Unmanned Systems Technology 021 | Robot Aviation FX450 l Imaging Sensors focus l UAVs Insight l Liquid-Piston X-Mini l Riptide l Eurosatory 2018 show report l Zipline l Electric Motors focus l ASTS show report

72 Show report | Eurosatory 2018 designed in-house to enable precision ‘render safe’ procedures with either a single or dual water jet. “We’ve also sought to make mechanical maintenance as easy as possible by using modular components,” Vongdouangchanh said. “If an IED ‘high- orders’ [initiates a detonation sequence] inside the Mk 4’s claw, one bolt is removed and the claw can be replaced within 10 minutes to an hour, depending on the technician’s skill level.” Steadicopter attended the show to display its Black Eagle 50, a helicopter- type UAV designed for civil, military and homeland security applications. “The system is capable of fully automated take-off and landing, and autonomously oriented flight modes, including camera guide modes that slave the helicopter’s flight path to the camera image,” said Dima Chorny. “The operator controls the mission from the GCS, with the UAV capable of carrying up to 3 kg in its mission payload bay.” The flight computer has been designed by Steadicopter according to ADS-33 standards for military rotorcraft, and the craft’s open sensor and comms architecture means the data link (which integrates a live video feed from the camera payload) can be designed for an operating range of 15, 50 or 100 km. A two-stroke, two-cylinder, water-cooled boxer engine powers the Black Eagle 50 for a four-hour flight endurance at 35 knots (or three hours of hover). As Chorny noted, “If the goal is not maximum endurance but maximum flight distance, 45 knots is the recommended speed.” A payload weighing more than 3 kg can be carried at the expense of the above endurance time. In the event of an accident or loss of power, a parachute is integrated above the rotor mast. Systel Rugged Computers displayed its EB4000, which is designed as a rugged, network-attached data storage box suitable for airborne systems in environments with extremes of temperature, vibration or moisture. These can include MALE-class UAVs flying for long periods in maritime or desert regions, with requirements to gather large amounts of sensor data for military analysts. “For example, our systems are on the GCSs for the Predator, Reaper and Fire Scout-type systems,” Aneesh Kothari said. “As technology becomes more SWaP-optimised, it has become easier to build systems for airborne use on the UAVs themselves. “But you also have to account for different computer architectures, cooling solutions and sensor payloads. So we’re moving towards using much smaller, Nvidia Tegra- August/September 2018 | Unmanned Systems Technology ICOR Technology’s Caliber Mk4, for counter-IED missions The Steadicopter Black Eagle 50 has a payload capacity of up to 3 kg