The EU-funded HOPPERSUP project will focus on the development, implementation and testing of an enhanced stabilisation control system for a new platform for heavy duty drones. The aim is to increase the drones’ payload capacity from 150 litres to 600 litres.

DRONE HOPPER is a technological start-up founded in 2015 and devoted to the design, production and operation of drones or Unmanned Air Vehicles (UAV) for firefighting. Drones have the potential to overcome the limitations of helicopters and hydroplanes in firefighting, as no lives would be put at risks even during night operations and offering the possibility to fly at low altitudes to improve effectiveness. However, nowadays the use of drones in fires is limited to monitoring, surveillance and data collection tasks because current drone technologies based on electrical systems lack the necessary power to lift heavy loads.

DRONE HOPPER has developed and validated heavy duty commercial drones, designed for transport of heavy loads (high water volumes) and with a patented system for spraying liquids increasing the effective coverage area of the intervention. This technology enables that our drones have an excellent potential to disrupt the market for unmanned firefighting. Nevertheless, we need to evolve the attitude control and stabilisation system to reach the required robustness and reliability of operations.

This project is aimed to fill a job vacancy for an UAV engineer to join our R&D team as an Innovation Associate, with an extendable 1-year duration contract and reporting directly to our CTO. The profile of the Associate is a PhD researcher with experience in the development of flight control systems for rotatory wing UAVs, either helicopters or multi-rotors. The Associate will assume a leading role in the development, implementation and testing of an enhanced stabilisation control system for our drone platform, with the overall objective of contributing to increase the UAV´s payload capacity from current 150L to 600L.