Maintenance-free bearings in drone hangars

Profile

• What was needed: drylin W linear bearing technology
• Requirements: Robust, durable bearing technology that is also free of corrosion and lubricants.
• Industry: Aviation, drones
• Success for the customer: drylin bearing solutions, which require neither lubrication nor maintenance eliminate the need for expensive maintenance personnel trips to hangars. The components are also self-cleaning and resistant to extreme temperatures, high humidity, and UV rays.

The HD 4-1100 quadrocopter before an inspection flight: a special mapping camera is on board

Problem

Gas pipelines are subject to a variety of damage hazards: construction activities, vegetation, landslides, etc. So they require regular visual inspections. Helicopters, which are usually used, mean enormous costs and often constitute a severe noise nuisance for residents.
exabotix offers an alternative: Since 2012, it has been implementing drone solutions, and gas pipeline operators are among their customers. The HD 4-1100 drone developed for this purpose uses intelligent GPS software for fully automated flights over the pipelines they inspect, reporting any conspicuous features in the landscape so that countermeasures can be taken if necessary. Because pipelines are often several hundred kilometres long, a large number of drones must be used for the job, splitting up the route among themselves. To position each drone properly before the inspection flight, exabotix sets up drone hangars at regular intervals along the route. Upon receiving a launch command from the control centre, the rolling gates open, and a platform with the drone on it extends. When the drone returns, it lands on the extended platform, where it immediately recharges its battery upon reaching the landing surface thanks to built-in contacts in the feet.
The drone hangar design had to be as robust and maintenance-free as possible to avoid expensive maintenance visits to the remote hangar locations. This required a corrosion- and lubricant-free system, especially for the 4.5-meter rails that slide the take-off and landing platform out into the open.

Solution

For their hangars, the engineers decided on products from the drylin W series – linear rails made of aluminium and carriages made of die-cast zinc – on which the platforms are mounted today.
The drylin W guide system offers several decisive advantages that led to this choice. The linear bearings are cost-effective and almost maintenance-free. This is because the carriage's pillow blocks are made of iglidur J high-performance plastic, whose solid lubricants ensure low-friction, maintenance-free dry operation – without a single drop of lubricating oil. This greatly reduces the maintenance costs that would result from the time-consuming technician travel alone. Because the bearing technology is self-cleaning, no cleaning work is necessary. The carriage bearings slide on the linear rails instead of rolling, so they push the dirt in front of them until it eventually falls off the rails. The hardened, anodized aluminium rails are extremely temperature-resistant (-20 to +40 degrees Celsius), and UV rays and moisture are no problem for them, either. The liners in the carriages also offer low moisture absorption (just 0.3 percent).
The drone hangar and similar solutions have already helped exabotix grow rapidly. The company now has 30 employees, and that number is rising. It also has plans for the future. For instance, it is currently considering enlarging the hangar. This would result in a container that package delivery companies could load with five drones to deliver packages in rural areas.

The platform moves on our drylin linear rails. Made of anodised aluminium, they are ideal for year-round outdoor use thanks to their corrosion resistance.

The launch and landing platform is also a charging station. The quadrocopter uses contacts on its feet to recharge its batteries. Its range is 18 kilometres.