Actuation and drives for the primary flight control actuation systems for Vertical Aerospace’s VX4 prototype eVTOL are being provided by Olsen Actuators and Drives.
Olsen’s actuators are critical to ensuring the VX4 can change between vertical flight and conventional forward flight safely, based on the pilot’s demands.
The Tilt Rotor Actuation systems provided by Olsen comprised a modified COTS (Commercial Off the Shelf) servo high-capacity roller screw actuator that offers some unique features, including: a precision position encoder, high-capacity parking brake, D38999 connectors and improved seal assembly, coupled with modified main rods. These actuators are packaged with ESI Motion servo drive electronics. The measured dynamic performance during chirp testing exhibited better than expected frequency responses 5 times faster than anything Olsen has tested during the past 15 years and 10 times faster than leading high end industrial servo drive brands.
The Blade Pitch is fully designed and manufactured in the UK utilizing a completely bespoke solution created by Olsen to the required specifications.
Olsen internal load testing rigs were used to validate the design performance, heat rise times and endurance life testing, dynamic and static performance and impact loading. External qualification testing has been completed to independently verify that the design complies with the relevant EMC, shock, vibration and environmental requirements and limits as defined in the DO160G testing standards.
Adam Bargh, Technical Director, Olsen Actuators and Drives said; “It’s been a pleasure to work closely with Vertical’s teams, giving them agile response to design iterations addressing specification changes and compliance with additional requirements along this journey. We are pleased to see Vertical’s continued progress through the piloted flight test programme.”
Piers Olsen, Chairman of Olsen Actuators and Drives said; “We are proud to have been selected to provide our actuators for such an ambitious and ground-breaking project. We look forward to continuing our work in the exciting eVTOL industry in the future.”
According to Olsen Actuators and Drives, it has re-invested the profits from the Vertical Aerospace projects and created twelve highly skilled, highly paid jobs in the UK. Olsen’s resources continue to be utilised during the flight-testing campaigns.
Piers concluded; “It’s been a great experience to work with Vertical Aerospace over the last four years and we have been able to both learn from and share experience with the team. It’s helped us to grow as a company and develop capabilities in advanced manufacturing here in the UK. We look forward to using this experience to enable us to explore more opportunities in the eVTOL market in the future.”
