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

Gimbals | Focus dynamic tracking is of vital importance to defence, police and similar markets. As a UAV flies, the payload gimbal will suffer vibrations and other forces that change its orientation. For highly dynamic flights involving the pursuit and tracking of moving targets, the MEMS IMUs integrated into small gimbals (for example, those weighing less than 3 kg) may not provide sufficiently precise information on the attitude of the aircraft to compensate for those forces. To enable more accurate geo-pointing and tracking, a gimbal manufacturer and UAV developer can collaborate to use the inertial data being generated by the UAV’s navigation system to provide an extra information feed to the gimbal. Obviously, the more precise, reliable and frequently updated the UAV’s inertial navigation system is, the greater the benefit of using its data to augment the gimbal’s stability. That means the gimbal must at least be configured to take position and attitude information from the autopilot, or wherever the UAV’s inertial navigation system is fitted. Closer integration of the autopilot’s software with that of the gimbal enables transmission of command and feedback data between the two systems, which offers scope for greater functionality. For example, geo-referencing can be carried out by programming the autopilot to aim the payload at a specific point on the ground, while also dynamically altering the flight pattern to provide the camera gimbal with the optimal vantage point for the target. Alternatively, when flying along a series of waypoints for mapping or monitoring operations, the autopilot could command the gimbal to maintain or alter its heading and elevation angles based on previously defined parameters or triggers, without needing operator input. This can greatly help the accuracy of photogrammetry missions, as post-processing will Gyro-stabilised gimbals can require hundreds of threads and holes; drilling them into composites breaks their fibres