{"id":11876,"date":"2018-08-17T14:53:14","date_gmt":"2018-08-17T21:53:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cafe.foundation\/blog\/?p=11876"},"modified":"2018-08-17T14:53:14","modified_gmt":"2018-08-17T21:53:14","slug":"verdegos-integrated-distributed-power-system","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/cafe.foundation\/blog\/verdegos-integrated-distributed-power-system\/","title":{"rendered":"VerdeGo’s Integrated Distributed Power System"},"content":{"rendered":"

Erik Lindbergh, grandson of the famed trans-Atlantic flight pioneer, has been paying his dues in aviation for decades, working to involve young people in career-building roles, and advocating for \u201cgreen\u201d aviation.\u00a0 His latest roles have found him mentoring a group of Embry Riddle students in developing an electric HK-36 (shown last year at AirVenture), and in developing one of the over 100 electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) potential sky taxis coming into public view.\u00a0 That sky taxi may not make it to market, but Lindbergh and partners’ Integrated Distributed Power system is headed that way.<\/p>\n

At the 2017 AirVenture, he shared the news that he was working on something exciting.\u00a0 That turned out to be the VerdeGo project, an eight-rotor eVTOL which he developed with co-founder Eric Bartsch and Embry Riddle Director of the Eagle Flight Research Center and Green Flight Challenge competitor Dr. Pat Anderson.\u00a0 Eric is Chief Operating Officer for VerdeGo and Pat is Chief Technology Officer.<\/p>\n

Their first product, the PAT200 Personal Air Taxi, is apparently on hold, according to <\/a>eVTOL News<\/em>, but the power system is being developed as a basis for other air taxis.\u00a0 There should be a market among the other 100 developers for power systems that can elevate their Ubers.<\/p>\n

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Model of VerdeGo’s PAT 200 at this year’s AirVenture Innovation Center<\/p><\/div>\n

Aviation Week<\/em> states the new business plan <\/a>a bit more dramatically.\u00a0 \u201d Seeing a dire need for propulsion expertise in the burgeoning electric vertical-takeoff-and-landing (eVTOL) market, one of the contenders has decided to put aside work on its vehicle and focus instead on providing hybrid-electric systems to other developers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Under development at the <\/a>MicaPlex Aerospace Innovation Complex in the Embry-Riddle Research Park in Daytona, Florida, the Integrated Distributed Electric Propulsion (IDEP) system is \u201cBalanced to optimize performing many functions for the aircraft.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Schematic for PAT 200 shows elements of VerdeGo’s combined power and control system<\/p><\/div>\n

System elements include engines, generators with one to two inputs, a power distribution system, batteries and battery management systems (BMS), attitude control, motors, rotors, and some form of noise mitigation system, essential for urban acceptance.<\/p>\n

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IDEP components in first-generation system<\/p><\/div>\n

Approaches, according to VerdeGo, include \u201coptimized multi-rotor arrays and low-noise generator installations.\u201d\u00a0 As opposed to \u201ctraditional propulsion, designed only for producing thrust,\u201d IDEP provides \u201cPropulsion Integral to All Aspects of Performance,\u201d with a system architecture that has built-in redundancy.\u00a0 Because rotors span the entire airframe, they enable distributed thrust and attitude control.\u00a0 Rotors and motors act as an integrated pair.<\/p>\n

In the traditional approach, propulsion units simply deliver thrust, relying on the airframe architecture design to create redundancy and attitude control.\u00a0 IDEP provides both propulsion and control, with built-in redundancy (eight rotors) and attendant safety.\u00a0 VerdeGo claims \u201ctoday\u2019s technologies\u2026 enable Urban Air Mobility to start NOW,\u201d and add that the four-to-eight-rotor system will be, \u201cReady for UAM commercial launch in 2023.\u201d<\/p>\n

First up, the IDEP-H2 system is \u201coptimized for 2-3 seat aircraft,\u201d with 200 to 325 horsepower input power from a piston generator.\u00a0 A second system, the IDEP-H2-Twin, also for 2-3 seat aircraft would have 280-horsepower input power, but using twin generators for \u201cadded redundancy.\u201d\u00a0 Future plans call for an IDEP H7, designed for five-to-seven seat aircraft and running on 500 to 800 total horsepower from a turbine generator.<\/p>\n

Longer-term programs, \u201cReady when high-performing batteries are available,\u201d will combine battery power with other elements of the IDEP drivetrain.\u00a0 VerdeGo estimates these systems will be available from 2030 to 2040 depending on quickly the battery industry can meet VerdeGo\u2019s requirements.<\/p>\n

Pat Anderson provides his own, somewhat indeterminate, estimate of when that will take place.\u00a0 \u201cEveryone has their crystal ball for the timing of new battery technologies.\u00a0 We have been working for more than a decade with the global battery experts who project it will be 15 to 20 years before commercial levels of performance are achieved from a purely battery-operated VTOL aircraft. \u00a0VerdeGo\u2019s first-generation IDEP hybrid systems enable aircraft manufacturers to get into the air with technologies available today, with an upgrade path as soon as batteries are available.\u201d<\/p>\n