Resources

DRONE SPECS & CAPABILITIES

The term ‘drone’ often brings to mind images of aerial robots and quadcopters. However, in our context, we’re referring to our sensor-equipped replica containers. Each ‘drone’ is designed to match the exact shape and size of your production container – whether it a vial, syringe, ampoule, cartridge or custom container – and contains hundreds of surface and internal sensors that measure not only shock and impact, but also sidewall pressure, tilt, spin and rotation. They travel on the line alongside empty or water-filled containers to show you exactly where damaging forces are impacting your products and what critical areas need to be addressed before you begin production.

The two most common types of drones offered are sidewall pressure drones and seal force drones. Standard sidewall pressure drones measure in real-time:

  • sidewall pressure (pressure along the body of the container)
  • horizontal and vertical shock
  • tilt
  • spin
  • rotation

Seal force drones measure:

  • top load and sealing forces
  • horizontal and vertical shock
  • tilt
  • spin
  • rotation

Seal force drones do not measure sidewall pressure, however a standard drone can be used at the same time through capping machines to assess pressure.

Specialized formats have been designed to measure vial neck pressure, syringe tip and flange pressure, injector rod contact, and other custom applications.

Currently, none of our formats include temperature measurements. If you have a specific need, please contact us to inquire about custom developments.

Standard sidewall pressure drones are available in vial, syringe, ampoule, cartridge, and autoinjector pen formats. Seal force drones are currently available in vial and cartridge formats. Custom and specialty formats can be developed upon request.

Sizes range from 2R vials and 1 ml syringes/cartridges up to 1L bottles. Standard sizes are available within 1-2 weeks while custom and unique sizes can be developed within 3-4 weeks.

For many formats, we can match the filled weight if needed, depending on the size and the type of drone. Contact us to learn more about customizations.

Most of our drones are rated IPC 67 and are able to run through washers and fillers depending on the temperature.

Drones can operate in environments between 10-60°C. Typically drones can withstand short exposure or water spray up to 80°C but they cannot be used in operational depyrogenation tunnels or 80°C water immersion.

All drones house an internal rechargeable battery and are charged with a USB cable and provided adapter. Battery life is 1-4 hours based on the size of the drone and the recharge time is typically 45 – 60 min.

THE DATA

Drones communicate the data to the provided tablet and Quantifeel™ software via Bluetooth 4.0 low energy 2.4 GHz for wireless data transfer. The range is 5 m to 20 m based on drone size. The signal does not interfere with plant equipment or operating systems.

Data is stored in the Quantifeel™ software and database which comes pre-installed on the included Surface Pro tablet. You can backup and export data as a CSV file or store it to the Cloud for remote diagnostics.

For most drones, the data is collected and graphed in real-time, so you can troubleshoot on the spot. Review data by run or create custom reports with the simple report builder. Data export is available for one run or multiple data sets.

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