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71 Stroke lengths and power ranges can be customised according to user or aircraft requirements. Novadem released its new NX100 quadrotor UAV, a derivation of the company’s previous NX70. While the NX70’s design philosophy was focused on observation and detection missions during the day or at night, and the transport and release of small payloads for security and other applications, the NX100 is centred on reconnaissance, surveillance and identification for defence and security applications such as border patrol or tactical mapping operations. “We actually took around 80% of the NX70 technology – the same battery, charger and GCS – and adapted an EO/IR camera with 640 x 480 pixels, as well as another photography payload for taking still pictures and reconstructing them for mapping,” said Johann Boucher. The software can integrate digital terrain models, thereby allowing better target designation accuracy. The 2 kg UAV has a wingspan of around 100 cm (compared with the NX70’s 70 cm span) and typically has an endurance of about 40 minutes with a 300 g payload. Device-Alab, a French supplier of thermal camera cores for defence and civilian applications, showcased its SmartIR1M0E, a 70 g, 1 MP core that consumes 2 W and measures 52 x 48 x 25 mm in size. While applicable to many vehicles and security set-ups, the camera core’s use in UAV- or UGV-based surveillance was a key design aim, and the system is capable of capturing images at up to 120 frames per second and transmitting them in various digital formats including YCbCr and CameraLink. “Most thermal camera cores of this type stop at a capture rate of 30 frames per second, which is not ideal for embedding on UAVs, where vibrations can exceed the frame rate and overwhelm whatever built-in stabilisation the gimbal has,” said Christophe Robinet. “30 Hz simply isn’t quick enough to prevent the blurring of images that will follow, even if the resolution of the surrounding camera is quite sharp; 60 Hz or more is a necessity.” The company also provides USB 2.0 and 3.0 interface modules, depending on the data rate. “The processing – the automatic gain control, the pixel correction, colour rendering and overlay constructions – are then conducted remotely, on a PC or on the embedded ARM processor on the UAV, saving on connectors and data link bandwidth,” he added. “The amorphous silicon detector used in our thermal cores is supplied by Ulis, and we supply this SmartIR1M0E thermal core to French unmanned components developer Merio UAV Payload Systems.” ICOR Technology displayed its Caliber T5 and Mini-Caliber ROVs, and discussed its Caliber Mk 4 ROV for counter-IED missions – specifically large, vehicle-borne improvised explosive device operations. “The Mk 4 UGV is much more complex than our other models. It comes with arm presets, and the arm can lift about 100 kg when it’s retracted or 50 kg while turning in different directions, at full extension,” said Jack Vongdouangchanh. The UGV also integrates the company’s turreted disrupter system, Eurosatory 2018 | Show report Unmanned Systems Technology | August/September 2018 Novadem’s NX100 is aimed at security applications such as border patrol Device-ALab’s family of thermal camera cores