About Us

Our Mission

At MLB Company, our mission is to provide our customers with the most cost-effective access to aerial information. We specialize in research and development, manufacturing, and operator training for complete Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS); we also provide aerial imaging services using our UAS products. These products include the low-cost and portable Super Bat UAV equipped with a gimbal camera for live video streaming, the workhorse Bat 4 UAV with a 30 lb payload bay, and the innovative vertical-take-off-and-land (VTOL) V-Bat that combines the ability to hover with the efficiency of high speed horizontal flight.

MLB Company also provides research consulting that brings innovation to aircraft design and aerial image processing. We look forward to partnering with you in your aerial ventures.

Past Projects

Organic Air Vehicle - Vertical Takeoff and Landing

Organic Air Vechicle

Vertical Takeoff and Landing aircraft

MLB participated with the Honeywell team in Phase 1 of the Organic Air Vehicle project sponsored by DARPA. The MLB flight computer was installed in an airframe constructed by Aerovironment, shown hovering in the image at left. New flight control laws were developed for this aircraft, which can transition to translational flight by tipping sideways to generate lateral thrust.

Sensor Delivery and Data Tracking

Sensor delivery and data trucking

MLB has worked with the Smart Dust group at the Berkeley Sensor and Actuator Center for several years. In March 2001 we participated in an exercise at the Marine Corps Air/Ground Conbat Center at 29 Palms. An MLB Bat dropped sensors beside a road so they could detect whether any vehicles passed along that route. The airplane subsequently flew over the sensors and gathered data that was delivered to the command station.

BAT-20

BAT-20

A Quiet diesel powered hand launched aircraft with autopilot (wing leveling and altitude hold) and 1 mile range (telemetry limited). Speed 15-40 mph.

Trochoid - Micro Air Vehicle

Trochoid

MLB used numerical optimization when first considering micro air vehicle designs. Analysis results indicated that maximum wing area (and lift capability) for a given size is critical to achieving performance in an MAV. Circular wing planforms have maximum area for a given size, but have poor aileron effectiveness because the control surfaces are located close to the wing centerline in a region of strong vortical flow. We tested several circular wing designs and found that a slot between the upper and lower wing surfaces restored control effectiveness, but reduced the wing’s internal payload volume. Rudder control can also be used for turning because low AR designs have strong yaw-roll coupling due to side edge wing vortices, but this type of control is very nonlinear with angle of attack.

Autonomous Cargo Amphibious Transport

Autonomous Cargo Amphibious Transport

A flight demonstrator was built and operated for NASA Ames Research Center in 2001. Fully autonomous operation was achieved from San Francisco Bay. With the addition of fixed undercarriage, the airplane was also operated at Moffett Field. MLB’s standard groundstation and flight computer were used in this project. Control gains were tailored for the dynamics of this airplane.

Helirocket - Fully Autonomous Prototype Vehicle

Helirocket

The Helirocket is a prototype vehicle that has demonstrated fully autonomous takeoff, hover, lateral translation in light winds, and landing.

Volcano Aircraft

Volcano

The Volcano aircraft is designed to carry a 15 lb payload over 750 miles and up to an altitude of 12000 ft. An efficient gasoline engine has been customized for this project. The airframe isconstructed by RnR Products.The standard MLB flight computer with customized control gains has been integrated into the system.

Volcano aircraft have been actively flying since December 2002 and have been delivered to customers. Contact MLB if you have interest in acquiring a Volcano or leasing its services

News Archives

	August 24-27, 2010 – Find MLB at the 2010 AUVSI Show in Denver, Colorado! (MLB AUVSI video…)
	June 1 2010 – The Bat featured on PE&RS. The Bat took stills of 290 ha rangeland for mosaicing/monitoring study from New Mexico State. (more…) June 1, 2010 – Bat 3 featured on the cover of Photometric Engineer and Remote Sensing Magazine The cover page shows the aerial photography acquired over southwestern Idaho using a MLB Bat 3 unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) equipped with a Canon SD 900 10-megapixel digital camera. Researchers from the USDA Agricultural Research Service Jornada Experimental Range and New Mexico State University acquired the imagery as part of a larger research project aimed at determining the utility of UAVs for remote sensing of rangelands. The UAV flew at an average altitude of 210 m above ground, acquiring images with a ground resolved distance of approximately 8 cm. The images were processed with a custom algorithm to obtain improved exterior orientation values, and were subsequently orthorectified and mosaicked into the three mosaics shown. Ground-based vegetation measurements were compared with results from object-based image analysis, and the classification procedures were then applied to the larger mosaics. On the upper right inset, a 50 m x 50 m plot is shown in detail, with the classification results below. The lower inset shows details of the imagery. The upper left inset shows the UAV on landing approach. Detailed methods and results can be found in the article “Acquisition, Orthorectification, and Object-Based Classification of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) Imagery for Rangeland Monitoring” in this issue.
	March 9 2010 – The Bat 3 CC is now available with a Short Wave Infrared (SWIR) retractable gimbal option (more…) March 9, 2010 – Bat 3 CC now with SWIR TASE DUO gimbal option MLB is proud to have one of the first small UAVs to be fully integrated with the Goodrich-Cloud Cap SWIR gimbal and 3AX retraction mechanism. The SWIR camera features high sensitivity and high resolution that cuts through fog or haze and is free of interference from night radiance. The high resolution makes the SWIR camera ideal to operate both during in the day to see through smoke or provide high-quality “clear-as-day” night vision (see sample videos here ). It is also able to see covert lasers and beacons. The SWIR gimbal option features the Goodrich SWIR camera payload mounted on Cloud Cap Technologies TASE DUO stabilized gimbal. The gimbal is stowed within the airframe during take-off and landing for maximum protection by the 3AX retraction mechanism.
	March 1 2010 – E-Swift featured on the CAFE Foundation blog. (more…) March 1, 2010 – E-Swift featured on the CAFE Foundation Blog The E-Swift is featured on the CAFE (Comparative Aircraft Flight Effciency) Fundation blog and the MachNoneFlying.com, an online news paper of subsonic affordable flight. As mentioned in the article MLB president Dr. Morris will present his paper on these early experiments at the CAFE Foundation’s Fourth Annual Electric Aircraft Symposium.
	January 1 2010 - Bat 3 featured on the current newsletter of Remote Sensing and Photogrammetry Society (RSPSoc). (more…) January 1, 2010 – Bat 3 featured on Remote Sensing and Photogrammetry Society Newsletter The Bat 3 is featured on Jaunary 2010 issue cover of the Remote Sensing and Photogrammetry Society newsletter, Sensed. The Bat 3 UAV by MLB company was used as an example in the discussion of usage unmanned aerial vehicles for remote sensing research, following a technical session at RSPSoc 2009 in Leicester, UK.

Publications

Mini UAVs for Convoy Protection (700 KB). This article was the cover feature for the May/June 2004 edition of Unmanned Systems magazine.

Autonomous Robots in SWAT Applications: Research, Design, and Operations Challenges (220 Kb). MLB worked with the Mountain View/Palo Alto Regional SWAT Team to identify current and future roles of UAVs and other autonomous vehicles in the SWAT environment.

Integrated Aerodynamics and Control System Design for Tailless Aircraft (7.5 MB). This paper presents a numerical method for simultaneously designing an aircraft and its feedback control system to minimize drag with a fixed level of handling qualities.

Flight Tests of an Oblique Flying Wing Small Scale Demonstrator (3.2 MB). This paper summarizes the results of analytical and experimental work on oblique all-wing stability and control issues, including results from the flight test of a 20 foot span, 80 pound demonstrator model with an onboard computer stabilization system.

Design and Flight Test Results for Micro-Sized Fixed-Wing and VTOL Aircraft (87 Kb). This paper studies the importance of aerodynamics, propulsion, and mission requirements on the design of a mAV. A Multi-Disciplinary Optimization method is used to size mAV’s for a baseline mission.

Design of Micro Air Vehicles and Flight Test Validation (0.8 MB).Flight control, sensing, communication and propulsion have the strongest impact on mission performance.