Unmanned Systems Technology 038 l Skyeton Raybird-3 l Data storage l Sea-Kit X-Class USV l USVs insight l Spectronik PEM fuel cells l Blue White Robotics UVIO l Antennas l AUVSI Xponential Virtual 2021 report

3 June/July 2021 | Contents Unmanned Systems Technology | June/July 2021 04 Intro The Mayflower Autonomous Ship’s inaugural voyage across the Atlantic soon will be vital to proving that unmanned systems technology is viable and safe for long journeys 06 Platform one: Mission-critical info Solid-oxide fuel cell designed to run on butane or natural gas unveiled, RTI updates software to support low-latency systems, Volz unveils its most powerful servo, and more 18 In conversation: Richard Bernard VITEC’s senior product manager explains the advantages of implementing video codecs in hardware rather than software 22 Dossier: Skyeton Raybird-3 If you want to develop a UAV to cover thousands of kilometres of ocean and/or terrain per mission, here are some of the off-trend engineering decisions you need to make 34 Focus: Data storage We explain the range of different technologies needed to provide unmanned vehicles with more secure, reliable and higher-capacity data storage systems 44 Digest: Sea-Kit X-Class This USV allows deep-sea ROVs and AUVs to be deployed and controlled from thousands of miles away and for months at a time. Here’s how it’s able to do that 50 Insight: USVs As demand for USVs speeds up among critical marine industries, we report on some new and updated vessels being launched 58 Dossier: Spectronik PEM fuel cells This Singaporean company tells us why it has added closed- cathode cells to its range, how it developed them and how they improve on the performance of open-cathode designs 70 In operation: Blue White Robotics Platform Every farm may be different, but many of them are grappling with labour shortages, two factors that this ‘pick-and-mix’ suite of automation technologies has been designed to address 76 Focus: Antennas With unmanned vehicles increasingly being expected to operate across wider regions and more radio bands, we report on the corresponding advances in antenna design and technology 88 Report: AUVSI Xponential Virtual 2021 This year’s show was an online event in May, with a live event set for August – here are some highlights from the online version 98 PS: Secure UAV network comms Researchers have devised a way for networked UAVs to resist a range of attacks by malicious craft. This is how it works 06 44 70 22 76