Product Review: The Yuneec H520 Drone

The idea that “this” device or “that” new item is one more tool in the law enforcement officer’s toolbox has been repeated time and time again. It’s taking time, but once the gusts of this young technology settle and the industry standards are agreed, the small unmanned aircraft system (sUAS) will be no different. Depending on your mission and the skill of your pilot, sometimes the right tool for the job can be that one thing necessary to change the winds to your favor. The right decision has the potential to help you accomplish your mission that much safer, quicker, and more efficiently. 

The potential of systems are on “trial” around the country. For example, the New York Police Department has announced they would begin utilizing a 14-drone program to provide its law enforcement officers a bit of early situational awareness. As NYPD Chief of Department Terence Monahan stated in a December press briefing, “Growing technology will give cops and their incident commanders an opportunity to see what they are getting into before they go into harms way.” NYPD’s unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) program was done under collaboration with Florida-based FLYMOTION. The Oro Valley (Ariz.) Police Department demonstrated the Fuse Tether System by Drone Aviation Corp., which powers certain models of drones to fly for extended periods of time via a powered cord. In a third example, the Chula Vista (Calif.) Police Department has seen further success in their experimental program having run 231 missions with 14 arrests.

A walk on the floor of any high-tech tradeshow will provide more examples of law enforcement’s use of sUAS. Two of which include InterDrone 2019 which runs Sept. 3 to 6, in Las Vegas (www.interdrone.com) and the Commercial UAV Expo Oct. 28 to 30, Las Vegas (www.expouav.com). There’s also the chance you’ll see more in shows like PSE or the NSA Expo. Any of these will provide you aisles of opportunities to upgrade your toolbox with the ability of flight.

One of these such tools is the Yuneec (pronounced “unique”) H520. Out of the box, this UAV jumps out at you and itches to get itself up into the sky. Intuition is the theme here, one that runs through every of the H520’s nooks and crannies. Yuneec set MSRP from $1,999 to $4,699, depending on model.

The Yuneec E10T thermal imaging and low-light camera was announced in September 2018. It provides either 320 x 256 or 640 x 5120 thermal resolution, and according to Yuneec, will run “up to 28 minutes” with the H520. As quoted in their press release, “The E10T is the next evolution of the industry’s first thermal and low light RGB combination and will provide commercial users confidence in an array of situations,” said Michael Jiang, CEO, Yuneec International. “With its dual video stream on the 7-inch ST16s ground station coupled with the industry’s only user-variable speed control, pilots can confidently approach critical structures without concern of impact.” The 320-pixel model runs $4,999 MSRP while the 640-pixel version starts at $7,999 MSRP.

Installation of camera payloads follows the intuitive feeling of sliding in the battery. There’s a sturdy clip on the mounting bracket which comes already attached by three hex-socket screws. All you have to do is slide the camera to snap. No wires. No additional batteries.

While the drone may get the attention, for me the star of the show is the ST16S controller. This is the workhorse of the entire system. The device allows an officer to control the drone’s flight, the camera, as well as plot out a flight plan. Whether it was my incoordination or lack of skill, there is a short learning curve maneuvering the H520 while adjusting the camera view. Keep that in mind. Try it out and keep the “OBS Avoid” function on. This allows the system to automatically detect objects 8 to 10 feet away with the onboard forward-facing sonar system.

That said, using the ST16S is as straightforward as it could be. There are two sticks with an intense grip design allowing you to fly with gloves on; one stick for the UAV’s rotation, the other for movement. Each switch, button and toggle are nicely labeled and grouped by purpose. They either manipulate the camera (on the left) or the drone itself (on the right). I appreciated the platform’s ergonomic spacing. Even with gloves, I was able to use the ST16S comfortably.

The drone itself is quick in the air with a max speed of 43 mph on high and a low around 25 to 27 mph. Since the cold has an effect on the batteries, while it can fly in sub-freezing temperatures you will see a slight decrease in air time. Yuneec explained that the H520 has an IMU built-into the flight control board which warms up the battery before the flight in colder temperatures. On the other end of the thermometer, the H520 should be able to fly up to 110 to 115 degrees F and hover stable against 35 mph winds.

One interesting feature is the ability to have dual controllers for a single H520. This clever solution would allow one pilot to keep their eye on the sUAS, the other controlling the camera. The advantages of this are self-evident, but it’s not the only trick the device has up its sleeve. For me, the DataPilot software is where this system shines.