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

75 AUVSI Xponential 2017 | Show report mechanisms, and now it’s implemented on the Swift020. “With optical payloads, anything that’s net-captured or undergoes a belly landing has a high shock load on the payload when it lands. The Swift020 has nothing close to that – we can use laser sensors, ferrometers and any other technology typically sensitive to shock,” he said. OptiSys told us it is using additive manufacturing (AM) to make antennas. OptiSys exclusively prints aluminium for antenna connectivity. Printed antennas reduce assemblies consisting of 50-100 complex pieces to a single piece that can be created 85% faster with AM, and component weights can be reduced by a factor of up to 60. Janos Opra said, “By designing and manufacturing ourselves we avoid handing the pieces to a manufacturing firm that doesn’t have the technical experience or understanding of holding the tolerance needed for RF parts.” Overwatch Imaging had on show its TK-5 Firewatch camera for wide- area applications such as wildland fire and emergency response, precision agriculture mapping and large-scale infrastructure inspection. The payload offers imaging in the EO, NIR and LWIR bands, and weighs 1.1 kg – a target weight intended to enable its installation on long-endurance UASs. Full-resolution raw imagery is saved in five spectral bands, and is available for download and analysis during flight, with live views of imagery provided in streaming format and keyhole mark-up language files for real-time viewing of photography and points of interest in GIS mapping software. The TK-5 has an automatic hotspot detection feature that measures the temperature of every point on the ground below the UAV. It does so by processing the raw calibrated thermal data on board with an Nvidia TX-2 SOM processor running Linux, before rescaling, artificial contrast enhancement and compression for data link transmission. “We leveraged the miniaturisation of GPU-accelerated processor boards and computer vision software to enable real- time onboard processing,” said Greg Davis. “We’re also applying this capability for other applications, from inspections to anti- poaching.” The company’s proprietary image compression scheme is optimised for different end-user requirements, adjusting a balance between compression/decompression speeds and compression ratio. Launchpoint Technologies was showing its hybridisation technology for UAVs. Mike Ricci told us that Launchpoint supplies an advanced electrical starter motor/generator, the battery management system and the control and interfacing electronics, leaving the choice of internal combustion engine, battery and electric propulsion motor(s) to the customer. It has standard mounting kits available for several common engines, and can develop custom kits for other engines that the customer may want to use. He said the starter motor/generator is axial flux, with a dual Halbach array. In other words it has permanent magnets arranged such that on one side of each array the magnetic field is near- cancelled, while on the other side of each it is augmented. The upshot, Ricci told us, is a light unit capable of producing 4-5 kW/kg. “Our electronics includes a box that takes electrical power from the generator and the battery, and mixes that power as required. The power from the generator can be augmented by power from the battery if a boost is needed, for example on take-off,” he said. Futaba, Hiram Crisler reported, has made upgrades to its FMT-02 and FMT- 03 radio controllers, the former being a 14-channel unit and the latter having 18 channels. He also introduced us to his company’s EM-100 engine control unit, as used on the 40 cc four-stroke UAV single from OS Engines, which was also on display on the Futaba booth. That engine features gasoline direct injection and has pre-mix lubrication in the manner of a typical two-stroke. Pyromeral, a French producer of high-temperature composites, was displaying its inorganic geo-polymer composite materials. They are pre- impregnated and laminated onto moulds for autoclave moulding, are fire- resistant and are currently used in Unmanned Systems Technology | June/July 2017 OptiSys is using additive manufacturing to produce antennas from aluminium