It's been a while since I've posted on the blog. In summary, we've been very busy delivering a small quantity of our latest MAKO hybrid air system to one of our customer's. As is expected we continue to refine and learn about our market, our product, the problem and our target customers. I think it's alot like practicing and playing golf. Over and over and over again and again and again we go. Just when we think we "know" - we learn something new about ourselves, our market, our customers or the fundamental problem we're solving.
So, I'm sharing our latest thinking about our core technology, specific products, target market and fundamental problem.
Cheers!
John
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Founded in June of 2008, Sofcoast, Inc designs, builds and delivers Hybrid Air Systems to various users on the front lines in federal and commercial markets.
Sofcoast is pioneering the development of a new category of flying system called a Hybrid Air System. Hybrid Air Systems combine the most desirable features of Small Unmanned Aerial System's, aerostats (balloons on strings) and kites on strings to deliver a superior persistent fixed and mobile elevated platform.
Our Mission...Help everyone get high ground to see or hear better when and where they need it.
THE FUNDAMENTAL PROBLEM
"Gaining the high-ground" has been a problematic and costly objective for countless people spanning numerous industries, whether it's a military unit trying to keep it's people safe, a first responder searching for a lost child, to a prominent news or sporting channel delivering compelling news or sports broadcasts. Everyone want's high ground to see or hear better, but most can't get access to it when and where they need it.
As an example, pre-dating Small Unmanned Aerial Systems’, lighter than air systems (LTAS for short) have been used. From hot air balloons, to large football shaped dirigibles (akin to the Goodyear Blimp) to the present day where tethered inflatable lighter than air systems (aerostats) demonstrate the benefits derived from airborne observation posts.
The constant challenges with these technologies are that the operating performance of these devices are highly susceptibile to atmospheric conditions. In order to compensate, the traditional approach has been to make the aerostats larger (e.g. larger cables) which results in costly and large footprints, in order to meet tactical needs in austere and harsh combat environments.
The emergence of Small Unmanned Aerial Systems (SUAS) resolved some problems with large aerostats, with exceptions. It is known that it is difficult and problematic for SUAS’ to deliver a stable, fixed point or slow moving elevated platform. SUAS craft are highly mobile and maneuverable, but because of their small size and limited thrust are also susceptible to atmospherics. SUAS technology requires qualified operators, constant flight management and monitoring. Other disadvantages to SUAS are their noise and limited dwell times. Operational limits and costs of SUAS are problematic, with accident rates of 100x that of manned aircraft, SUAS can create operational challenges for users and financial issues for program managers, particularly when maintaining an elevated / airborne observation post.
It is highly inefficient to use SUAS technologies in certain emergent applications for tactical users, such as providing persistent stare / persistent intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) for fixed points or for slow moving mounted operations. Additional problems with SUAS technologies are vibration, speed over target and wind buffeting, which can and do negatively affect imagery quality or situational awareness. Much can occur during the time off target, or in the instance of weather moving in underneath the higher flying UAS to obscure or impede effective area imaging. Lastly, many restrictions exist to flying UAS, including no-fly zones near borders, urban areas and areas of high civilian or commercial aviation traffic.
Sofcoast, working in conjunction with end-user communities, academia and aerial system experts, have addressed these concerns and have designed and built a solution in response to these fundamental needs.
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Approach
The core of Sofcoast's core design and innovation processes are based in three areas.
Materials, Process and Technology.
Materials: ASAP-XP systems consist of aerodynamically shaped, lightweight and robust plastic bladders that are designed and built in-house using electronically welded seams and filled with simple welder’s supply helium. The flight management system is comprised of an advanced carbon fiber composite wingset and vertical stabilizer. The flight management system is mounted to the inflatable bladder via a lightweight rip-stop nylon harness, which has been designed and engineered for its high strength and low weight properties. Tethering is enabled through lightweight and proven Spectra line, while several times stronger than the maximum designed load, also contributes greatly to the overall weight savings. This combination of materials are key enablers to efficiently maximizing and delivering useable net lift for payloads, as any weight spent on tether, envelope, airframe and flight management is effectively weight not available for payload.
Process: Sofcoast has pioneered the use of a proprietary high-pressure gas charging methodology, to enable bladder filling systems to be highly portable. Using Commercial, Off-The-Shelf (COTS) systems, this transfer technology allows a field unit to reduce the mass of carrying helium lifting gas by a minimum of 60%. The system also uses a robust and commercially available deep-sea fishing sourced rod and reel assembly for line management, launch and recovery.
Technology: The Sofcoast ASAP-XP combines the most desirable features of SUAS’s, aerostats and kites to deliver a superior tethered hybrid air vehicle system. The theory of operation of the system is to combine and integrate flight stabilization benefits of unmanned systems, aerodynamic stability of fixed wing aircraft, and independent lift of lighter than air devices such as balloons along with the stationary security of a kite.
The system accomplishes this by leveraging and managing the buoyant lift, aerodynamic energy, dynamic torque and drag load. Embedded in the wingset the onboard inertial measurement unit, flight controls, GPS receiver, and flight battery enables this Hybrid Lighter Than Air Systems (LTAS) to react immediately to changing wind conditions and provide exceptional levels of stability and flight performance. This patented system enables the air vehicle to “climb” the tether or “transition” from balloon flight to aerodynamic flight unlike any other tethered inflatable device in the marketplace. The vehicle’s unique design allows it to autonomously station itself within a fixed area to provide a stable platform for various integrated payloads such as imagery pods, antennas or communications relays.
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ASAP XP
The Affordable Stationary Aerial Platform, Extremely Portable (ASAP-XP) family of hybrid air systems represents a new approach to providing field users with an affordable, rapidly deployable day/night persistent lighter than air aerial platforms.
ASAP XP MAKO A
ASAP XP MAKO A
Designed and built by Sofcoast Inc. a Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business and based on 15+ years of internal research and development, Hybrid Air Systems are Sofcoast’s industry leading solution, delivering the fixed and slow moving airborne platform capabilities of Small Unmanned Aerial Systems (SUAS’s), without the associated limitations. ASAP-XP’s are tethered, helium filled inflatable devices which allow small units to rapidly deploy critical elevated observation positions. ASAP-XP’s are deployable, attachable and towable from multiple platforms, ranging from foot patrols in the field to various sized tactical and commercial sized vehicles (including four-wheelers and boats). Sofcoast’s patented gyro-stabilized station keeping features deliver payload providers, tactical commanders and end users with unprecedented stability, performance and versatility from an inflatable device. This flexible platform provides small teams with a best in class persistent aerial coverage capability to support and meet existing, unmet and unrecognized emergent mission needs and requirements for Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) situational awareness and communications.
