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servos, but beyond that the shapes and shells of connectors requested vary widely. Naturally though, ‘smaller and lighter’ continues to win out, as vehicle operators continue to request longer flight times with larger payload-carrying capacities, so every gram counts. As mentioned, however, silicon shortages and supply chain issues exacerbated by the Covid pandemic are leading to problems with obtaining key ECU components such as resistors, capacitors and some of the more complex logic chips. In many cases, these were freely available before the pandemic, but when older models were discontinued, their next-generation replacements did not enter production owing to lockdowns and factory closures. Flexible manufacturing facilities have been critical to the most common workarounds, which consist largely of redesigning PCB layouts to give the output needed. FCCUs Although detractors might try to deny it, hydrogen as a source of clean energy has clearly found a secure home in the autonomous world. There are now a dozen, if not more, commercial OEM suppliers of hydrogen fuel cells for unmanned vehicles, with many other fuel cell designs from universities, research institutes, defence laboratories and other places undergoing trials in vehicle systems. That means there is a sizeable market for high-end, purpose-built fuel cell control units (FCCUs). Multiple ECU companies now write software stacks for controlling fuel cells, and sometimes use quite similar hardware architectures to those in their ECUs. That may not be surprising, since an FCCU has fundamentally the same job and operating principles as an ECU. It has to monitor and receive data from various sensor inputs – including current, temperature and pressure – to control key outputs such as valve actuators and pressure regulators to deliver the correct amounts of fuel and air (or oxygen gas, depending on the design) to generate the power. And as with some engines, some fuel cells are liquid-cooled, relying on temperature data to know when to raise or lower the cooling. Along with their control algorithms being roughly the same as those for ECUs, FCCUs should also communicate with the autopilot on key performance metrics such as power output, as well as safety metrics, for instance when temperatures in the fuel cell stack are getting too high, as well as under-currents, over-currents, under- voltages or over-voltages. FCCUs will however feature some differences in their environmental protection. Fuel cells produce lower vibration and noise than engines as they use no combustion cycle for power output, and although there are no ignition systems or engine electronics, the Freely available · Communications specification · User Interface application · Software developers kit Next Genera�on Engine Control for UAS Version 1.9 Released www.power4flight.com [email protected] (541) 436 - 4299 Small Size and Weight 51.4mm x 80.4 mm(2.03” x 3.17”) 71.3g (2.51oz) Key Features · Three injector outputs · Three ignition outputs · Dual cowl flap control · Dual crank inputs · Four temperature inputs · Fuel pressure input · Fuel pump control output · Built - in data logging · Built - in log booking $2600 USD IntelliJect EFI Power4Flight High Power Density • Minimal Maintenance Lightweight • Fuel E cient INTRODUCING THE COBRA AERO A33N GROUP 2 UAS PROPULSION SYSTEM - Designed & Developed to aerospace standards - 2.3kW@ 9000RPM output and 450g/kW-hr BSFC @ 5500 RPM - Low acoustic signature - 250W (400W intermittent) 3-phase generator output - Power4Flight IntelliJect EFI system - Telemetry and control over Serial or CAN - Isolation mount included - Active cooling shroud - Deployed across multiple UAS platforms - Can quickly integrate into any airframe Cobra AERO [email protected] (517)437-9100 Power4Flight [email protected] (541)436-4299