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75 a 1.8 m diameter propeller for a heavy lift multi-copter UAV designed with a payload weight of 1 tonne. “We’ve also been improving our simulation software,” Mejzlik said. “Using commercial CFD software is time-consuming, and gives poor accuracy when applied to propellers, so we have our own code, based on propeller theoretical models, to rapidly estimate performance. “That has allowed us to reduce simulation times from days to a minute or two. The accuracy of our program has perhaps a 15-25% margin, which will vary depending on the propeller size and rpm when simulated designs are compared with real-world tests.” Volz told us about the latest update to its DA 15-N servo. The smallest and lightest of the German company’s brushless servos, this 30 g actuator is being redesigned with an electronics board using a CAN bus to interface with the UAV’s autopilot. “We will shortly have the first prototypes of the new system,” said Mark Juhrig. “We will be starting with an ARINC 825-compliant communication scheme, a widely used aviation-grade CAN protocol that can easily be acquired to enable a system to communicate with the servo. “The DA 15-N is currently available from 6 V up to 30 V. With the updated series, we will have a 12-30 V power input range, since a growing number of our users – particularly those with networked avionics – have at least 12 V power electronics on board, and in some cases as high as a 28 V architecture.” The company plans to gradually update all its servos to have CAN bus comms as an option, to reduce UAV wiring, improve comms speeds between servos and autopilots, and acquire diagnostics data faster. “You can reach a comms update rate of 200 Hz with RS-485, or 50 Hz if you need all diagnostics data; with CAN you could get updates and diagnostics at 1000 Hz,” Juhrig noted. Danish company UAV Components unveiled its newest handheld command & control station, the Micronav. Developed as a smaller version of its previous Aeronav GCS, the Micronav keeps the same flexibility for integrators of UAVs, USVs or UGVs. It is also now available as an Android version, as well as Windows and Linux. “The Micronav screen is 7 in across, compared to 10.1 in for the Aeronav display, and therefore fits closer to the body in, say, a tactical pouch or similar,” said Steven Friberg. “The ecosystem of the software is the same on both systems, as is much of the supported hardware – there were simply demands for a smaller version, particularly from users of UGVs.” The Micronav retains the ergonomic controller design of the Aeronav, with notches on the joysticks to enable operators to sense direction through Commercial UAV Show 2018 | Show report Unmanned Systems Technology | December/January 2019 The Volz DA 15-N servo is being updated Mejzlik’s propeller leading-edge coating Handheld control with the UAV Components Micronav