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53 Guardian S UGV, which was originally developed several years ago for defence operators to perform remote inspections of pipes, culverts and other tight spaces too small for typical inspection robots. “It’s completely wireless, uses no tether, and the tracks have rare earth magnets underneath, so it can climb ferromagnetic surfaces,” said Scott Archer. “The onboard radios communicate over 2.4 GHz, 900 MHz and mesh wi-fi networks. Communicating with the UGV when it’s deep in a pipe or a similar place can vary. Sometimes, a wi-fi link is maintained without issue; sometimes an antenna needs to be positioned at the opening of the pipe, but we’ve yet to lose connectivity completely.” The UGV is equipped with six 4K cameras with digital zoom and autofocus that are positioned around its body, and they can perform surveillance for up to 12 hours or operate over distances of 4.8 km. They are powered by three lithium-ion batteries with a collective energy capacity of 147 Wh. Picatinny rails are installed to allow payloads to be integrated. Payload capacity is up to 4.5 kg if travelling horizontally; 2.25 kg if the UGV has to climb vertical ferromagnetic surfaces. The Guardian S extends to a maximum length of 132 cm, weighs about 8 kg, and has a top speed of 2.25 kph (or 0.97 kph for the magnetic version when moving up or down a vertical surface) if no payload is added. Although tethers are not required for power or comms, the company offers them for easier retrieval. Commercial applications for the vehicle currently include mine surveys and infrastructure inspections in industries such as oil and gas, power grids and urban infrastructure. Maxx Products displayed a new range of four UAV servos from Innoflight Tech. “You can program these servos, for example to run at constant current,” said Baoyou Wang. “That ensures the servo never overheats owing to excess current, which goes towards overall UAV safety. “At full load, they have been tested to last 300 to 500 hours, and the servos integrate magnetic coded potentiometers in their brushless DC motors for consistent and accurate position sensing.” The largest in the series, the SM40035F, measures 120.2 x 100 x 51 mm and produces up to 400 kg/cm of torque, on a power supply of 12-24 V DC. The smallest, the ST3514F, measures 44.1 x 40 x 20 mm and gives 35 kg/cm of torque, with 4.8-8.4 V of input power. All four are housed in CNC-machined, IP67-rated aluminium housings and use titanium gears, with comms options including PWM, UART and CAN bus. Alta Devices unveiled the AnyLight for HALE, its newest HALE solar module for integrating onto high-altitude UAV wings. “It’s a complete product for stratospheric solar aircraft, where the module’s design, integration and packaging have been geared towards power and aerodynamic efficiency at AUVSI Xponential 2019 | Show report Unmanned Systems Technology | June/July 2019 KDE Direct’s 13218XF-105 motor provides up to 68 lb of thrust The Guardian S snake-like UGV is now available commercially