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38 decades but until now, nobody has ever made it thin, flexible, and cost-effective for terrestrial applications.” Kapusta explained that Alta Devices is using GaAs – as used for a variety of high-performance semiconductors such as those in modern smartphones – in a form well suited to UAV applications. “The power-to-weight ratio is 1 W/g, and in full sunlight the output is about 250 W/m 2 ,” he said. Kapusta said AeroVironment’s battery-electric Puma AE UAV had been an early testbed for Alta Devices’ flexible solar cells. “Normally, on battery alone, that UAV would fly for two hours,” he said. “After we added solar cells to most of its wing area, they increased flight time to over nine hours – despite cloud cover.” At Sentek Solutions’ stand Adam Gardner showed us the Hokuyo laser scanner, introduced in April 2014. It weighs only 130 g and can operate at up to 20 m distance while requiring only 150 mA of current. It produces a 2D profile that can be transformed to 3D through mapped movement of the UAV carrying it. Gardner said that, compared to the use of 3D Lidar equipment, this solution is lighter and consumes less energy as well as costing less. Spring 2015 | Unmanned Systems Technology Report | Commercial UAV Show Selex ES, a member of the Finmeccanica group of companies part-owned by the Italian government, plans to improve the payload capability and flexibility of its established Falco UAV, the company confirmed at Olympia. The original Falco unmanned fixed-wing aircraft was introduced in 2007, and by 2009 it was in active service. In 2014 it was deployed by the UN for surveillance work in the DR Congo. Powered by a rotary engine, the Falco has a 7.2 m wingspan, a 70 kg payload capability and 8-14 hours’ endurance. More recently, Selex ES introduced the Falco EVO, which has a 12.5 m wingspan, a payload capability of over 100 kg and an endurance of 20-plus hours. The company said the next step will be to further extend the payload capability of this craft while developing its configuration options to make it suitable for a wider range of missions. To do this, the company takes a modular approach to development, retaining the proven base concept while increasing size, motive power and capability. Quest UAV has launched the new Q-200 Agri Pro with Q-Pod technology, a system optimised for precision agriculture and professional mapping applications, Nigel King reported. “The Q-200 Agri Pro houses our Twin NDVI System including 10.1 megapixel sensors in a rugged roll-axis gimbal, with one camera configured as a visible sensor and the other as a near-infrared sensor. At the end of a mission, the high- definition still images and their corresponding GPS coordinates are entered into Quest modelling software, where Normalised Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) data can be generated for analysis of farmland.” The Q-200 Agri Pro comes with a fully integrated parachute recovery system, including a rugged ‘trapdoor’ system that protects the cameras on landing. It also comes with a static gimbal that acts as a replacement camera housing in the event of damage, and assists with capturing better verticals during the image post- processing phase. Also seen at Olympia (continued) The Selex ES Falco is in use by the UN The Hokuyo laser scanner from Sentek Solutions The secret is in the use of GaAs, which has been used in satellites for decades but until now, nobody has made it cost-effective for terrestrial use