In 2019, Hector (Haofeng) Xu, a PhD student at MIT’s Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, decided to learn to fly helicopters. After experiencing the hazards of flying small aircraft firsthand, he was motivated to enhance helicopter flight safety. In 2021, he elevated his strong passion for aeronautical safety and started his own autonomous helicopter company Rotor Technologies, Inc.
Rotor Technologies’ approach to this problem of safety is to outfit existing helicopters with a variety of sensors and software to eliminate the pilot from the dangerous flights and expand the scenarios where aviation can be applied. The company’s robust autonomous machines are designed to fly faster, for longer durations, and carry heavy payloads; outperforming battery-powered drones. Utilising a time-tested and reliable helicopter model has facilitated the quick commercialisation process for Rotor Technology’s autonomous aircrafts. The aircrafts are already conducting demo flights around the company’s Nashua, New Hampshire, base and are expected to be ready for purchase later this year.
Xu’s first crucial hire for Rotor Technologies was Yiou He as the Chief Technology Officer. Many of the current employees at the company can trace their roots back to MIT, and Xu attributes the company’s success to the high level of talent and expertise these engineers bring from their time at the institution.
Rotor Technologies partners with the Robinson Helicopter Company for their hardware. During the required overhaul after about 2,000 hours of flight time, Rotor jump in to retrofit the aircrafts with their ‘fly by wire’ solution. Simply, it’s a collection of computers and motors that control the aircraft’s flight features. A range of advanced communication tools and sensors, taken from the autonomous vehicle industry, are affixed to enhance operational safety and functionality. To ensure continuous safety even without a pilot in the cockpit, Rotor employs a cloud-based human supervision system it calls “Cloudpilot,” which provides around-the-clock monitoring of flights.
Beyond just safety, there are benefits in efficiency to automating these small aircrafts. Rotor’s R550X autonomous aircraft can carry heavy loads, travel at speeds surpassing 120 miles per hour, and can fly for extended periods, thanks to optional auxiliary fuel tanks. These capabilities can transform the operational efficiency of tasks like fighting fires and delivering cargo to offshore locations, which have been restrictive and dangerous activities for human pilots.
Rotor Technologies aims to sell a small number of aircrafts this year, while planning to ramp up production for 50 to 100 aircrafts annually thereafter. In the grander scheme of things, Xu envisions Rotor playing a key role in revolutionising air travel safety, making it more autonomous and affordable.
