Unmanned Systems Technology 022 | XOcean XO-450 l Radar systems l Space vehicles insight l Small Robot l BMPower FCPS l Prismatic HALE UAV l InterDrone 2018 show report l UpVision l Navigation systems

Continuous 12 and 24 V DC, along with 230 V AC power, is available for the sensors and the vessel’s control, monitoring and comms systems. Industrial ‘brain’ The XO-450’s ‘brain’ is an Allen-Bradley programmable logic controller (PLC) that is widely used in industrial automation applications. “It’s the device that ultimately has the authority to turn every other device on and off,” Carlisle says. “It’s where we control which mode the vessel is in and where all the logic sits for how the thrusters work – even the autopilot ultimately resides in the PLC. “It is the PLC that handles all the I/O information flows to and from the individual devices.” The company chose an industrial PLC because they are robust devices that very rarely crash, and if they do they have inbuilt mechanisms that recognise the problem and automatically restart. XOcean has implemented several data bus standards to accommodate different systems. Marine electronics such as GPS receivers and transponders run on a National Marine Electronics Association network, which is based on the automotive CAN bus standard, while other systems communicate via Ethernet, and some over serial links. All come together in the PLC. On that network is a range of The computer in charge of all the vessel’s onboard systems is an Allen-Bradley programmable logic controller, chosen for its robustness and ability to reboot itself at sea if necessary (Courtesy of XOcean) Discover more at www.millswoodeng.com.au Generator systems distributed in North America by HFE International – www.hfeinternational.com Generator systems distributed in Australia by Currawong Engineering – www.currawongeng.com On-board electrical power generation for unmanned aircraft 250W Power Management Unit (PMU) includes: • Dual (redundant) battery chargers • Independent Servo, Payload and Avionics power outputs • Software-programmable output voltages • Less than 300grams (11 ounces) Millswood Engineering also designs and manufactures servo power supplies and flight termination subsystems for unmanned applications.