Unmanned Systems Technology 014 | Quantum Tron | Radio links and telemetry | Unmanned Aerial Vehicles | Protonex fuel cell | Ancillary systems | AUVSI 2017 Show report

12 Platform one Dr Donough Wilson Dr Donough Wilson is innovation lead at VIVID/ futureVision, which specialises in game- changing thinking for defence, homeland security, and both manned and unmanned aviation innovations. He was first to propose the automatic tracking and satellite download of airliner black box data, technology which is now being adopted. His defence innovations include the automatic cockpit vision system that protects military aircrew from asymmetric high-energy laser attack. As a pilot, he has more than 3000 hours of flying experience in both military and civil environments, and is currently a flying instructor and a flight test examiner. Paul Weighell Paul has been involved with electronics, computer design and programming since 1966. He has worked in the real-time and failsafe data acquisition and automaton industry using mainframes, minis, micros and cloud-based hardware on applications as diverse as defence, Siberian gas pipeline control, UK nuclear power, robotics, the Thames Barrier, Formula One and automated financial trading systems. Ian Williams-Wynn Ian has been involved with unmanned and autonomous systems for more than 20 years. He started his career in the military working with early prototype unmanned systems and exploiting imagery from a range of unmanned systems from global suppliers. He has also been involved in ground-breaking research including novel power and propulsion systems, sensor technologies, communications, avionics and physical platforms. His experience covers a broad spectrum of domains from space, air, maritime and ground, and in both defence and civil applications including, more recently, connected autonomous cars. Unmanned Systems Technology’s consultants June/July 2017 | Unmanned Systems Technology DJI is working on software to enable autonomous UAVs and other unmanned vehicles to change how they are controlled to suit their surroundings based on information from onboard sensors (writes Peter Donaldson). Autonomous operation of UAVs relies on control schemes comprising sets of rules that are not always the best for every situation. Some rely on the operator’s judgement, which can be problematic if the operator can’t accurately perceive the UAV’s immediate environment, while some lack the means to avoid collisions or deal with sensor malfunctions. DJI is working on ways of enabling a UAV to be controlled according to the most appropriate of a set of predetermined flight modes, each with its own set of rules for controlling it. The mode can be selected automatically based on environmental or vehicle-state data from the sensors. With a sensor or sensors feeding data to one or more processors, the system can be configured to determine the environment type, select an appropriate flight mode, and ensure that the vehicle operates according to that mode’s rules. For example, the environment might be characterised as indoors, outdoors, high or low altitude, and differentiated by the UAV’s altitude reading, GPS signal strength, the number of structures around the vehicle and/or its distance from the user. Sensors, said DJI, could include GPS, IMUs, cameras, Lidars, ultrasonic devices or barometric altimeters in any combination. Flight modes for each environment could be fully autonomous, semi-autonomous or manual. Each set of operating rules can contain processing rules for sensor data, including sensor fusion techniques. Each might be used alone or in combination with others to control the UAV, perhaps cooperating to determine obstacle avoidance or failure recovery strategies. Emphasising that its invention is not specific to any one vehicle type, DJI said the systems, devices and methods it is working on can also be applied to movement on the ground, on or under water or in space. The company has been granted a US patent, which was published on March 14. Control by modes Airborne vehicles Acoustic pulses provide a cost-effective underwater positioning capability DJI is developing context-based flight controls for its UAVs