When Form Extends Range. How Design Redefined the Capabilities of the X‑Gyro Hybrid Drone
The modern unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) market has long struggled with a technological tug-of-war. On one hand, we have multirotors—indispensable for vertical take-off and landing (VTOL), precise hovering, and operating in difficult terrain. On the other, fixed-wing platforms and gyrocopters offer incomparably better energy efficiency and range. The problem was that, until now, you had to choose. The X‑Gyro project was created precisely to eliminate this contradiction.
The final design of the X‑Gyro.
The Challenge: Range Without Losing Mobility
A classic multirotor drone consumes massive amounts of energy just to keep itself in the air. The result? Severely limited flight time, making long-distance missions difficult. Conversely, designs guaranteeing economical cruising require a runway or space to build up speed.
X‑Gyro, developed as part of the NCBR LIDER X program, is a hybrid platform that combines the best of both worlds. It takes off vertically like a multirotor, then smoothly transitions into economical horizontal flight like a gyrocopter. When the mission ends, the machine can land with a short roll or touch down precisely in vertical (VTOL) mode. This isn’t just another market compromise. It is a fully switchable flight architecture.
The carbon fiber frame of the Lider X drone.
* Prototyping
At 2s.design, we operate an extensive in-house 3D printing facility that allows for the immediate verification of product geometry and functionality.
This capability enables us to rapidly adapt and optimize our designs, ensuring we deliver the highest quality results.
Safety Woven into Physics
The heart of this innovation lies in harnessing the phenomenon of autorotation. In cruise mode, the drone’s main rotor is not mechanically driven—it spins freely thanks to airflow. This means the system operates in a state of autorotation by definition.
In the event of a pusher propulsion failure, the platform simply enters a controlled descent. There is no “panic window” known from helicopters, where a pilot has fractions of a second to react. Furthermore, X‑Gyro features a dual lift system, so if one fails, the other still allows the machine to be brought down safely. For public, rescue, or infrastructure applications, this is an argument of fundamental importance.
Where Does Design Fit In?
As the 2s.design studio, we weren’t invited to this project merely to “draw a pretty shell.” Our task was to tailor an ergonomic, aerodynamic skin directly onto an advanced technological skeleton. The form had to support aerodynamics, operability, and—equally important—inspire trust.
We worked in a highly iterative process, shoulder-to-shoulder with the research and development team at the Lublin University of Technology. They provided aerodynamic data, conducted CFD analyses, and ran wind tunnel tests, while we translated that hard data into the language of geometry and form.
Designing for Performance: We shaped the body with surgical precision, accounting for rotor clearances and critical interference phenomena. We optimized aerodynamic drag by building a Class‑A surface model. Every minute change in curvature had a real impact on the drone’s stability and final range.
Designing for Operability: Good equipment is equipment that is easy to work with. We designed quick battery access, which drastically reduces ground handling time (turnaround time). We ensured intelligent space for payload integration: cameras, gimbals, or observation systems, while maintaining full service ergonomics in harsh field conditions.
Designing for Safety: We utilized high-visibility color schemes that not only look great but actively support Visual Line of Sight (VLOS) operations and improve the machine’s visibility in U‑Space.
The 2s.design studio specializes in industrial design, introducing an innovative approach to transforming ideas into reality.
Design That Builds Business Value
In deep-tech projects, even the most groundbreaking technology is not enough. It must be understandable, attractive, and ready to be shown to investors. At 2s.design, we know that innovation needs to be communicated properly. Therefore, going beyond just the industrial design of the body, we took on an additional task—we designed the platform’s logo and created comprehensive visualizations that successfully function today in project communication, presentations, and trade shows. We built a cohesive visual identity that naturally increases the credibility of the entire endeavor.
Experience That Pays Off
Our confidence in navigating the aviation industry is no coincidence. It stems from our previous experiences — we designed the Twistair, the world’s first modular tandem gyrocopter for Trendak Aviation, which won the prestigious Red Dot Design Award in the transportation category in 2018. Twistair, offering three configurations (open, semi-closed, and closed), proved that systems thinking can completely change how an aviation product is perceived. It was exactly this know-how that allowed us to approach X‑Gyro not as just another gadget, but as a complete, professional operational platform.
Wind tunnel testing.
Conclusion: Performance is Designed
The work on X‑Gyro proves one key truth for industrial design: in advanced technological projects, the greatest reserves of performance rarely lie exclusively in the electronics or innovative propulsion itself. They are usually hidden at the intersection of disciplines—in systems integration, outstanding aerodynamics, operational ergonomics, deployment readiness, and the way the technology is communicated to the world.
Performance isn’t just calculated. Performance is designed. And in publicly funded innovative projects, the difference between a working prototype and real market success very often starts precisely with good design.