Prioria Robotics Maveric

The Prioria Robotics Maveric is a discontinued unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) marketed as a high-performance, next-generation platform for small and miniature UAV operations. Maveric's bendable wings allow for the ability to store a fully assembled airframe in a 6-inch (150 mm) tube. Maveric pricing was wholly dependent on configuration, and an advanced military system configuration cost between $100,000 and $200,000.[1]

Prioria Maveric
Maveric UAV in Flight
Role Tactical, Squad-level, Hand-launched
Manufacturer Prioria Robotics, Inc.

Design

Maveric can be deployed immediately with no assembly,[2] with a claimed dash speed of 55 knots (63 mph; 102 km/h).[1] Marketed as the first smart, customizable SUAS, Maveric utilizes Prioria's proprietary processing platform, Merlin.[2]

Operation

Maveric is capable of fully autonomous operation from launch to landing using waypoints,[2] or it can be flown manually by a human pilot via a simple joystick under autopilot assistance.[3]

Maveric was designed for operation by a single user in a military, tactical setting. To accomplish this goal, the airframe had to be small and light enough (2 lb) for a single user to transport, but with large enough wings (28 in) to support the weight of the batteries, cameras, and electronics sufficient for up to one hour of flight-time.[3]

To overcome issues of portability and assembly time, designers employed a bendable-wing design. This design allows for Maveric's wings, which are large enough to meet the desired operational requirements to collapse and wrap around its fuselage and be placed in a 6-inch-diameter (150 mm) tube, while remaining in a fully assembled state. This has two advantages. It allows the aircraft to be stored in a small space, and it makes the aircraft capable of immediate launch on removal from storage. The flexible wings were also claimed to produce a dampening effect called "apative washout" that would allow the UAS to be flown in heavy wind gusts.[2]

The bendable wings and bird-like profile were also claimed to produce an effect of biological camouflage.[4]

In 2013, Condor Aerial entered a contract to become a licensed retailer of the Maveric system. While Prioria would handle defense contracts itself, Condor would have the right to sell the product to local law enforcement agencies. Condor purchased a Prioria drone for demonstrations with vendors.

After a 7 month wait time by Condor to receive the Maveric drone demo, Prioria asked Condor to send it back for data and tech updates. The demo drone was never seen again. Later it was discovered that Bryan da Frota (Founder of Prioria) was reselling used demos to the military as new systems. A Prioria employee testified that Mr. da Frota was knowingly falsifying information on government contracts to sell used equipment as new. [5] [6] [7]

Condor exposed Prioria in court when the judge found Bryan da Frota and his attorney (George Franjola) guilty of falsifying documents, falsifying evidence, threats against witnesses, threats against attorneys, knowingly falsifying testimony, spoliation of evidence. [8]

A judgement in favor of Condor for $192,533.47 on October 3, 2017 for sanctions and fees was then levied against Prioria. Condor filed a writ of execution and seized Prioria bank accounts. [9]

The Condor Aerial lawsuit resulted in a jury award of $1,523,515.00 on December 7, 2017 and a court-ordered seizure of Prioria's assets in January, 2018. Prioria then absconded with all of the company assets moving from a 22,000 sg ft facility to a 2 story residential house in Gainesville where they were found hiding Prioria assets. [10]

After the seizure was carried out by law enforcement, the company went into insolvency.[11][12][13]

Former operators

See also

References
  1. "US Army equipping soldiers with fleet of bird-like drones". RT USA. November 27, 2013. Retrieved November 8, 2019.
  2. "Maveric Mini Unmanned Aerial System (MUAS)". AirForce Technology. Verdict Media Unlimited. Retrieved November 8, 2019.
  3. Crane, David (May 23, 2011). "Prioria Robitics Maveric Flexible-Wing Mini-UAS". Defense Review. DefenseReview.com. Retrieved November 8, 2019.
  4. Musgrave, Shawn (November 3, 2015). "Drone Company Misled Military into Buying UAVs that Were Basically Toys: Lawsuit". Vice. Retrieved November 8, 2019.
  5. https://www.vice.com/en/article/wnxebn/drone-company-misled-military-into-buying-uavs-that-were-basically-toys-lawsuit
  6. http://www.aero-news.net/index.cfm?do=main.ajTextPost&id=128ee1f3-7c88-447e-a732-00a7dda8e20f
  7. https://www.gainesville.com/news/20181202/prioria-robotics-complainant-calls-for-criminal-charges
  8. Order granting sanctions against Prioria for spoliation of Evidence, Allachua county court, Condor vs Prioria, page 5, docket date 07/14/2017, https://www.alachuaclerk.org/court_records/gis/imageview_cf.cfm?p=EC5A3A627E22D0103DA1F54DFB8C62B458FE9DB19691AFABA50F17760E8C0A067546370552610B280E88876A7254417A91BF3104EB903F6CAC74E14B90E6FA0DE3FC8A0E9E55E268A435B8AAA7D069AD630D7A1C40957FBD858F3165BCFA7684B8A0C9DCEEE634263C9CB194EA0A0015ABB2B6EF9A406F7D80F204CAFFC302F53D318F0BEB2CB45D9FFD3EA27027B9883B515BB6B5149E8C5CCB5C3F2FAC5CD1
  9. Condor vs Prioria, Alachua county court docket, Page 3, item docket date 11/03/2017, https://www.alachuaclerk.org/court_records/gis/imageview_cf.cfm?p=EC5A3A627E22D0103DA1F54DFB8C62B42827078DE58AB007E5B8B14D159CC1937546370552610B280E88876A7254417A91BF3104EB903F6CAC74E14B90E6FA0D6FCA218C9F681E62D4085BF3E681FDA87877C99C284530772F1E4D54D0579368B8A0C9DCEEE634263C9CB194EA0A0015ABB2B6EF9A406F7D80F204CAFFC302F53D318F0BEB2CB45D9FFD3EA27027B9883B515BB6B5149E8C5CCB5C3F2FAC5CD1
  10. https://www.gainesville.com/news/20180119/assets-seized-at-prioria-robotics
  11. "Prioria Robotics Holdings, Inc. Bankruptcy (1:18-bk-10019), Florida Northern Bankruptcy Court". www.pacermonitor.com. Retrieved 2019-11-07.
  12. Caplan, Andrew. "Prioria Robotics complainant calls for criminal charges". gainesville.com. The Gainesville Sun. Retrieved 18 July 2019.
  13. Musgrave, Shawn (2015-11-03). "Drone Company Misled Military into Buying UAVs that Were Basically Toys: Lawsuit". Vice. Retrieved 2019-11-07.
  14. United States Army purchases Maveric bird camouflage UAS Archived 2013-12-03 at the Wayback Machine - Armyrecognition.com, 26 November 2013
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.