MicroPilot’s Mini-UAV Brains

Mosquito
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The Israeli military is experimenting with a futuristic Frisbee-size unmanned aerial vehicle called the Mosquito. Somewhat like the Class I MAV, et. al., the Mosquito will one day be expected to fly into buildings through doors and windows, taking pictures with its miniature video camera, then fly out again and show soldiers what it saw inside.

Its critical robotic brains and autopilot come from MicroPilot Inc. in Winnipeg, Canada, which is carving out an important position in this market. MicroPilot specializes in the small and mini UAV segment, building autopilots that incorporate things like a GPS receiver, altimeter and other sensors, then connect to airframe controls and to the vehicle’s sensor “payload” to issue instructions. Many mission parameters like map/GPS coordinates, altitude settings, et. al. are set in advance using MicroPilot’s PC-based Horizon software, and it’s also possible for soldiers to assume manual control.

So, what factors have helped this company succeed?

One is a technology advantage. Their MP2028g product weighs just 28 grams and measures 10×4 cm. At the moment, its competitors’ offerings weigh substantially more.

A second advantage is its status as a Canadian company, which allows it to escape American ITAR export controls. Canada has export controls as well, but they are not as rigid in this area and Micropilot started as a civilian-oriented company – the software for its first project, a UAV tow plane for launching gliders, renmains the basis for their autopilot technology. Its customers are now reportedly 30-40% military, plus another 10% to universities and research organizations funded by the military.

The US dollar’s favorable exchange against the Canadian dollar has narrowed substantially of late, but it remains a third source of advantage.

Finally, the Globe & Mail’s profile article notes that a search-engine marketing strategy helped attract attention to MicroPilot among their tech-savvy target audience, by ensuring that searches focused on related areas led interested parties to their door.

The firm now has more than 300 customers in 49 countries, including NASA and the Canadian Forces. Canada’s Globe & Mail reports that the 25-member firm’s annual revenue is in the $2.5-million range and growing, and that it has been profitable almost since inception.

While Micropilot’s CEO sees flying inside buildings as an intermediate-term project rather than a likely near-term success, he does see it as an achievable goal. Likewise, he believes that the full civilian uses of UAVs remain largely untapped and will be a complementary growing market in areas like agriculture, weather research, environmental monitoring, et. al.

Read the full Globe & Mail article here.