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

14 Platform one August/September 2019 | Unmanned Systems Technology CRP Technology has developed the first flame-retardant polyamide material for 3D-printing components that can withstand temperatures of up to 180 C (writes Nick Flaherty). The Windform FR (Flame Retardant)1 material is the first such material with carbon fibre reinforcement that is qualified to the UL 94 V-0 burn rating, making it suitable for aircraft and The company said the material is also suitable for manufacturing components with detailed surface resolution. 3D-printed parts can stand the heat Manufacturing 3D-printed air conditioning piping produced using Windform FR1 aerospace applications. It has also passed the 12 and 15 s FAR 25.853 horizontal flammability tests as well as the 45 º Bunsen burner test. This allows it to be used in 3D printers for aerospace designs such as interior parts, cockpit, air conditioning piping, air ducts and air outlet valves as well as vehicle interiors, housings and enclosure assemblies in automotive designs. Peloton Technology has launched a Level 4 ‘automated following’ system for trucks based on access to remote servers in the cloud (writes Nick Flaherty). It uses 802.11p DSRC at 5.9 GHz to enable a single driver to control a pair of vehicles with a separation of less than 50 ft (15 m). The PlatoonPro system has a driver in both the lead and following trucks in case the two need to separate. The driver in the following truck steers, but the system controls the powertrain and brakes to manage the following distance precisely and provide immediate reaction to whatever acceleration or braking the lead truck performs. A V2V link allows the human-driven lead truck to guide the steering, acceleration and braking of the following truck and connects the safety systems between the trucks. The two trucks are connected to a network operation cloud (NOC) via an encrypted 4G cellular link. The NOC supervises the Peloton system, approving and authorising driver pairs to form a platoon. The Peloton cloud monitors real- time traffic, weather, construction and other driving conditions, to make sure platooning happens only if it’s safe to do so. If it isn’t, the cloud will withdraw the ability to platoon for a particular segment of the route, which still requires the driver in the second vehicle. It also provides information and alerts to truck drivers about any traffic slowdowns ahead. A key element of the NOC is coordinating the platooning. Even when the two trucks are from the same fleet and are leaving at roughly the same time, coordinating them is a critical feature to maximise platooning mileage and minimise or eliminate delays. Fleet managers use the NOC as a matching service for platooning, pairing trucks and drivers according to various factors. The Peloton cloud determines whether the trucks and drivers trying to platoon are compatible before pairing them, looking at whether the intended routes are similar and how much overlap they have in their schedules and choice of roads. The NOC is also built to tie in to fleet management systems and in-house systems of fleet operators. This allows it to combine data from the platooning with third-party data to develop analytics for fleet customers about safe driving conditions as well as fuel use, driver evaluations and other platooning statistics. PlatoonPro has now been used by six customers, and additional customer fleet trials are underway. Tests have shown fuel savings averaging more than 7%, with 90% of the miles travelled in platoon mode, up to 700 miles per truck. Platooning via the cloud Platooning The technology allows one truck to follow another, cutting fuel costs (Courtesy of Peloton Technology)