Multidisciplinary Defense-Tech
00 SELECTED PROJECTS

Selected
Projects.

Defense & Security
Commercial

Projects

01 Defense & Security

Client Projects.

Defense & Security

Silver Bullet Flight Table

01

Silver Bullet Flight Table

Hardware-in-the-loop test system for Rokar’s Silver Bullet

Client: Rokar (now Elbit) · 2008

Rokar’s Silver Bullet is a GPS-based kit that turns standard, unguided 155mm artillery shells into precision munitions. Zickel was tasked with designing and building the hardware to validate the guidance electronics, replacing the standard process of testing spin-stabilized shells in a live-fire environment, which is slow, costly, and hard to instrument.

The problem

The behavior of a fast-rotating shell in flight had to be reproduced accurately enough on the bench to trust the results, before a single round was fired.

How we solved it

We developed a six-degree-of-freedom simulation of the spinning shell and the EKF/GPS guidance algorithm, then designed and built two three-degree-of-freedom flight tables that recreate the shell’s motion for hybrid hardware-in-the-loop testing. This let the electronics and sensors be validated against real-world behavior in the lab, with no live fire.

Autonomous Target Vehicles

02

Autonomous Target Vehicles

Autonomous ground and marine targets for live-fire testing

Client: Rafael, Elbit, IAI, and others · 2014–2022

Live-fire validation of munitions designed to engage moving targets demands realistic, self-driving targets. Zickel engineered a fleet of vehicles to navigate predefined routes fully autonomously, presenting credible moving targets without a driver in harm’s way.

The problem

Delivering consistent autonomous performance across radically different platforms, from jet skis and Tomcars to cars, pickups, and 20-ton trucks, each with its own dynamics, controls, and drivetrain.

How we solved it

We developed autonomous drive-by-wire systems and adapted the steering, throttle, and braking of every platform to execute predefined routes unattended. The result: a single, proven autonomy capability spanning the full range of vehicles, each serving as a self-driving target under live fire.

Zickel PixBerry Flight Controller

03

Zickel PixBerry Flight Controller

One board that both flies the aircraft and sees the world

The problem

An autopilot flies well, but that's about it. Adding computer vision and AI takes far more compute than a flight controller carries, so the usual fix is to wire a separate companion computer onto the autopilot. This adds weight, failure points, and integration headaches.

How we solved it

We built a single board pairing a Pixhawk-class flight controller with a Raspberry Pi, so a drone can fly itself and interpret what it sees at once, with the reliability of a purpose-built controller. We then proved it by flying a range of Ardupilot-based aircraft on it.

The board provides

  • Dual-IMU redundancy for reliable flight
  • RC I/O co-processor
  • High-resolution barometer
  • Support for 20+ vehicle types
  • Advanced flight modes and waypoint navigation
  • Extension ports for mission-specific hardware
02 Commercial

Commercial.

Commercial

Power Up 4.0

04

PowerUp 4.0

A one-gram flight controller that flies a paper airplane from your phone

Client: Power Up (Shai Goitein) · Kickstarter · 2019

The vision

Pure fun: fold a paper airplane and fly it from your smartphone. PowerUp came to Zickel for the fourth generation of Shai Goitein’s hugely successful Kickstarter line, and it had to be better than the three before it.

What we built

A flight controller weighing a single gram, light enough to fly a folded sheet of paper on two tiny motors, with BLE control from the phone. We took it through development and supported FCC certification for sale, and it shipped in tens of thousands of units.

The result

The Kickstarter raised over $1.1M from more than 12k backers. Years later it’s still selling, leading Amazon’s RC Planes category as the best-selling product in its class.

XMETIX Smart Tourniquet

05

XMETIX Smart Tourniquet (TAK710)

A fully automated tourniquet that stops bleeding in under 34 seconds, no training required

Client: XMETIX · 2023–2024

The vision

XMETIX set out to build the first fully automated emergency tourniquet, one that anyone could use to stop life-threatening bleeding without training or strength. Where a conventional tactical tourniquet demands skill under pressure, the TAK710 needs three simple steps: tighten, press, and the device does the rest.

What we built

We developed the control board and firmware behind the automation, the electronics that drive the motorized pressure build-up, the fine pressure control, and the built-in timer that tracks application time in real time.

The result

A fielded product, now in service with military, police, fire, and EMS users and available to civilians for emergency trauma response, that turns a high-stakes, error-prone procedure into a few reliable seconds.

Level Hydrofoils

06

Level Hydrofoils

Making electric hydrofoiling possible for anyone, at any level

Client: Level Hydrofoils · 2018

The vision

An e-foil lifts the rider up onto a wing and flies above the water. The thrill is real, but so is the difficulty: holding the board at a steady height takes constant, skilled correction, which puts the sport out of reach for most people. Level wanted to remove that barrier and make e-foiling something anyone could do.

What we built

We developed the active height-control system that does the balancing for the rider, a closed-loop controller that reads the board’s height above the water and adjusts continuously to hold it steady. The hard part was the environment: the sensing and control had to stay fast and accurate while wet, splashed, and pitched around in open water, where there were no off-the-shelf solutions to draw on.

The result

Self-stabilizing flight that a complete beginner can ride. The system became the core of Level’s product and the feature its accessibility is built on.

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