DeltaQuad

Overview

Summary

DeltaQuad, previously Vertical Technologies, is a pioneer in electric long-range VTOL UAVs, designing and manifacturing its smart technology in the Netherlands. In a fast moving and increasingly complex world, DeltaQuad’s main principle is anticipating and rapidly responding the challenges with agile technology-creating a safer world and more secure future. The company was established in 2012 with the goal of developing the most advanced technology utilizing agile methodolgy. Their product series called DeltaQuad is an industrial-grade, vertical takeoff and landing fixed-wing UAV does entirely autonomous surveillance missions. The technology is relatively simple to mount and use, and it provides a live video stream from a surveillance sensor for on-the-spot reconnaissance missions. Because of its high endurance capabilities, several long-range connectivity choices, and integration of intelligent technologies like object following, organizations favor DeltaQuad.

DeltaQuad consider themselves as the one of the first to combine vertical take-off and landing with long range airplane capabilities. As a company which was founded in the Netherlands, they adopted the Dutch “down the earth” mentality. Their final prototype was airborned in 2015,with few extensive researches and trials their final product DeltaQuad PRO was released to the market in 2017. 

Members of the PX4 Pro auto pilot development team created the DeltaQuad, which has a number of amazing features that make operating this UAV as simple as setting up a navigation system. Pre-flight calibrations are not necessary, and the Pro model has an inbuilt computer that nearly entirely takes the position of the operator. As a result, the vehicle is appropriate for BVLOS operations. The bundled DeltaQuad simulator makes it simple to become accustomed to the controls and enables mission testing before execution.

From 2020, DeltaQuad have been selling the DeltaQuad PRO worldwide since then, with the estimated flight hours beyond 10.000 hours. The DeltaQuad can be found all around the world. As their saying “From high mountains of Chile to the North Pole and the deserts of the Middle East.”

DeltaQuad offers solutions for different projects covering industries like agriculture, geospatial, oil, gas, utilities, mining, construction, security, defence, railway, road ect. Local, national, and international government agencies use the DeltaQuad UAV because of its track record and solution-focused methodology. 

Their product series includes three different kinds of UAV’s which are used in different fields like mapping, cargo transportation and viewing. However all of these hybrid vertical takeoff fixed wing vehicles can stream telemetry and video over the cellular network using VPN,  and boasts an impressive 1 kilogram payload capacity, 2 hour 45 minute flight time and 150 kilometer range.

The success of current DeltaQuad platform is primarily based on the high payload capasity combined with the prolonged flight time for such an inexpensive price compared to the market. Their most affordable product is DeltaQuad PRO#VIEW with the price of € 14.593,00 while the average market price for viewing UAV’s are around € 21.550,00. This comparative advantage gains them a lot of popularity and positive comments.

DeltaQuad partnered with some of the largest United Nations organisations such as UNESCO in the modelling project of UNESCO world heritage site Uruk. With the main mission of presenting a large- scale and detailed 3D model of ancient city Uruk. The team was able to succeed this mission with the help of their device DeltaQuad PRO#MAP.

Industry

An industrial-grade, vertical takeoff and landing fixed-wing UAV called the DeltaQuad which was developed by Vertical Technologies, does entirely autonomous surveillance missions. The company offers two-way deliveries using autonomous drones to work in the industries like agriculture, geospatial, oil, gas, utilities, mining, construction, security,  defence, railway and road.

Country of Origin

DeltaQuad was founded in Badhoevedorp, The Netherlands.

Countries of Operations

DeltaQuad has conducted some operations in Norway, Central African Republic, Sweeden, Canada and Iraq. Their aircraft is available and distributed worldwide.

Age

DeltaQuad was founded in 2012. It was previously Vertical Technologies. We cannot find an explanation for the name change, but we speculate that it is due to the existing use of the name and a need to differentiate themselves. At the time of writing this article, DeltaQuad is 11 years old.

Size

The company does not gives us the exact number but the number of employees who work in DeltaQuad is between the numbers of 11-50. According to their LinkedIn page, the company has 12 employees at the time of writing this article.

Founders/CEO

Sander Smeets, CTO

Sander Smeets started his career at NormadBlend at 1999 in the department of information Technologies. He worked as an IT consultant for 3 years.  In January 2002 he became the founding partner of Unity-X which delivers on demand E-business strategies and solutions for next generation companies while working here Smeets became the chief technology officer(CTO) of EasyStaff which is a website for freelancers in January 2014. Last but not least, in 2016 he created the company Vertical Technologies. Despite all of these success Sander Smeets is living a humble life and does not like to share his personal life on social media.

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Douwe Zeeman, CEO

Douwe Zeeman started his academic life at the Technische Universiteit Delft, after the technical university he studied at Rotterdam School of Management. After graduating from Rotterdam, he started his career with the head of business economics role at Rijkswaterstaat company between the years of 1982-1984. With the offer that is coming from the Ahold, which is one of the world’s largest food retail groups, he became the logistics manager of Ahold. After working there for 6 years, in the 1990 with a new offer he began to work in the Campina Melkunie as a company director. 

The passion for doing something helpful and benefiting community led Douwe to create Identity Plus and he continued being the owner of there for 27 years. Finally in the August 2019 with the offer of Sander Smeets he became the chief executive officer(CEO) of Vertical Technologies.

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Competitive Advantage

Vertical Technologies’ main competitive advantage is that their eVTOL aircraft can be ordered together with your choice of payload, transmitter, accuracy and other requirements. This means that integration is already accounted for, and that the customer can get up in the air and flying faster. The company also provides training services which further simplifies a company’s transition when choosing to use this aircraft.

Aircraft

DeltaQuad Evo

The Evo is the latest release from the company and is the first upgrade in a number of years. The airframe has been completely redesigned. It is still a quad-plane configuration, but they seemed to have improved on the aerodynamics through the use of specialised material and a fuselage reshaping.

The specifications state that the aircraft has been tested to fly up to 4.5 hours, which we can safely assume the real-world result is 80% that value, closer to 3.5 hours. That is still an amazing flight time, but nothing that goes far beyond other offerings on the market.

We’re still a bit skeptical on this aircraft, but as the rollout happens, we’ll monitor its use cases a bit further. Here’s a link to see the specs yourself.

DeltaQuad Pro #VIEW

The DeltaQuad Pro #VIEW is an unmanned aerial vehicle that can fly effectively like an airplane and takeoff and land like a helicopter. It is therefore able to fly far and work in small spaces. It is capable of having many camera systems for both live and recorded footage. These include solutions for static cameras with extremely long life spans, thermally stabilized gimbals, and dual HD. It is either fully autonomous or is controlled by a touchscreen ground station.

DeltaQuad Pro #MAP

The DeltaQuad Pro#MAP comes with full integrated mapping mount for several types of high grade camera systems. The system is outfitted with a trigger mechanism and an easy to use removable mount compatible with the selected camera. Asahi Dragontail glass is installed to protect the camera from dust or damage during takeoff and landing

The ground control station offers state of the art surveying options and can geo-reference the images in post processing. With the Emlid Reach PPK option, centimeter level accuracy can be achieved on RGB camera payloads.

DeltaQuad Pro #CARGO

The DeltaQuad Pro#MAP has a fully integrated mapping mount for a variety of high-end camera systems. The device comes with a trigger mechanism and an easy-to-use removable mount that works with the selected camera. Asahi Dragontail glass has been installed to protect the camera from shattered glass or damage during takeoff and landing.

The ground control station has contemporary surveying options and may georeference the images during post-processing. The Emlid Reach PPK option enables RGB camera payloads to achieve centimeter-level accuracy.

Growth

In September 2021 Vertical Technologies and the world leading provider of patented multispectral sensors, Agrowing Ltd. signed a partnership for DeltaQuad VTOL UAV. See here.

Revenue

In addition to aircraft sales, the company generates revenue through their training services.

Social Stats

Linkedin:  367 Followers

YouTube: 777 Subscribers

But wait, there’s more!

DeltaQuad is only one of the major players in this evolving industry. Click here to check out our full list of companies leading the way!