Issue 39 Unmanned Systems Technology August/September 2021 Maritime Robotics Mariner l Simulation tools focus l MRS MR-10 and MR-20 l UAVs insight l HFE International GenPod l Exotec Skypod l Autopilots focus l Aquaai Mazu

58 UAV’s heading. Together, the sensors are used for SLAM-based navigation, with the Dronut moving at a maximum speed of 3 m/s horizontally through environments. A Qualcomm Snapdragon powers the AI engine for fusing the visual, Lidar, inertial and timing data as necessary for the SLAM and obstacle avoidance. Also, a 2.4 GHz wi-fi link (encrypted to AES- 256) connects the Dronut to its GCS, with images streamed back at 1280 x 720 resolution and with a typical latency of just under 250 ms. Since starting development, Cleo Robotics has supplied systems to law enforcement and security agencies in several nations. They currently use the Dronut for front-line surveillance, such as inspecting or possibly entering buildings where there may be criminal or paramilitary organisations to assess safety levels before human officers enter. “If there’s a threat inside, you don’t need to risk an officer’s life by sending them in first,” Eleryan notes. “The Dronut can fly for long enough to assess the situation in a building visually, and return to its user with that potentially life-saving information without crashing or needing a recharge.” Monitoring livestock While there are a range of UAV solutions for crop farmers to assess the health and productivity of their fields, autonomous systems aimed at monitoring livestock are comparatively rare. Farm animals require constant monitoring, to check their health, account for their numbers, and other issues somewhat more challenging than crop field analytics. To achieve this autonomously, Aquiline Drones (AD) has combined its AI and cloud technology with multi-rotor craft to enable the airborne intelligence necessary for tracking livestock. “Many current autonomous UAVs can collect data, carry out some edge processing on it, then return the analysed data to farmers from remote locations,” explains Barry Alexander, CEO of AD. “Lost or displaced livestock can easily be found, tracked or even corralled by UAVs with HD cameras. And between dusk and dawn, IR cameras can identify stray livestock by capturing their bodies’ heat signatures.” Alexander adds that abnormal readings in IR data (such as sharp rises or falls in animals’ heat signatures) can serve as clear signals of fever, hypothermia or other health problems, enabling pre- emptive medical treatment. As a result, farmers can improve their animals’ quality of life, optimise their resource management, and reduce their operational costs and environmental impact. While AD uses a few different UAV solutions, its preferred platform for tracking and inspecting livestock is the Spartacus Max, a derivation of the Altura Zenith octocopter from Netherlands- based Aerialtronics. The system is made largely from 3K (3000 carbon fibre filaments per bundle) carbon fibre and designed for a wide variety of applications. Its total flight time is typically 35-40 minutes on a single charge of its 20,000 mAh battery. It has a standard MTOW of 6.65 kg and a payload capacity of 3 kg. “EO/IR cameras mounted on our systems offer both live and recorded footage for farmers,” Alexander says. “Through that, they can monitor animal positions, identify optimal grazing areas and corral livestock across pastures. “Our RGB camera’s AI algorithms analyse the imagery to count the total number of animals present across the property to ensure that none are lost.” Other technologies cited in the system’s development and deployment include neural networks, advanced object detection, colour space manipulation and image matching. “Our livestock management software application is hosted on the AD cloud system, and managed by Spartacus – our name for AD’s cognitive digital agent – for intelligently delivering capabilities across our UAV ecosystem.” System integration UAV Factory has unveiled its latest UAV, a VTOL version of the Penguin B. While the Penguin C (as featured in UST 1, November 2014) remains its flagship product, the Penguin B serves as an ‘integrator’ platform for end-users to customise as needed. August/September 2021 | Unmanned Systems Technology A combination of embedded and cloud-based AI software enables the Spartacus Max UAV to monitor, analyse and even herd livestock autonomously (Courtesy of Aquiline Drones)