Walkera UAVs
Walkera UAVs are micro air vehicles (MAV) developed by Guangzhou Walkera Technology Co., Ltd. (Walkera, 广州华科尔科技有限公司).[1] Walkera, founded in 1994, is located at the center of the Pearl River Delta's Panyu District of Guangzhou and is made up of 1500 staff. Traditionally, Walkera is an established Chinese manufacturer of remote control hobby helicopters, but the company has expanded its business to UAVs by starting with MAV production, based on its successful remote-control hobby helicopter business. Most MAVs developed by Walkera are equipped with daytime color TV camera, but none of them are in the helicopter configuration of the usual Walkera remote control models. Most of the multirotors MAV were originally developed for commercial and consumer use, but have been deployed by Chinese military and law enforcement agencies as trainers for more advanced and costly UAVs deployed in longer missions. In 2011, Walkera made famous the first commercially available 6-axis microcopter, called the Ladybird. This number one seller soon caught the attention of various manufacturers and copies of the Ladybird followed.
On June 3, 2014, Walkera opened its USA division to meet the demands on Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS). iUAS Inc was established and began distributing selective unmanned aircraft systems such as the QR X800, Tali H500 UAV USA Edition, QR X350 Pro UAV, VCT converters 5.8G image to WIFI, iLook+ 1080p FPV camera, Devo F12E FPV long-range radio transmitter. iUAS also explored the manufacturing of large-scale models for cinematography, agriculture and security.
On April 20, 2016, Walkera renamed iUAS Inc to UC Drone Inc (UCdrone.com)[2] and expanded its warehouse and largest online store operations in the USA. This is to service its growing North America market.
E-eyes
E-eyes is the only fix winged Walkera MAV (as of 2013). E-eyes has the typical conventional layout but the propulsion comes from a two-blade pusher propeller driven by a brushless motor mounted behind the wing. The camera is mounted in the nosecone and pops out upward during operation, as opposed extruding downward in most aircraft configurations. Specification:[3]
- Wingspan: 1.28 m
- Length: 0.91 m
- Weight: 0.66 kg
- Wing area: 21/4 dm2
Walkera Furious 320
The Walkera Furious 320 is Walkera's latest racedrone. It is larger than the runner 250 and the Walkera Furious is a great drone if you like to fly fast but don't care about winning official races. It is just too heavy and not agile enough to be a true contender on the race scene.[4] Specification:
- Length: 328 mm
- Weight: 0.81 kg
- Battery: 14.8 V 2600 mAh LiPo battery
- Main rotor diameter: 167 mm
Hoten-X WiFi
Hoten-X WiFi is a quadrotor MAV that is remotely controlled by a smart phone type device. Specifications:[5]
- Length: 266 mm
- Width: 266 mm
- Battery: 7.4 V 1000 mAh LiPo battery
- Main rotor diameter: 186 mm
Hoten-X Brushed
Hoten-X Brushed differs from Hoten-X WiFi in that a different remote control unit is needed for Hoten-X Brushed, as opposed to a smart phone type device. Specification:[6]
- Length: 266 mm
- Width: 266 mm
- Battery: 7.4 V 1000 mAh LiPo battery
- Main rotor diameter: 186 mm
- Weight: 363 g
Hoten-X FPV
Hoten-X FPV is a quadrotor MAV serving aerial photography missions via first-person view (FPV). One of the main differences between Hoten-X WiFi and Hoten-X FPV is in their respective control units, where Hoten-X WiFi can be controlled by a smart cellphone-type device, and a more bulky remote control unit is needed for Hoten-X FPV, as in Hoten-X Brushed. Specifications:[7]
- Length: 266 mm
- Width: 266 mm
- Endurance: 7–8 min with 7.4 V 1000 mAh Lipo battery
- Main rotor diameter: 186 mm
Hoten-X BNF
Hoten-X BNF is a development of Hoten-X FPV, and it is Hoten-X FPV with Bind-N-Fly (BNF) so that a single remote control unit can control all BNF aircraft, thus lowering the overall cost. Like its predecessor Hoten-X FPV, a dedicated remote control units is also needed for Hoten-X BNF. Specification:[8]
- Length: 265 mm
- Width: 265 mm
- Height: 95 mm
QR Ladybird V2 FPV
QR Ladybird V2 FPV is the smallest quadrotor MAV developed by Walkera, and also has the lowest endurance under the same type of battery. QR Ladybird V2 FPV is the cheapest MAV Walkera offers and it is developed from QR Ladybird toy quadrotors. (What distinguish MAV/UAVs from toy remote control aircraft is that the latter does not have any payload while the former do, a character shared by Walkera toy aircraft). Specification:[9]
- Length: 85 mm
- Width: 85 mm
- Height: 30 mm
QR W100
QR W100 is a quadrotor MAV developed by Walkera, and it is characterized by how the camera is incorporated: instead of hinging on the camera mount below the fuselage like how most cameras are installed in most UAVs, the camera of QR W100 is directly integrated into the fuselage. Specification:[10]
- Length: 12 cm
- Width: 12 cm
- Weight: 76 g
- Endurance: 5–7 min
QR W100S
QR W100S is the development of QR W100. The main difference between QR W100S and its predecessor of QR W100 is that the rotors of QR W100S lower motor power loss and thus improving efficiency. QR W100S is also slightly larger than QR W100. Specification:[11]
- Length: 14.4 cm
- Width: 14.4 cm
- Endurance: 10 min
QR X350
QR X350 is a quadrotor with four legs, and each rotor is equipped with a two-blade propeller. The camera mount is installed below the fuselage. QR X350 is the first among Walkera MAV/UAVs to adopt GPS/altitude hold system. Specification:[12]
- Main rotor diameter: 556 mm
- Main rotor length: 206 mm
- Length: 289 mm
- Width: 289 mm
- Height: 180 mm
- Endurance: 10–15 min
QR X400 FPV
QR X400 FPV is a quadrotor serving aerial photography missions via first-person view (FPV). Specifications:[13]
- Length: 0.27 m
- Width: 0.27 m
- Weight: 0.786 kg without battery
- Main rotor diameter: 0.254 m
QR X400 BNF
QR X400 BNF is a development of QR X400 FPV, and it is QR X400 FPV with Bind-N-Fly (BNF) so that a single remote control unit can control all BNF aircraft, thus lowering the overall cost. The BNF concept has been applied to other products of Walkera.[14]
Runner 250 Advance
A GPS System racing quadcopter. The GPS System can be configured with a 'Return to Home' function if the radio signal is lost and allows the unit to maintain a hover position. This is a great entry-level racing quadcopter in the 250 range. Although it is considered entry level, the Runner 250 Advance does require some skill to fly safely and accurately. The Runner 250 can reach speeds of 35–40 km/h, which is very exciting to see through FPV goggles. The Runner 250 Advance is completely modular and allows for easy replacement of parts with no soldering required. The Runner 250 Advance is one of the most popular racing drones on the circuit as of 2015. Nearly every even has a presence from Walkera's Runner partly due to its ease of use and the availability of parts.[15]
Scout X4 FPV
A fascinating quadcopter the Walkera Scout X4 is Walkera's entry into the prosumer quadcopter segment. It is easy to fly and it gives the option to upgrade the camera. You can also turn this quadcopter into an Octocopter with an upgrade kit. This will increase the payload and allows you to add a heavier camera. The Walkera Scout X4 is an effective quad with four 500kv engines, 25 minute flight time, retractable landing gear and 3axis gimbal.
- Length: 13.2 in (335mm)
- Width: 13.2 in (335mm)
- Weight: 1770g (3.9 lbs) - w/o battery
- Main rotor diameter: 233mm
See also
List of unmanned aerial vehicles of the People's Republic of China
References
- Walkera Technology Co., Ltd.
- UCdrone.com
- Walkera E-eyes
- Walkera Furious 320
- Hoten-X WiFi
- Hoten-X Brushed
- Hoten-X FPV
- Hoten-X BNF
- QR Ladybird
- QR W100
- QR W100S
- QR X350
- QR X400 FPV
- QR X400 BNF
- Admin, Drone. "Walkera Runner 250 | Drones". mydeardrone.com. Retrieved 2016-05-19.
- Walkera Scout X4