Unmanned Systems Technology 011 | C-Astral Bramor ppX | IMUs | Autonomous farming | UAV Turbines UTP50R | London Show report | Advanced materials | Las Vegas Expo report

81 Commercial UAV Expo 2016 | Show report in congested airspace, ground-based counter-UAS (C-UAS) surveillance, and air-to-air C-UAS detection and interception. Bruce Carpenter told us, “In each case it’s the same radar hardware but with a different algorithm payload in the FPGA SoC. That third solution is tied to ground-based surveillance, but after you’ve identified a drone sent to cause harm, a UAV with our radar can track the hostile target, intercept its flight path and deploy some sort of ‘capture solution’ – whether that’s a net, a kinetic approach or something else.” Operating on a Ku-band frequency with a refresh rate of 10 Hz, the radar can detect objects at up to 1500 m – specifically objects that appear at least 3 m ² in a radar cross-section – and small UASs can be detected at 600 m. The detection FOV is 125 º horizontally and 40 º vertically, with accuracy of detection up to 2 º in both planes and a range resolution of 2-3 m. Embention presented its Veronte Autopilot series, which is compatible with all configurations of unmanned vehicles in the air, on land or water. Javier Espuch said, “Once it’s installed in the vehicle, you can program any autonomous route you want on your PC, and you can access other tools for mapping, surveillance, search and rescue, capsule dropping, logistics and so on. We designed it so that a few clicks are all it takes to plan an optimal mission for the application.” Different versions are available according to application and requirements, including a triple- redundant version for safety and certification purposes, and a ‘Professional’ version with unlimited configurable control phases, as well as compatibility with Lidar and radar for sense-and-avoid purposes, precise positioning and adaptive control. All Veronte systems weigh 200 g (90 g without the anodised aluminium enclosure), consume up to 4 W and take power inputs from 6.5 to 26 V dc. Data links at 2.4 GHz or 900 MHz are available, along with options for RS232- connected external radio modules, satcom, 4G or 400 MHz. Micropilot also had its range of UAV autopilots on display, including its newest long-range integrated solution, the MP2128LRC2. It uses an aluminium enclosure to guard electronics against shock or vibration, and provides EMI/RFI protection to prevent interference with other UAV subsystems. The MP2128LRC2 communicates with the ground control station (GCS) using a dual redundant data link over the 2.4 GHz band or at 900 MHz (with custom frequencies potentially available on request), and transmits RC control data to the GCS to minimise the risk of failure modes. Autonomous as well as remote piloting modes are available, with the system providing for changes in airspeed, altitude and servos at given waypoints (with 12 servo outputs available). Flight parameters for navigation are monitored via the integration of three-axis gyroscopes, accelerometers, an altimeter with a 12,000 m operating ceiling and a GPS with a 4 Hz update rate. Separate versions are available depending on whether an aircraft is fixed-wing or multirotor. On applications, Kyle Hayes noted, “We’ve tried to make it as simple as possible for prototyping or demonstration testing. You install this all-in-one box, carry out flight tuning, execute your demo flights. Then, when you move on to production, you can copy over all those software files, do your production runs and if needed switch to a board- level autopilot, where you can simplify the avionics space and shrink it to make room for the maximum payload capacity.” Unmanned Systems Technology | December/January 2017 The Veronte autopilot is compatible with all types of unmanned vehicle Micropilot’s MP2128LRC2 autopilot allows autonomous as well as remote piloting modes