INDUSTRIAL DESIGN, REGULATORY COMPLIANCE, AND SOVEREIGNTY
A North American company specialising in professional drones wanted to develop a more compact platform suited to surveillance and reconnaissance missions.
Kickmaker became involved at an early stage to analyse the existing product, assess the technical choices and prepare for its future development.
The client had large-sized drones and wanted to design a lighter, more portable and integrated model.
The mission covered three areas: product auditing, industrial design and the study of Remote Identification (Remote ID), a regulatory system used to identify a drone in flight.
The challenge
-
Reduce the drone’s size and weight
-
Preserve its range and performance
-
Integrate the necessary sensors and equipment
-
Plan for both civilian and military versions
-
Comply with component sovereignty requirements of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA)
-
Anticipate Remote ID requirements in North America and Europe
The solution
Kickmaker structured the project around three complementary technical areas:
-
Audit of the existing architecture, suppliers and industrial capabilities.
-
Preparation for the future manufacture of moulded shells.
-
Propulsion study using the eCalc tool.
-
Comparison of electronic update and redesign scenarios.
-
Design of civilian and military variants suited to their missions.
-
Analysis of available or developable Remote ID solutions.
-
Assessment of components meeting North American sovereignty requirements.
-
On-site immersion to align teams and define the roadmap.
Benefits
- 20% reduction of the weight and size of the drone
-
A clear view of the investments required before committing to hardware development.
-
Reduced industrial risks, thanks to early anticipation of moulds, components and manufacturing constraints.
-
A shared working basis to align teams on use cases, variants and the roadmap.
-
Usable visual materials for presenting the project to investors and partners.
-
A better-prepared compliance strategy, with identified options for the North American and European markets.
-
Greater freedom to evolve, thanks to early consideration of integration, modularity and component sovereignty.
Expertise
For this project, Kickmaker mobilised:
-
Strategic auditing and analysis to assess product maturity, costs and next steps.
-
Product architecture: balancing performance, integration, modularity and supply constraints.
-
Industrial design: giving the drone a coherent identity without compromising its intended uses.
-
Preparation for industrialisation to anticipate moulds, volumes and production resources.
-
Regulatory and sovereignty analysis to inform decisions related to remote identification and authorised components.
-
International collaboration: bringing together the French and North-Amercian teams around a shared roadmap.
