Unmanned Systems Technology 001 | UAV Factory Penguin C | Real-time operating systems | Hirth S1218 two-stroke twin | Base stations | ASV C-Enduro | Composites | Datacomms

17 complete UAV using mostly in-house components. Indeed, these days it can supply the engine and the control and launch systems, and all sub-assemblies are available as individual components that can be used with other UAVs. Whereas the B is a platform that is sold without a data link, autopilot or payload and is tailored for each specific application, the latest iteration – the Penguin C – is a turnkey package. With this model the customer only has to confirm the required payload. Whereas that lack of flexibility might be a drawback in certain applications (and the B remains on sale) it does allow more complex packaging within the same basic architecture. That in turn allows additional features to be added. It has, for example, provided the scope to permit the development of a parachute landing system. Externally the Penguin C is identical to the Penguin B, and uses the same wing, booms and tailplane. While its fuselage has the same outer form, internally it is far more integrated. The same fuel-injected engine and propeller are used but the differences start with the engine mounts and extend from there. Even the wiring harness is different. At the time of writing, the Penguin C was in testing prior to the first customer deliveries in late 2014. Penguin parameters In terms of size, clearly the lack of a human operator on board allows a UAV to be smaller than any manned aircraft. Overall dimensions are then a consideration of the size and weight of the necessary propulsion system and a compromise between payload-carrying capacity and the adverse effect of increasing platform area in terms of UAV Factory Penguin C | Dossier We had good aero and good composite work so we had confidence in the airframe and put it out at reasonable cost A Penguin C on the end of a catapult – normally the payload is retracted for take-off An exploded view of Penguin C identifying the main elements of the experience of the A model and manufacturing refinements such as improved moulds. It supplied its first customer in 2010, a competitor in the Australian Outback Challenge. In this, contestants have to locate a mannequin in the desert in a mock-up search and rescue mission using a UAV and, having done so, supply it with a bottle of water. UAV Factory started out selling just a composite Penguin airframe, with customers looking elsewhere for the other components to produce a complete aircraft. “We had good aero and good composite work so we had confidence in our airframe”, explains Popiks. “We put it out at a reasonable cost – there was nothing else like it on the market.” Popiks says he recognised from the beginning that a step-by-step approach to developing the company would be necessary. First came the airframe, then an increasing number of subsystems until UAV Factory could supply a Unmanned Systems Technology | November 2014