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

48 Show report | AUVSI’s Xponential 14,000 rpm with no failures, while most customer applications call for 6000-9000 rpm. Omnetics makes wiring for unmanned vehicles, and Bob Stanton told us that the latest trend is for so- called ‘hybrid’ cables and connectors that run signal and power lines together. This is to reduce the space taken up and, more important, the weight of the wiring on a vehicle, taking advantage of the reduced current requirements of the latest chip technology. “The connectors can be right down to ‘Micro’ 1.27 mm pitch and ‘Nano’ 0.635 mm pitch sizes,” Stanton explained. “We are now running signal and power pins side by side in these, so you have only one cable and one connector where before you had two. In addition to shielding for the power and signal lines we have had to introduce differential signal processing to enable us to use a hybrid cable for high-speed digital equipment such as surveillance cameras and GPS data processing.” Stanton also noted that, more and more often, the miniature hybrid connectors use the latching type rather than the traditional jack screw connection. “The latest technology cam and spring latch matches the performance of the MIL-SPEC jack screw connection and allows for quicker and easier switching of modules in the field.” Uvionix’s Alpha project to develop a pair of small, internet-connected electric UAVs for utility inspection and commercial package delivery is on schedule to be ready in 2017, the company’s Boris Iskrev told UST at the show. Both applications require a high degree of inherent safety around equipment and people, and Iskrev was keen to emphasise the layers of redundancy and remote supervision integrated into the autonomous, 8 lb, 27 in diameter aircraft, which is designed to carry a payload of up to 2 lb, fly for up to 80 minutes and cover a six-mile return-mission radius. The Alpha multi-purpose aerial platform should be ready at the beginning of next year, he said, while the delivery vehicle and the ‘ecosystem’ that supports the delivery service is set to follow by mid-year, ahead of any favourable decision by the US FAA on easing the stipulation that commercial UAVs must remain within line of sight of the pilot and observer. The platform’s two rotors are coaxial and counter-rotate inside a protective shroud, and each is driven by its own neodymium permanent magnet motor and powered by a high power-density lithium-based battery based on a commercially available chemistry that Iskrev says is new to UAVs. Four control surfaces attached to cross-pieces underneath the rotor can generate roll, pitch and yaw forces, although yaw is normally controlled with torque reaction from differential rotor rpm. This unusual configuration led Uvionix to develop its own autopilot software and two controllers, the first being a real-time system to stabilise and manoeuvre the vehicle, the second to communicate over the internet with the control centre and perform more complex algorithms such as visual pattern matching to find landing sites autonomously. The company developed the second controller using an NVIDIA Jetson TX1 embedded platform. The controller June/July 2016 | Unmanned Systems Technology Omnetics’ range of hybrid’ connectors run power and signal lines together