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

UAV Factory has upgraded its Penguin B integrator platform with VTOL-transitioning capabilities; it can take off and land in winds of up to 54 kph (Courtesy of UAV Factory) 59 UAVs | Insight “Since 2009, we’ve been selling the Penguin B to customers who want to integrate things such as their own autopilots or payloads – custom subsystems for specific mission applications,” explains UAV Factory CTO Konstantins Popiks. “For the past three years, requests for VTOL have been coming in more and more. It brings obvious benefits, such as being able to take off and land without the need for runways or nets.” The VTOL architecture is based on a twin boom-mounted set of four vertically oriented, upwards-facing electric motors. The booms extend forwards from the wings and run back to the inverted V-tail. “This is a widely used and well- understood VTOL configuration. Ours is powered by two battery packs, each of which mounts into either of the booms from below,” Popiks says. “That keeps the lengths of wiring harnesses running from the batteries to the ESCs and motors as short as possible, rather than having much longer and more vulnerable wires coming from the fuselage.” When not in use, the motors will stop at a position that keeps the propellers in line with the booms, to minimise their parasitic effects on drag. Although the MTOW is 30 kg, take-off weight varies depending on what the integrator chooses to install; typically that is around 25 kg. Up to 7.2 kg of payload can be carried, as well as 4.5 kg of fuel, which goes to the onboard UAV28 fuel- injected two-stroke engine (as covered in UST 19, April/May 2018) and can enable 8 or more hours of flight. That endurance has been aided by an increase in the wingspan to 3.9 m. Perhaps most notably, the Penguin B VTOL can launch and land in winds exceeding 15 m/s, a capability that Popiks puts down to the performance of the chosen e-motors, the structure of the craft and the high dynamic bandwidth of the control system. Summary Until the early 2010s, UAV designs broadly fell into two categories – multi-copters and approximate imitations of manned fixed-wing aircraft, the latter being complete with cockpit-like frontal shapes. These days the number of categories is much harder to count. There are combinations of autogyros, ducted fans and other airframe types across the world of unmanned aviation, and the archetypical remotely piloted aircraft is being eclipsed by autonomous systems of many shapes and sizes. Now that modern design software and additive manufacturing enable researchers to breathe life into whatever technology they can imagine, UAVs can be deployed in applications stretching much further than traditional aviation markets. They are thus being substituted for humans, or placed in entirely new roles alongside humans, to complement their work in indoor and outdoor tasks wherever safety or inefficiency are a concern. Global productivity stands to benefit immensely from these new UAVs and their operations, and a measure of creativity will go a long way towards identifying where they should be deployed next. Unmanned Systems Technology | August/September 2021