Unmanned Systems Technology 008 | Alti Transition UAS | Ground control systems | Xponential 2016 report | Insitu Orbital N20 | UAVs | Solar power | Oceanology International 2016 report

33 For remote piloting, UAV controllers are moving from generic 2.4 GHz handheld remote handsets to smartphones and virtual reality control, or even using smartwatches. Some small consumer UAVs implement a combination of collision detection and ‘follow me’ tracking so that the craft can be ‘controlled’ by a smartwatch. Combining this with a navigation app on the watch to upload waypoints to the craft via Bluetooth provides a higher level of control. The challenge of making control of a craft easier is being addressed with virtual reality (VR) technology, enabled by more processing power in smartphones. As higher quality VR headsets from smartphone vendors have become cost-effective, so they can be used as a control mechanism. There are two different models for using the technology: the VR headset can be worn to control the direction of the craft or the direction of the gimbal to point the camera. The former case has been demonstrated by researchers but requires two cameras on the UAV to provide a stereoscopic output back to the headset. However, the wireless link back to a smartphone tends to be unable to support this, leading to a grainy, low- resolution 3D image and a lag between the movement of the user’s head and the image. This has been partly addressed by the latest VR headsets, but it requires a computer that is more powerful than is currently used in GCS systems. The latter case allows the UAV to ‘see’ where the user is looking and to respond quickly to changes in the environment. This is coupled with the autonomous operation of the craft where waypoints have been set at the start of the mission. However, it requires a tighter integration with the autopilot to control the gimbal, and delays in the signal chain can make it difficult for an operator to use it. Also, if the navigation of the craft needs to be changed, the operator has to come out of VR mode to make those changes. Using VR or smartphones for more than a few minutes in either case can also cause problems with control and operation, owing to eye strain and disorientation. For this reason GCSs for industrial and enterprise applications – from monitoring and surveillance to agriculture and fire fighting – use large format LCD displays. These commercial systems are demanding more capabilities, from single screens to dual and triple screens, even though UAV developers did not originally see the GCS as a key part of the overall system design. However, the performance of gathering data depends on how easily the UAV can be controlled and the data analysed on the ground, so some UAV makers have started producing their own ground systems. Dual screens allow one screen to be allocated to remotely piloting Ground control systems | Focus Unmanned Systems Technology | June/July 2016 A single-screen GCS (Courtesy of Flying Production) The performance of gathering data depends on how easily the UAV can be controlled, so some UAV makers have started making their own systems