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

77 “Part 107 regulations on small UAS operation and ownership mandate that pilots have a lot of situation awareness. To maximise that, we made design decisions focused on surfacing the right information at the right time,” Joshua Ziering reported. “Flight Deck builds on this by bringing real-time situational awareness to in-flight operations, based on live airspace and aircraft.” The platform is cloud-based, with native applications for the web, Android and iOS. “All the data is stored domestically, to allay concerns about data privacy and security,” Ziering said. Sullivan UV’s hybrid system, on show at Xponential, is a series design where all the internal combustion engine’s power is used to generate electricity. It includes a starter motor/generator designed to produce a specific voltage at a given engine speed, and a rectifier/ control box that operates the throttle and a battery management system. The customer then chooses their own battery and electric propulsion motor(s). The system manages the throttle of the (customer-chosen) internal combustion engine as necessary to maintain the required voltage. “We adapt it to each customer’s individual needs, but the way it is now it is almost ‘off the shelf’,” James Hudson explained. Hudson also showed us the company’s new decompression valve, which opens a passage from a two-stroke’s combustion chamber to ambient air to reduce the torque level required to start the engine. That in turn means the starter motor/generator can be sized to meet the craft’s other electrical requirements, which are usually less than the power needed for start-up. It is an electromechanical valve, using a solenoid to open the passage as required during the start-up process. “Whatever actives the engine starter will activate this valve,” Hudson noted. Alta Devices, a US manufacturer of lightweight solar cells, has been working with researchers at the US Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) to investigate the use of solar technology to extend the endurance of UAVs, and NRL has announced successful tests of a UAV with Alta Devices’ solar cells on its wings. Alta Devices’ CMO, Rich Kapusta, said, “They [NRL] install them upside down in a carbon fibre mould, build up the wing structure behind them, punch holes in the wing to get the wires through, and they become a seamless part of the wing.” The test craft flew for 11 hours and 2 minutes, with the battery’s state of charge running from 90% to 26% between take- off and landing. Near solar noon, the cells provided enough power to allow cruising on solar power alone. “The experiments confirm that major endurance gains are possible by leveraging thermal updrafts and incident solar radiation, rather than ignoring these free sources of energy,” Daniel Edwards, a researcher from NRL said. Unmanned Systems Technology | June/July 2017 Alta Devices is studying how to use solar technology to boost UAV endurance