The project presented by Xmobots is the first in Brazil to be authorized by a regulatory agency to operate up to 60km away at night.
In a historic move for the remotely piloted aircraft sector, the National Civil Aviation Agency (ANAC) issued the first Night Flight Authorization Certificate for an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle on May 30.
The Nauru 500C ISR drone, dedicated to missions that require real-time video monitoring - common in intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance applications, has received permission to carry out operations at night with a range of up to 60km in BVLOS flight and above 400ft AGL, this being the first project approved in Brazil.
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Developed by Brazil's Xmobots, the largest drone company in Latin America and the sixth largest in the world, the aircraft can, with this certificate, have an even greater impact on clients' results by expanding its operational reach.
Breaking the barrier expands the company's options for developing remotely piloted aircraft systems. "Once again, we are at the forefront of this certification, being the first company to obtain approval for this project. This shows our commitment to the market and to always being up to date with the main existing technologies. We will continue to expand the operational scope of our technologies for increasingly important missions"said founder and CEO Giovani Amianti.
As an immediate consequence of the certification, clients in the area of Defense and Public and Private Security will be able to carry out missions more efficiently to detect illegal acts and monitor assets at night, a time considered critical. As far as agribusiness is concerned, the certification will allow forest fires to be monitored in real time, which represents a milestone for the sector, as well as other applications.
Among the criteria required by ANAC are: adequate performance of the lighting, navigation and collision avoidance systems in different flight situations, including emergencies or safety measures in possible cases of failure.
The technical sheet of the official document from the National Civil Aviation Agency says that the Nauru 500C ISR drone "meets the requirements of the Brazilian Special Aeronautical Regulations".
Since 2022, this aircraft has already had design authorization from the agency for flights above 400ft AGL and BVLOS up to 60 Km, but for this new authorization with an expanded operational envelope, an update was needed. "We made a modification to the project already authorized by ANAC, which generated an update to the Design Authorization Data Sheet (DADS), allowing night flights by adding the navigation light system. Now, for each serial number that undergoes the modification, a new RPA Special Airworthiness Certificate (CAER) will be issued, which represents compliance with the new configuration of the authorized design"explained Xmobots' Product Certification Specialist, Décio Gomes Palhas Jr.
"ANAC is now considered one of the world's leading aeronautical certification agencies. We have a very good relationship in terms of developing the Brazilian drone market"emphasized Amianti.
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In order to be approved for night flights, the drone underwent various tests. The tests simulated real operating conditions. The aim was to maintain the equipment's visibility in BVLOS(Beyond Visual Line-Of-Sight) conditions, above 400ft AGL.
"The main requirement we worked on was the suitability of the navigation system to keep the pilot with adequate situational awareness for operating in a night environment, as well as tests related to the visibility of the equipment, both involving perceptibility between the remote pilot and the drone, as well as evaluations in the sense of possible transgression of segregated airspace by a manned aircraft"said Décio Gomes Palhas Jr.
Meet the Nauru 500C ISR drone
With its first version launched in 2012, the Nauru has a history of records and achievements. Among the many "firsts" it has collected are the first RPA(Remotely Piloted Aircraft) to fly over the Amazon, the first drone with Brazilian technology to receive a CAVE (Certificate of Experimental Flight Authorization) from ANAC, and the first VTOL(Vertical Take-Off and Landing) drone developed in Brazil.
Developed for BVLOS (Beyond Visual Line of Sight) operations above 400ft, the Nauru has a flight range of 4 hours in its hybrid version (fuel + battery) and 2 hours in its 100% electric version. Its high payload capacity allows it to carry a complete ISR(Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance) system, making it a powerful tool in security and defense missions.
About Xmobots
Xmobots is a robotics technology company that verticalizes the development of vehicles, hardware, software and artificial intelligence.
Our ecosystem of integrated solutions ensures greater efficiency in production processes in vital sectors for humanity, such as Agro, Geo, Environmental, Defense and Security. This reduces operating costs and increases productivity without sacrificing accuracy and quality.