Unmanned Systems Technology 027 l Hummingbird XRP l Gimbals l UAVs insight l AUVSI report part 2 l O’Neill Power Systems NorEaster l Kratos Defense ATMA l Performance Monitoring l Kongsberg Maritime Sounder

Platform one Attollo Engineering has unveiled a laser rangefinder called the WASP-200 LRF, which comes in two variants – one with Ardupilot/Pixhawk flight controller compatibility, the other for CAN bus systems (writes Rory Jackson). The WASP-200 LRF incorporates a 905 nm laser source with a 56 Hz update rate and a very sensitive receiver circuit. The system is FDA-certified as a Class 1 laser device, meaning it is safe for normal use including the use of typical magnifying optics. This is an important distinction, as many other rangefinders in this range class are designated as the less safe Class 1M. Attollo also offers a higher repetition rate of 10 kHz and multi- emitter systems to meet a variety of Rangefinder plays it safe Sensors customer needs.  “It has also been designed as a single-shot system – one laser pulse is sent and received, and we know exactly how far away the object being detected is with that single pulse,” the company’s Tony Vengel explained. “Most laser rangefinders in this industry need to use several pulses, then let the signal dwell and build up before giving a reading. “Our speed and accuracy comes partly from the design of the receiver and laser transmitter circuits, and from the signal processing algorithms we’ve developed. We can also algorithmically accommodate for excessive solar background radiation and obscurants.” These features allow the WASP-200 to be used for range measurements over water and in dusty environments, such as for industrial survey, sense-and-avoid systems, and other missions. It is housed in an ABS enclosure and weighs 26 g in its Ardupilot/Pixhawk configuration or 44 g in its CAN bus configuration, which includes IP67 protection. Unusually for the industry, the WASP- 200 LRF is a single- shot system