Skybridge Mehitamata helikopter by Chen Xu

Skybridge Mehitamata helikopter by Chen Xu is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2025 Hõbeauhind A' Design Award in Futuristlik disain Competition Category.

HõbeFuturistlik· 2025

Skybridge Mehitamata helikopter

by Chen Xu

Client: Beihang University

Hõbeauhind A' Design Award Winner in Futuristlik Category

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Verified Award Winner
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View at A' Design Award Press Release Award Badge

Colors

The Design

About Skybridge Mehitamata helikopter

Skybridge on mehitamata helikopter, mis on loodud lasti kohaletoimetamiseks laevadelt sadamata saartele. Õhusõiduki kere järgib mereorganismide voolujoonelisi vorme, et vähendada õhutakistust ja energiakulu. Kere paneelid on vormitud ühes tükis komposiitmaterjalidest ning sisemine konstruktsioon kasutab süsinikkiudu, mis annab 32-protsendilise kaalu vähenemise. Mitme konksuga riputussüsteem ja telikuvintsid võimaldavad 260-kilogrammist kandevõimet kuni 6000 meetri kõrgusel ja 12 meetrit sekundis puhuva tuule korral. Tugilaeval asuvad operaatorid juhivad helikopterit kaugjuhtimise teel, tuginedes pardakaamerate ja andurite andmetele.

The Recognition

About the Hõbeauhind A' Design Award

Skybridge Mehitamata helikopter on Hõbeauhinna A' Design Award võitja, ülimalt prestiižikas tunnustus, mis antakse tipptasemel, suurepärastele ja muljetavaldavatele disainidele. Hõbevõitjad on ülimalt säravad ja erakordselt loovad tööd, mis illustreerivad oma disainerite silmapaistvat kogemust, annet ja teravmeelsust. Skybridge Mehitamata helikopter peaks olema imeline, eeskujulik töö, mis on märkimisväärselt professionaalne ja sügavalt uuenduslik. See Hõbeauhinna A' Design Award võidudisain on väga tähelepanuväärne, imetletud leiutis, mis toob kasu ning nihutab kunsti, teaduse, disaini ja tehnoloogia piire. Skybridge Mehitamata helikopter on laialdaselt kadestatud looming, mis äratab soove, tekitab positiivseid tundeid ning süütab hämmastust ja imestust.

Behind the Design

Press Kit

Credits, team members and technical details provided by the designer.

Unique Properties: Designed for cargo delivery to portless islands, this helicopter overcomes geographical barriers. Its biomechanically optimized airframe, multi-hook suspension, and intelligent undercarriage winches achieve a 260kg payload capacity—operating reliably at 6,000m altitude and 12m/s winds, redefining aerial logistics for extreme environments.
Dimensions & Packaging: with rotor: 3786X3600X1330mm
without rotor:2660X1054X950mm
Tags: Civil Drone, Product Design, Remotely Piloted Aircraft, Unmanned Helicopter, Maritime Transport
Production Technology: The manufacturing process integrates the modular assembly concept of the naval industry, and adopts composite materials to realize one-piece molding of the fuselage covering parts. The internal structure uses carbon fiber materials to achieve a 32% breakthrough in lightweight, which significantly improves the carrying efficiency. The streamlined aerodynamic design is modeled after marine life, which ensures the structural strength and effectively reduces the operational energy consumption.
Design Challenge: Balancing the societal need for efficient island resupply with minimizing environmental impact and complying with UAV regulations proved challenging. Developing a safe, reliable unmanned system with the required payload and capture capabilities required extensive research and design iterations.
Research: This design analyzes the efficient movement mechanism of marine organisms through bionic methods, focusing on the hydrodynamic curves and their energy transfer modes when fish swim. Combined with computational fluid dynamics simulation and 3D scanning modeling technology, the bio-evolutionary advantages of marine organisms, such as drag-reducing characteristics, are transformed into UAV engineering parameters.
Inspiration: This unmanned helicopter is designed for cargo transport from ships to portless islands. Maritime operational demands inspired its biomimetic approach, translating marine organisms' hydrodynamic efficiency into aerospace engineering. The streamlined fuselage curvature and rotor system synergy originate from analyzing oceanic lifeforms' drag-resistant structures.
Project Duration: The project started in January 2024 in Beijing and finished in February 2025 in Beijing.
Operation Flow: Operators on a support vessel remotely control the helicopter, using onboard cameras and sensors for real-time visual feedback. The operators identify and control helicopter to capture the cargo, providing a secure and damage-free delivery method compared to direct airdrops.
Team Members: Chen Xu
Wu Fangbo
Dr. Wang Lijing
Dr. Zhang Rong
Cai Tianyang
Zhang jun
Image Credits: Image #1: Creator sxdesign, 2025. Optional Image #1: Creator sxdesign, 2025. Optional Image #2: Creator sxdesign, 2025. Optional Image #3: Creator sxdesign, 2025. Optional Image #4: Creator sxdesign, 2025.