Unmanned Systems Technology 002 | Scion SA-400 | Commercial UAV Show report | Vision sensors | Danielson Trident I Security and safety systems | MIRA MACE | Additive manufacturing | Marine UUVs

35 explained that in general the key to rotary engine durability is adequate cooling and lubrication of the rotor. “If the engine’s rotor is not cooled sufficiently then the engine’s lubrication will break down due to the high rotor temperature, and the rotor bush and bearing will wear rapidly, reducing overall engine life.” AIE uses conventional liquid cooling for the rotor housing, and combines this with its patented SPARCS technology for the rotor. “SPARCS uses blow-by gases from the combustion process to pressurise the engine core,” Bailey explained. “This pressurised gas is then recirculated within a sealed system by a fan, passing first through the rotor and then, to reject heat, through an air-to- water heat exchanger integrated into the rotor housing.” Wankel-type engines are popular in the UAV sphere, and it is worth noting that such engines lend themselves to being fuelled by hydrogen rather than petrol or diesel. We highlighted Cella Energy’s hydrogen storage pellet technology in the previous issue of UST , explaining how it can supply a fuel cell to collectively outperform a battery in the context of a UAV. At Olympia, Stephen Bennington told us that it had recently signed a contract with French aerospace company Safran, to provide a back-up power supply for manned aircraft. This is Cella Energy’s first revenue from a commercial deal, and Bennington was pleased to report that it gives further credibility to his company’s pioneering technology. Interestingly, Bennington also told us that studies have shown that using hydrogen as an additive in diesel fuel can significantly reduce the particulates emitted by a compression ignition engine. In effect, it will burn up nanoparticles that would otherwise escape through the particulate filter. While UAVs are not currently bound by emission regulations, they will doubtless come under the same scrutiny as modern road vehicles as the commercial market for them booms in due course. Jon Skelton told us that Topcon Positioning provides a very lightweight GNSS OEM board for UAVs that offers an accuracy down to less than 5 cm in all directions. This, combined Commercial UAV Show | Report Unmanned Systems Technology | Spring 2015 VulcanUAV has been working with RouteScene, part of Mapix Technologies in Edinburgh, since December 2013 to develop a system optimised for Lidar 3D mapping using RouteScene’s 2.5 kg LidarPods, we were told. These use a Velodyne HDL32 Lidar scanner which has 32 lasers and collects more than 700,000 distance measurements per second. The measurements are then integrated with a highly accurate IMU and comprehensive GPS navigation system from RTK that uses additional GPS antennas on the UAV for ultra-accurate heading reference. There is onboard data storage and a two-way data link for RTK GPS updates and data verification. The unusual aspect of the UAV from Singular Aircraft, Xavier Martinez said, is that it is a seaplane. He told us that company founder Louis Carrillo was particularly concerned to exploit the potential for UAVs to assist in fire fighting, where the ability to land on water is an obvious advantage. The news at Olympia from the Barcelona-based company, which was established in 2011, was a new model of amphibious UAV. Martinez said that with a wingspan of 14 m the twin-engined, fixed-wing Flyox 1 is the largest UAV outside the military. It can carry a 2050 kg payload and has an endurance of more than 60 hours. Also seen at Olympia The LidarPod in action Studies show that adding hydrogen to diesel fuel can significantly reduce the particulates emitted by a compression ignition engine Singular Aircraft’s Flyox 1 seapane