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7 Platform one Adhesive bonding and fastener specialist Click Bond is offering a new fixture system that holds fasteners, brackets and so on in place while the adhesive cures, which company president and CEO Karl Hutter said allows far more design flexibility, particularly in small unmanned vehicles, because the fixture no longer enlarges the installation envelope of the part. Instead of the external plastic cage with the sticky-taped feet and click-down centre that fits around the fastener, the fixture is in the centre of the part’s bond area. Otherwise it works in the same way, with the click providing an audible and tactile indication that the correct pressure has been applied. The new design also fits into smaller spaces, eliminating waste and, once the surface is prepared, making installation a one-step operation. “Now that we have the small-button fixture that can be applied at several sites on the bottom of our products, we can do some really interesting and complex geometries,” Hutter said. “You can have tripod brackets that touch down in three places, and arches that span other features in a vehicle.” This has enabled some neat custom solutions that could not otherwise have been fixed in any sort of repeatable and elegant way, he said. Drone America is an early adopter of the new system, and the Nevada neighbours have worked closely together on the applications. Click Bond’s track record with unmanned vehicles includes the Predator and the Global Hawk. Click Bond cures fixture issue Fasteners Unmanned Systems Technology | February/March 2016 A German company developing collision avoidance algorithms for unmanned aircraft using a new type of camera has been bought by Intel. Ascending Technologies has used Intel’s RealSense 3D camera to create an advanced obstacle avoidance technology. The R200 RealSense camera has a range of up to 1.5 m using two infrared sensors to provide depth information, alongside a standard camera chip with a resolution of 1080 x 768 for image detection. The deal provides expertise and technology to accelerate the deployment of RealSense technology into the UAV market. “We plan for the Ascending Technologies team to continue supporting their current customers while also collaborating with Intel to develop UAV technology that can help drones fly with more awareness of their environments,” said Josh Walden, senior vice-president and general manager of Intel’s New Technology Group. The RealSense camera and Ascending algorithms will be used in the Typhoon H mini-UAV developed by Yuneec. “It’s the world’s most advanced collision avoidance system for consumer drones,” said Brian Krzanich, CEO of Intel. “It truly understands its environments and can react to real-time obstacles.” The Typhoon H is equipped with six folding rotors and detachable props, a 360 º gimbal, 4k video and 12 megapixel still camera and retractable landing gear, and will be on the market in the first half of 2016 for less than $2000. Intel buys key UAV collision avoidance expertise Obstacle sensing The combined camera and collision avoidance software is to be fitted in Yuneec’s Typhoon H mini-UAV Adhesive applied to an internally fixtured fastener forms a ring around the central disc that holds the part in place until curing is complete