Hexadrone SAS, a French company specializing in mechatronic development unveiled its first serial drone Tundra on the 30th of April this year. Tundra drone will be getting industrially manufactured in a factory which is now under construction in Saint Ferréol d'Auroure in the Haute-Loire, France. Tundra is a ruggedized, multi-functional, modular drone, and is installed with ultra-rugged, miniature Fischer UltiMate™ and Fischer MiniMax™ connectivity solutions.
As per Fischer, the drones operate in harsh environments; Fischer connectors can withstand such extreme conditions. The Tundra is a modular, multi-rotor drone and has been developed after more than three years of R&D. A first of its kind from France, Tundra is designed in Hexadrone's workshops in the Haute-Loire. Hexadrone used an open innovation logic, a collaborative tool carrier, which won the prestigious Red Dot Design Award in 2018.
Commenting on the development Alexandre Labesse, Hexadrone’s Chairman and Founder informed that the multifunctional and modular tool carrier Tundra will open up great possibilities for the customer in collaborative projects. Most of the drones available today are for single type use and become obsolete due to changing technology rapidly. Tundra can reduce development costs when applied in new applications and technologies coming up in the market, “that’s why we’ve opted for adaptability and durability", adds Mr Labesse.
The Tundra is 100% modular and is a multifunctional unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). The interfaces in the body allow the integration of accessories, sensors and other modules allowing the UAV to adapt to custom features and rapid changes in the state of the art. The user has an option of three types, depending on the various missions and flight scenarios.
Easy to remove, and interchangeable durable arms, Tundra is one of the high-performance multirotor drones globally and can carry a payload of up to four kilos for a flight time of 30 minutes. Very easy to transport and assemble, Tundra’s landing gear can be fitted, and in less than a minute the arms can be screwed. Hexadrone is working on the development of the Tundra drone since 2016, a collaborative tool carrier that can be configured using complementary blocks to suit specific needs.
High-performance ultra-robust, push-pull connectivity solutions attracted Hexadrone to choose Fischer Connectors to be part of the Tundra project. The Tundra is equipped with a rugged Fischer UltiMateTM USB 2.0 connector. Fischer MiniMaxTM connectors and cabling are used for linking standard interfaces and external modules. The miniature connectors are meant for intensive and durable use.
Fischer is part of the Tundra Drones from the outset, informs Guy Lacroix, Director of Fischer Connectors. He added that Fischer is very happy to be the technology partner of Hexadrone to develop the rugged drone’s development. “Connectivity lies at the heart of Tundra Drone, and our high-performance connectors cover the whole range of Hexadron’s requirements. Our connectors are reliable, offers robustness, miniaturization, data transmission and sealing up to IP68”, adds Mr Lacroix.