Development history of UAV pod

Uav pod is an indispensable part of the onboard load of UAV. It can carry a variety of loads, such as sensors, cameras, communications equipment, weapons and more. After years of development, UAV pod technology has been greatly improved and perfected, becoming an important part of UAV system more and more. This article will introduce the development of UAV pod.

1. Early Pods

The early days of the pod can be traced back to the 1950s, when US laboratories developed a device called the universal Joint Pod. It can rotate freely, and its internal mounted equipment can maintain stability and control the direction of observation on a large moving UAV. This process is the earliest research and development of rotary pod technology, and is also one of the foundations of pod industry development technology.

2. Long-range reconnaissance pods

In the 1960s, the United States Air Force invested many advanced technologies in the Vietnam War. During this period, UAV flight technology and long-range reconnaissance technology have been developed greatly and made important progress. During this period, in response to the need for long-range reconnaissance, the defense industry developed a "bomb Pod" technology of infrared radiation and television detection, which could conduct scanning reconnaissance at high altitude and keep track of enemy movements at any time.

3. Rotatable pods

In the late 1960s, the stability of reconnaissance devices in non-stationary state became the bottleneck of research. So the researchers began to think about how to maintain the stability of the reconnaissance device in flight. One solution is to use controlled rotatable pods. The controlled rotatable pod can be composed of three parts: the engine, the storm hood, and the device. Its main function is to hang the camera and other load devices on the rotating bracket, so that it is stable and parallel to the fuselage. With this solution, the ground scene below can be clearly photographed and the corresponding misalignment can be reduced.

4. Deflecting nose pod

In the 1970s, a pod based on the principle of laser ranging began to be widely used. The pod, designed for long-range tagging and targeting, is equipped with laser ranging instruments and modulators that measure the distance from the target to the drone and adjust the correct course based on the determined range data. The technology was later widely used for automatic guidance and intelligent guidance in military flights.

5. Adaptive vibration control pod

In the late 1980s, adaptive vibration control pods were introduced, which enabled smoother and more accurate motion inside the pods. It is self-adaptive and can broaden control limits and reduce vibration amplitude by adjusting real-time feedback information. Therefore, it is widely used in the military and civilian market of all kinds of UAVs payload device, is a technology with wide application prospects.

6. Split pod

Split pods were previously used successfully on F-16s around 2000. Unlike the spin pod, the split pod is more focused on trajectory. It is a fuselage-independent object that can be adapted to different aircraft models. Once the separated pod is independent of the drone body and can take off and land independently over a period of time, multiple load shifts of the aircraft can be achieved, enabling the UAV to respond quickly in a variety of military and civilian missions.

7. Special Pods

Special pods have been developed to meet the requirements of special missions, such as long-range reconnaissance, communications and weapons equipment, including precision optics, astronomical telescopes, communications systems and chip control devices. The use of these pods has higher requirements for the use of intelligent equipment at all levels.

Conclusion:

As can be seen from this, UAV pod technology is constantly improving, always able to adapt to different times and mission requirements. The current UAV pod technology fully considers the stability, accuracy and safety of flight in the design and development process, and fully meets the needs of different types and fields of missions. As a result, drone pod technology will continue to evolve and bring richer and wider applications to various industries.