Jamie Bennet
BlueHalo worked with Alpine Advanced Materials to use the Dallas, Texas-based manufacturer’s HX5 multi-scale reinforced polymer in the injection molded chassis of the technology company’s next-generation Intense Eye unmanned aerial system.
HX5 is expected to make the UAS platform lighter but capable of carrying heavier payload, BlueHalo said Thursday.
The IE-V3 UAS uses artificial intelligence and machine learning for autonomous navigation, communications and swarm logic capabilities. The two companies teamed up to optimize fiber alignment and strength based on mold flow analysis, incorporating the HX5 polymer in critical areas of the drone.
“Through the injection molding process and the high specific strength provided by the HX5 material, we were able to consolidate parts on a 7:1 ratio,” said Mary Clum, sector president and corporate executive vice president at BlueHalo.
