Uncrewed Systems Technology 044 l Xer Technolgies X12 and X8 l Lidar sensors l Stan UGV l USVs insight l AUVSI Xponential 2022 l Cobra Aero A99H l Accession Class USV l Connectors I Oceanology International 2022

20 H ybrid vehicles that can operate in more than one medium are always tricky to develop. The demands of flight, to minimise weight for example, conflict with the requirements of a vehicle that can operate on the ground and successfully negotiate different types of terrain. These are some of the challenges faced by the developers of the HUUVER (the Hybrid UAV-UGV for Efficient Relocation of Vessels) which resembles a skeletal version of a WW1 British tank combined with an electric octocopter. Funded by the EU under its Horizon 2020 initiative and by the European GNSS Agency, the HUUVER was conceived to perform missions under difficult conditions using capabilities including flight with VTOL, perching, driving and climbing, its ground movement ability allowing it to reach areas inaccessible from the air. An integrated Galileo GNSS receiver is the primary navigation sensor, backed up by Lidar and cameras, including thermal and visual cameras for its core search & rescue support mission. The project team is led by DroneHub, known for its drone-in-a-box automated monitoring and data collection system, and includes Bladescape, Brimatech, Cervi Robotics, GINA, LUT University, NTT Data and Rectangle. In overall charge is project manager Jakub Weglarz of DroneHub. “As long as I can remember I have been interested in past ages and how they influence the present day,” he says. “Political science and history complement each other, and if you know history you can forecast some sort of future,” he says. At high school he attended meetings run by his history teacher, and was introduced to historical and technological issues that chimed with a growing enthusiasm for making model aircraft and tanks from kits, eventually building them from scratch. “With every model I tried to learn something about its history and why it was designed the way it was,” he says. The design of the Israeli Merkava main battle tank made a particular impression, with its storage of diesel fuel between layers of armour so that the entire hull becomes one big fuel tank. The design DroneHub’s HUUVER project manager talks to Peter Donaldson about his involvement in developing this UGV-octocopter Fly-drive journey June/July 2022 | Uncrewed Systems Technology The HUUVER’s boxy central body is joined to its tracks and propellers by carbon fibre tubes. Track links are 3D-printed from PLA filament (Images courtesy of DroneHub)