Hector (Haofeng) Xu, a doctorate candidate at MIT’s Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, engaged himself on a mission to make helicopter flights safer, after experiencing the dangers linked with piloting small aircrafts himself. In 2021, Xu initiated the autonomous helicopter company named Rotor Technologies, Inc. The firm refits helicopters with a variety of sensors and software to make flights more secure and broaden its usage in different sectors.
Helicopter accidents often occur during critical tasks such as medical evacuation, firefights, and crop dusting, which lack automation. Xu states that his company is keen on developing autonomy not just to make aviation secure, but also to aid in resolving an array of complex missions compared to other firms that concentrate on designing new vehicles.
Rotor Technologies leverages a reputable helicopter model and modifies it with a superior set of sensors, software, and communication tools. The designs are aligned with the “fly by wire” framework, entailing the use of computers and motors to interact with flight control features. Their model, R550X, surpasses battery-powered drones by offering greater pace, heavier payload and longer flying hours. It can transport up to 1212 lbs, cover an excess of 120 mph, and can stay airborne for a prolonged duration thanks to auxiliary fuel tanks.
The firm also retains expert human supervision with its in-house, cloud-based system termed Cloudpilot, lending the operations enhanced human decision making skills along with the reliability of autonomous systems. The firm has already commenced demo flights in Nashua, New Hampshire and plans to roll out its products by the end of the year. Xu, along with his team of MIT affiliates that helped get Rotor airborne, plans on creating 50 to 100 aircrafts per annum.
Xu hopes that in the long-term, Rotor can contribute in transporting humans through their helicopter models. Ambitious about the firm’s growth, Xu says “Today, our impact has a lot to do with safety, and we’re fixing some of the challenges that have stumped helicopter operators for decades. But I think our biggest future impact will be changing our daily lives. I’m excited to be flying in safer, more autonomous, and more affordable vertical take-off and-landing aircraft, and I hope Rotor will be an important part of enabling that.”
