Unmanned Systems Technology 003 | UAV Solutions Talon 120 | Cable harnesses | Austro Engine AE50R and AE300 | Autonomous mining | AUVSI 2015 show report | Transponders | Space systems

20 Dossier | UAV Solutions Talon 120 class assignment at Rutgers, the state university of New Jersey. That assignment was funded by his own company, and Davidson explains that it was specifically to develop a fixed-wing electric-powered UAV with various target criteria set by UAV Solutions, including affordability and the capability of attaining a flight duration of at least two hours. The student design team started with a clean sheet of paper when the project began in 2010. At that stage UAV Solutions was already involved in fixed-wing UAV development. This was, notes Davidson, “a lot of r&d work for various customers”. In particular, he explains, his company was working as a subcontractor on the development of the fixed-wing TigerShark UAV, which is deployed by the US Navy. In fact Davidson had been involved in the original design of L3 Systems’ TigerShark, back in 2002. Thus the 120 grew out of Alerion, the Rutgers University, UAV Solutions- funded student project that first flew in 2010. Alerion fell short of the two-hour endurance requirement though, which led to a larger wing area, that of the Talon 120. Davidson admits that the main driver in respect of the size of the 120 is the size and weight of commercially available batteries. Those used as standard for the 120 are relatively low- cost, hobby-grade batteries. “We had to make it a little bigger [than our initial plan] to support that weight,” says Davidson. “We are starting to do research into alternative battery technology, but that comes at a cost; the Talon is driven a lot by cost. The regular batteries for the Talon 120 cost in the region of $600-700. Ones having higher power density, making longer endurance possible, are available nowadays but at higher cost. Also, solar panels can be fixed to the wing to increase endurance, but at a significant additional cost.” Thus the Talon 120’s wingspan is a function of its operational requirement, and since the first prototypes were tested it has been slimmed down somewhat. Summer 2015 | Unmanned Systems Technology The 120’s tailplane assembly The battery compartment can be seen here on the right-hand side under the wing The avionics pallet lives in the left-hand side of the fuselage. Note the heat sink protruding from it