Unmanned Systems Technology 016 | Hydromea Vertex AUV | Power management systems | Unmanned Space Vehicles | Continental CD-155 turbodiesel | Swift 020 UAV | ECUs | DSEI 2017 Show report

81 DSEI 2017 | Show report with Li-Po and Li-ion; tomorrow we might be using lithium-sulphur or some kind of hydrogen fuel cell. UAV operators should not have to intermittently discard their systems in favour of newer ones built just to handle newer innovations.” The group is also conceiving a ‘universal control module’ to enable multiple UxVs to be networked into a swarm and operated from a single GCS. “We are looking at fractionated control of many tens if not thousands of assets on the battlefield,” Williams-Wynn said. BAE Systems used the event to unveil the Ironclad, an all-terrain UGV designed for EOD, area denial, medical evacuation and reconnaissance missions. It has a top speed of 30 kph and a range of 50 km. The initial prototype was developed earlier this year. Knowledge gained internally on autonomous and semi- autonomous vehicles such as the Wildcat and MOATV was crucial to the Ironclad’s development. Dr Marcus Potter of BAE Systems Land said, “It has an Armox steel armour- protected hull, which allows it to survive level 1 blasts for Stanag 4569 and armed fire. Another aspect is its modularity, which means you can have either a single tracked vehicle or a double- tracked vehicle for different roles, or a version with mission-fit rails on the top, enabling casualties or cargo to be slid on or off easily.” The vehicle has asymmetric tracks to allow it to climb 45 º angles, and a payload-agnostic control interface with modular input ports for power and comms to enable quick modification towards different mission goals. Future autonomy developments will look into swarm operation capabilities and improved human-machine interfaces. Cobham launched a range of new systems at the exhibition, including a SWaP-optimised gimbal for UAV applications that was fitted with a Ku-band antenna unit for the purposes of the show. The gimbal, along with future designs that will use it, saves weight by integrating the waveguide for signal routing with the yoke for the structure, which also avoids the potential redundancy that can result from having both components separately within a gimbal design. Victor Leviste said, “The antenna, waveguide, rotary joint and motors all come from different divisions and competencies in the company.” Cobham also showed its new solution for GPS anti-jamming. The four-channel system consists of a 7-6005 anti-jam GPS digital antenna control unit and a 20-7009 anti-jam GPS-controlled reception pattern array antenna, enabling up to three complex (broadband, spectrally matched and so on) jammers to be countered at once. The system is designed to be modular, so an eight-channel version is also available, which protects against a higher number of jammers. Dr Dean Kemp told us, “The system mitigates broadband interference by creating directed nulls in the antenna pattern using space time adaptive processing. It can also direction-find and characterise the jammers if enhanced situational awareness is required, as part of a software upgrade.” KVH exhibited its latest fibre-optic gyroscopes (FOGs) for tactical IMUs. The 1725, 1750 and 1775 units all have the same size and weight – about 3.5 x 2.9 in and 1.45 lb – as well as an 8 W maximum power consumption, but they have different degrees of performance, depending on how much accuracy the end-user needs. “The 1725 is a 3 º /hour IMU, the mid- range 1750 is 1 º /hour and the 1775 is accurate to 0.05 º /hour at constant temperature,” said Jay Napoli. The key technical difference between the three lies in the performance built into the gyro, including the winding method of the fibre and the manufacturing efficiency. “The time and effort spent on calibration translates to higher performance,” Napoli explained. “In the 1725, the gyros aren’t calibrated as much as the higher-end 1750 and 1775, so although the 1725 is still high performance in absolute terms, it is relatively lower in price and performance compared with the 1750 and 1775.” As the fibres come off the production line they go through a calibration technique, through the temperature range of -40 to +75 C, and at varying rotation rates, to test that the gyro can discern correct readings consistently and offset errors from temperature, vibration, shock and so on. Unmanned Systems Technology | October/November 2017 SWaP-optimised UAV gimbal from Cobham