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78 Show report | Commercial UAV Expo 2016 them all. The OcPoC Mini is powered by a dual-core ARM processor, plus FPGA, to handle these peripherals,” Qian explained. The ARM processor handles high-level decisions, for safe and stable flight, while the FPGA is able to process data from multiple sensors for sensor fusion, real-time AI and deep learning. Agile Sensor Technologies showcased its own FPGA-powered innovation – a smart motor controller intended to enable improved efficiency over conventional electronic speed controllers (ESCs). The Advanced Motor Controller (AMC) uses a single FPGA SoC (as opposed to multiple ESCs) to control up to 30 motors per unit, and is compatible with any autopilot. Brian Terry told us, “Rather than control the motors in sequence – which is what you have to do with traditional ESCs – our FPGA can control all the motors in parallel. “An FPGA gives us a very high update rate on the motors, faster than most autopilots can achieve. Typically an ESC will have an update rate of approximately 500 Hz but our motor controller can operate at up to 20 kHz, so you can have a faster reaction time when stabilising your vehicle.” The AMC consists of one control board per UAS using Intel Programmable Solutions Group Altera’s newest Max 10 FPGA, and one motor driver unit with integrated Hall effect sensors for each motor in the vehicle. Onboard sensors allow for real-time diagnostics on the vehicle’s propulsion system, enabling safe emergency recovery and preventative maintenance. “Instead of using back-EMF to get information about the speed of the motor, we can measure exactly what the speed is. That then feeds back to the control algorithm so that we know the position of the motor and we can fire the motor at the optimal time, translating into roughly 10% more power efficiency per motor and resulting in more time in the air,” Terry said. Technology multinational Epson was at the show with its Moverio BT-300 augmented reality (AR) binocular ‘smart glasses’, which use silicon-based OLED technology in the lenses to give UAS operators a high-definition first-person view of their UAV’s video downlink feed. The glasses are a product of Epson’s partnership with DJI. “You don’t need to look down at your tablet to pilot any more; the glasses act as an Android tablet but shrunk down,” said Michael Leyva, referring to the display’s inclusion of key telemetry data alongside the 720p AR camera view. Futaba Corporation showed its range of full-metal servos for commercial and industrial UAV applications at the show. “A lot of servos have planetary gears that are plastic, but all the gears in ours are metal, which gives greater strength and durability for handling more demanding operations,” explained Hiram Crisler. The three servos are each designed with a key attribute in mind. The AJ9DA41/43 is the high-torque model, capable of generating 1166.8 oz-in of force at 11.1 V. The AJ9DA42/44 servo is the high-speed version, which can move 60 º in 0.16 s with 11.1 V supplied, and the AJ9DA51/53 is the high-voltage version, which is rated at 24 V instead of the 12 V of the other two. The development of deployable base stations offers UAV operators a range of possibilities, including greatly extended ranges and battery charging without having to return home, but many systems rely on conductive charging, which many existing multicopter UAVs cannot use. The Dronehome station from Asylon, however, is designed to allow legacy commercial UAVs to land and have their battery replaced. Externally, the Dronehome December/January 2017 | Unmanned Systems Technology Agile’s AMC can control up to 30 motors and is compatible with any autopilot One of Futaba’s full-metal servo units