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64 Report | Commercial UAV Show 2016 unmanned flight control platform, and when disengaged allows it to be freely moved so that a pilot can again control the vehicle manually. Mejzlík Modellbau has been producing carbon composite propellers and spinners for model aircraft across the world for nearly 30 years, and with its debut at the show it was looking to offer its extensive portfolio of tailored designs to fixed-wing and multicopter UASs. “We are not fans of serial production – all our propellers follow a more handmade process,” Tomas Mejzlík said. When a new mould is required, the 3D CAD/CAM Rhinoceros program is used from the first draft through to final production of the customised design. CNC machines are used in the construction of moulds, as well as in the final cleaning and grinding of propellers after they have been removed from their moulds. Each propeller is manually re- ground by a Mejzlík employee afterwards. The carbon fibres reinforce an epoxy resin matrix developed in-house, with a polyurethane foam comprising the propeller’s core. After construction, each propeller will be subjected to balance, weight and pressure tests that exceed the expected requirements, the company said. SmartPlanes, a Sweden-based UAS producer, launched a new satellite navigation unit at the show. As Roger Ohlund explained, the module itself is a post-processed kinematic (PPK) GNSS device. “The SmartPlanes PPK unit enables images generated from an aerial survey to be geotagged with GNSS coordinates, and then corrected for deviations with the help of reference stations for improved accuracy, improving the reliability and usability of information gained from commercial survey UASs,” he said. The processing and adjustments are carried out using Septentrio’s GeoTagZ software, which generates precise ground locations with a rough planar accuracy of 18 mm, height accuracies of 18 mm and spherical (3D) accuracy of 26 mm. The PPK GNSS module is now available as an optional plug-and-play add-on for operators of the company’s Freya and SmartOne-C UAVs, and is designed to fit into their payloads. After the successful launch of its eBee SQ UAV at the Commercial UAV Show Asia in Singapore, senseFly chose to showcase its new eBee Plus in London. “The SQ flies for about 55 minutes; the Plus for about 59, enabling more area surveyed per flight, about 220 hectares at 120 m altitude,” said Jessica Sader. “The Plus is also less oriented towards agriculture; it’s much more for wide geospatial use.” The 1.1 kg fixed-wing UAV has December/January 2017 | Unmanned Systems Technology The Volz DA 30-LP and 36-LP actuators use brushless dc motors Composite prop from Mejzlik Modellbau SmartPlanes’ PPK GNSS device is available as an add-on for its Freya UAV The eBee Plus UAV is aimed at wide geospatial use