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

94 product was officially launched in April. “The customer whose extreme e-motor tests first inspired us to develop the U8II Lite has been testing the new product,” Wan added. “The latest news from them is that it has reached a lifetime of more than 1100 hours.” Rhotheta International spoke to us about the RT-600-Light, its newest direction-finding sensor for detecting, tracking and locating radio transmissions by search & rescue and law enforcement operators. The payload interfaces over RS-485, weighs 1.29 kg and is designed for tracking wideband V-UHF radio frequencies from 118 to 470 MHz, as well as tracking AM, FM and other radio transmissions. As Ventura Rigol told us, “The standard version of the RT-600 weighs 4.4 lb, which has worked well for integration on larger UAVs such as the Elbit Hermes 900. When smaller and micro-UAS integrators requested that the RT-600 be made lighter for use on their aircraft, that inspired the RT-600-Light, which is now commercially available.” For direction measurement, the system uses a 3 kHz Doppler rotation frequency, which enables the bearing of radio transmissions to be detected to ±5 º accuracy. A phase-summation algorithm is also programmed for accuracy and stability of bearing values. ePropelled announced its ‘hybrid- ready’ programme for its range of UAV power systems. It is aimed at supplying combinations of the company’s starter/ generators and power electronics for UAV manufacturers seeking series-hybrid or parallel-hybrid propulsion. “Our starter/generators can not only start the engine and supply power, but our customers can use them to supply additional power for propulsion to supplement the engine,” said Nabeel Shirazee. “This allows customers to use a smaller engine for situations that demand high power, such as take-off, or to extend the range of the aircraft using battery power.” This parallel-hybrid capability is enabled via two specific parameters. One is that ePropelled’s starter/generators are engineered to produce sufficient torque to start fuel engines while still supplying power (from 500 W to 12.5 kW), similar to an alternator during flight. Second, the company’s Electronic Engine Starter (EES) power electronics unit has been designed to use battery power for both starting the engine and powering propulsion. The EES is also intended to save space and weight in UAVs by eliminating the need for separate external starters, and incorporating the starter functionality into the power electronics. It can deliver up to 3 or 6 kW to the starter/generator depending on the model integrated. SightLine Applications spoke with us about the latest updates to its 4000- OEM onboard video processor. It was launched in 2019 and remains the company’s most powerful system. June/July 2021 | Unmanned Systems Technology Report | AUVSI Xponential Virtual 2021 ePropelled’s hybrid-ready power system The Rhotheta RT-600-Light is designed to track V-UHF frequencies as well as AM and FM transmissions