DarkPulse Aero

Piloting

DarkPulseAero has an impressive resume when it comes to piloting unmanned aircraft. Unlike most entities that have gained their flight time in controlled environments using COTS systems, DarkPulse’s experience spans an incredibly wide range of conditions, environmental factors, and varying client requirements. We are able to look at a location or task and analyze the environmental factors, customer requirements, sensor limitations, and other variables specific to the location/task to reverse plan operations allowing for the greatest level of safety and repeatable, consistent results. Whether the requirements call for operations from a maritime vessel, a dense urban environment, or uniquely challenging locations around obstructions or in poor GPS environments, DarkPulse Aero has the past performance and expertise to navigate these operations from a place of deep understanding and proficiency.

Below is a bullet list of locations, entities and complex environments that our personnel have operated:

• Multirotor operations from a vessel in the inter-coastal waterways of Florida for the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (maritime requiring precise piloting due to limited takeoff/landing space and the vessel moving)

• Fixed-wing operations in support of (intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance) ISR and patterns of life analysis for the US Army 1^st Cavalry Division in Iraq (night operations in a very dynamic and austere environment with quickly changing environmental conditions)

• Fixed-wing operations in support of the Pakistani Army along the contested border of Kashmir (night and day operations at high-density altitudes)

• Fixed-wing and multirotor operations in extreme cold weather conditions for the Canadian Army (advanced cold weather operations and icing conditions)

• Fixed-wing and multirotor operations in the Galapagos Islands in support of the Government of Ecuador and the Galapagos Science Center (night and day operations in complex geography with varying environmental conditions and terrain)

Training

Although many unmanned systems companies train their clients, their experience is often limited to COTS systems and clients with simpler applications. DarkPulseAero’s staff has an extensive background in training users with highly advanced applications and developing methods of instruction (MOI) for both government and military clients. A professionally developed MOI should be exhaustive and so detailed that it allows for incredibly consistent and repeatable results with defined standards creating client success once they begin operations. Training is the most critical component of a client’s success due to the margin of error when it comes to piloting aircraft and maintaining equipment such that a simple mistake or oversight can be catastrophic to both users and system. It is critical that a client not only be trained but be trained by instructors with real world experience in crew resource management (CRM), human factors considerations, and emergency procedure considerations while accounting for unique differences in trainees’ applications, experiences and learning styles. Training programs for unmanned systems should include a pre-course familiarization guide, daily exams, daily milestones/standards, and a real-world check ride that must be catered to the trainees intended environment and nuanced use case.

Below is a bullet list of DarkPulseAero’s personnel experience in developing and implementing training programs:

• Developed two MOIs for a tactical fixed-wing aircraft that was audited, approved, and adopted by the US Army Rapid Equipping Force (REF) and the US Army’s 10^th Special Forces Group (1 week basic and 1-week advanced training programs)

• Deployed to Colombia and provided unmanned systems training (basic operator and advanced operator) to the Colombian Secret Police and provided support through their first real-world intelligence-gathering operation

• Deployed to Australia and trained the Australian Special Air Service Regiment (SAS) on both basic and advanced military ISR operations including multi-aircraft control (MAC) at night and CONOP specific procedures to accommodate for their unique standard operating procedures (SOPs)

• Deployed to Canada to provide basic and advanced training on unmanned systems to the Canadian Army with a heavy focus on their SOPs, extreme cold weather operations, and sustainment/logistics of operations in a field environment

• Developed and implemented a training program for unmanned system test pilots at the NASA Langley Drone Flying Site for heavy lift operations where aircraft needed to operate at the limit of their lift capability. 

Product Development & Technical Drone Expertise

Technical drone expertise exists on a spectrum and is refined with field experience, exposure to various circumstances, hands-on experience with different components, and troubleshooting various issues with complex variables over an extended period of time. DarkPulseAero’s staff have over 30 years collectively in the unmanned industry and possess the needed experiences and skill sets to provide advanced support ranging from the development of systems, integration of components, repair of carbon fiber and other composite materials, replacement and testing of components, tuning and calibration support, and system component interoperability. Interoperability is critical when working on unmanned systems and also imperative that systems experts understand the forces that positively or adversely affect the performance relative to what is desired.

Examples of forces that must be considered include disk area to weight, vibration dampening of avionics (even when internally dampened), placement of components to avoid or combat electromagnetic interference (EMI), and the nuance of pairing propulsion system components to achieve performance specifications.

System Development

The development of a new unmanned system is a complex and time-consuming process. It requires a detailed understanding of not only the aviation design portion (thrust lines, structural integrity of the frame, correction response) but also the architecture being used – generally Ardupilot with a Pixhawk based flight controller although has experience using autopilots from DJI, Lockheed Martin, and others. DarkPulseAero’s team has developed multi-rotor and fixed-wing aircraft utilizing Ardupilot/Pixhawk architecture and through leveraging the development team at Ardupilot, we are able to accomplish and deliver specific client requirements.

Component or Sensor Integration

Integration efforts are far more nuanced than most groups understand. Considerations such as size, weight, power, EMI, interoperability, and remote manipulation (gimbals) are variables that require consideration in order to accomplish the desired outcomes. DarkPulseAero’s team holds the experience necessary to assess these variables, conduct the integration, and combat issues such as excessive vibrations.

Here’s a general list of sensors and components DarkPulseAero is able to integrate:

• GPS (quad constellation, RTK, NDAA compliant)

• Thermal

• RGB Cameras

• Gimbals

• Drop mechanisms

• ADS-B transceivers

• ADS-B transponder

• Remote ID

• Parachutes 

Flight Testing & Troubleshooting

The team at DarkPulseAero understands flight testing procedure variables present in order to obtain repeatable testing procedures rendering high-quality data. This includes creating detailed testing cards, analyzing flight logs from the flight controller (autopilot), choosing the right environmental conditions to fly, and logging that data to better understand the implications related to wind, temperature, and density altitude on the results. In short, having intimate knowledge of how the system components interoperate with one another is critical to flight testing and troubleshooting.

Maintenance

With the unmanned industry’s reliance on COTS systems maintenance is often overlooked therefore the development of a scheduled preventative maintenance program to keep systems safe and operational is required. The team at DarkPulseAero can assist with the development of a comprehensive maintenance plan at both the field and depot levels and possess the staff to conduct such maintenance with a high level of expertise with appropriate documentation. This includes acting as remote technical support for end users experiencing issues in the field.

Repair

DarkPulseAero supports all varieties of repair from the replacement of components, replacement or repair of composite materials such as carbon fiber, replacement of motor bearings and shafts, repair of spliced wire or loose connectors, and much more. DarkPulseAero’s maintenance facility has the necessary expertise to conduct repairs both conduct at the depot or in the field. After repair, we include bench and flight testing as requirements to validate all repairs.