MONARK Drone: 42-Minute Flight Time, 5-Minute Setup, and Soldier-Assembled

EchoMAV Technologies Inc. is a small United States company founded in 2022. They are a group of passionate scientists, engineers, technologists, pilots, and business leaders with diverse backgrounds ranging from mechanical, computer and electrical engineering to law enforcement, military, disabled Veterans, and entrepreneurs and have decades of UxV experience. EchoMAV is proud to be a US-based technology innovator featuring expertise in hardware design and manufacturing, software design, rapid prototyping, and full system design and manufacturing.

EchoMAV customers are comprised of Military, Law Enforcement, and civilian companies. Our autopilots, controllers, and software are key components for numerous partners encompassing all avenues of unmanned systems from underwater, ground systems, and air systems. EchoMAV’s focus is to enable operators to focus on the mission, not the equipment by providing groundbreaking capabilities for a long-persistence VTOL UAS and US-made, NDDA-compliant hardware and software solutions for OEMs, integrators, and government agencies.

EchoMAV Technologies Inc. manufactures Autopilots, Ground Control Stations (GCS), a Controlled Reception Pattern Antenna (CRPA) system capable of surviving intentional Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) jamming from multiple simultaneous terrestrial sources, the EchoMAV Fermion Thermal/EO camera, the EchoLink Radio as well as a group 2, long-range, hybrid VTOL UAS.

Recently, The Civil Military Innovation Institute (CMI2) at Fort Campbell, Kentucky entrusted EchoMAV Technologies Inc. with a Partner Force Drone Project contract through the Translational Research Advancement Capability Acceleration (TRACA) Methodology Development and Implementation/Pathfinder Program to develop a multirotor vehicle, software solutions and peripheral hardware designed to enable partner forces to employ local ISR assets and within 6 months of the contract award, EchoMAV answered the challenge and delivered the MONARK (Modular Observational Networked Aerial Robotics Kit) UAS.

EchoMAV provided the 101st Airborne with files to 3D-Print the drone bodies, but that was the initial step to producing a fully capable UAS. EchoMAV followed up by delivering all the necessary components to complete the creation of one hundred MONARKs.

Furthermore, EchoMAV instructed one hundred soldiers to assemble the MONARK, pair it to a GCS tune the flight components, and safely execute flight scenarios to support their Air Assault Operations. This innovative effort exemplified EchoMAV’s unique ability to provide solutions for its customers, therefore revolutionizing drone manufacturing and it played a pivotal role in the 101st Airborne Division’s major training exercise, Operation Lethal Eagle.

The MONARK is built around the EchoPilot SBX, uses EchoMAV’s Fermion EO/IR camera, and is controlled by the EchoMAV EchoLink Radio. The MONARK is a durable, highly modular ISR quadrotor. From a folded configuration to ready-to-fly in about 5 minutes, the MONARK can be operated by one person and has a low acoustic signature and a 42 min. flight time. The MONARK is Open-source, fully 3D printed airframe, made in the USA and NDAA compliant with unmatched field repairability and ultra-low repair costs and removes ties to single vendors for key components such as props, batteries, motors, and radios.

One of the preferred radio configurations for the MONARK UAS is incorporating the HereLink Blue Air Unit with a 2.4 GHz frequency range.

Designed and manufactured in collaboration between NW Blue and CubePilot, EchoMAV has teamed with NW Blue as its preferred vendor to equip the UAS with the critical flight components.  NW Blue is a manufacturer and distributor of sUAS components located in Portland, Oregon USA where they manufacture components in-house with USA and globally sourced components.

The HereLink Blue Air Unit and GCS bundle provides an HD Video Transmission System, using PineSync technology based on S1 processor. It is an easy-to-use device for sending HDMI video and audio signals, at affordable prices. The Signal transmission range up to 20KM; With minimum latency 110ms; Two HDMI inputs; Supports 720p 30fps, 1080p 30fps / 60fps video format. Eight-core high-performance processor S1 built-in in the air unit and controller, ensures stronger and faster data computing capabilities. The built-in powerful video image analysis GPU, 4-core Mali-T860. Herelink can update OTA via WIFI connection in the application.

Compared with downloading the whole firmware package, OTA upgrade only needs to download part of the update package, which is faster to download, install and upgrade, and greatly improves the efficiency of use. Herelink supports the installation of an OEM image, allowing you to customize your Settings to change, including boot animation changes, system configuration changes, Android application changes, and Android property changes.

Because of this partnership between EchoMAV Technologies Inc. and NW Blue, it has enabled the 2 small US-based companies to gain traction as major competitors in the Unmanned Aircraft manufacturing industry.

CONTACT INFORMATION:
Todd Madison
VP, Business Development
509-710-5266
[email protected]
www.echomav.com