Unmanned Systems Technology 028 | ecoSUB Robotics AUVs I ECUs focus I Space vehicles insight I AMZ Driverless gotthard I InterDrone 2019 report I ATI WAM 167-BB I Video systems focus I Aerdron HL4 Herculift

36 O ver the past two or three years, engine control unit (ECU) developers have been able to leverage continuing advances in ARM processors, which (like the ECUs that use them) have become smaller, lighter and faster in terms of processing speeds and reducing latency. Programming and debugging tools are also now more intuitive for ECU software engineers to use, and there is a growing availability of support services to meet the needs of unmanned vehicle and engine operations. These improvements have considerably shortened development cycles for new ECUs, with some estimates as high as a tenfold increase in the rate at which control units can be planned, designed and built. At the same time, engine sensors and the associated measurement tools on ECUs have progressed to become more accurate, enabling greater energy efficiency and shorter times between overhauls of fuel engines. All of this has come at the same time as a magnitude order of increase in the demands that unmanned systems manufacturers and operators are making on their critical engine components. As users turn away from hobbyist- grade ECUs, their rising proficiency in engineering has stepped up requests for greater power-to-weight ratios, endurances, levels of reliability and functional complexity, as well as lower costs of ownership and deeper interactions between aircraft and their ECUs. Potentially the most impactful and fastest-growing of these requests has been the integration of hybrid-electric technology into the fuel propulsion systems being ordered. Some companies have notable quantities of users asking Rory Jackson shows how advances in ECU design are tracking the growing demands being placed on sensors and engine components October/November 2019 | Unmanned Systems Technology Advances in processor technology and debugging tools mean that new ECUs can be designed, built and calibrated up to 10 times faster than just a few years ago (Courtesy of Performance Electronics) Demand for supply