules are supported by a lightweight composite panel and attached to the landing gear under the belly.Ĭan you provide us more information about the electric motors? The engine bay contains the motor controllers and cooling system for the electric drive components. No changes were made to drive train or flight control system. We removed Lycoming IO-540 internal combustion engine, installed a custom mount for the electric motors and a reduction gearbox to interface with the existing drivetrain. What modifications were made to the helicopter? The installation was completed in July 2016.įinding a design solution within the certified takeoff weight of 2500lbs. The design effort started in January 2016. How long did it take to design, build and install the electric propulsion system?Ħ months. What was the size of the design & build team?

There is no US Government or military involvement in the program other than the permission for conducting test flights at JTB Los Alamitos. Is the US Government or military involved in the program? Lung Biotechnology PBC sponsored the project. Test pilot services were provided by OC Helicopters. Design and development partners in the project include Rinehart Motion Systems and Brammo Power. There was no involvement with Robinson Helicopters, as we simply purchased a used R44. Was this project in partnership with Robinson Helicopters, or any other companies? Glen Dromgoole, President of Tier 1 Engineering. Who led the design, build and installation effort?

R22 cockpit