Unmanned Systems Technology 017 | AAC HAMR UAV | Autopilots | Airborne surveillance | Primoco 500 two-stroke | Faro ScanBot UGV | Transponders | Intergeo, CUAV Expo and CUAV Show reports

54 Insight | Airborne surveillance the world 15,000 times more accurately and 12,000 times faster than traditional means, including manned aircraft and satellites. It achieves this, according to Atkinson, by digitally replicating places and objects in detail to render them into a virtual environment, helping businesses move decision-making from the manual and physical realm to one that is automated and digital. The proprietary software is based on algorithms designed to apply PED to a variety of data generated from EO and radar cameras as well as sensors mounted on ground vehicles and unmanned aerial vehicles. It can also have applications in the sonar and underwater market. SenSat’s concept is that UASs fly a pre-programmed flight path, with the data captured used to produce orthomosaic and 3D point clouds with an accuracy down to 3 cm. The craft are controlled from an RTK base station or virtual reference station network. The software can measure not only surface areas (land and water) but also temperature ranges, CO 2 , as well as noise damping and asset tracking. In a collaboration with UK engineering company Costain, the SenSat software used EO cameras mounted on Sensefly UAVs to generate data. That provided Costain with a 36% reduction in data capture costs, a 400% increase in speed of work and a saving of 186 kg of CO 2 , Atkinson says. The company is also a member of the UK government’s Pathfinder project, which seeks to find a workable solution for unmanned platforms to operate across the UK, including airspace integration and deconfliction with manned aircraft in cooperation with the Civil Aviation Authority. Finally, in a contemporary operating environment that is witnessing increased counter-UAS capabilities from near- peer adversaries, security remains an important element to operators. To that end, Aerovironment for example has developed its Small UAS Digital Data Link, which consists of a small, lightweight and low-power bidirectional, digital, wireless video connection.  “This is used to enable enhanced command and control of small UASs, and the DDL is IP-based for flexibility and interoperability between small airborne and ground systems,” Gitlin says. Summary Unlike other trends in the government markets, the commercial surveillance sector continues to feed primarily off military developments, although there appears to be movement in the other direction as armed forces begin to exploit commercial technology. However, with demand for ISR data increasing all the time from intelligence- hungry military formations in air, on land and at sea, the government sector can be expected to continue driving next- generation technologies and developments. These will be particularly relevant to countering the emerging capabilities of potential adversaries. December/January 2018 | Unmanned Systems Technology Surveillance data generated from unmanned systems is no good unless it is reworked using processing, exploitation and dissemination software (Courtesy of Insitu)