Issue 45 | Uncrewed Systems Technology Aug/Sept 2022 Tidewie USV Tupan | Performance monitoring | Bayonet 350 | UAVs insight | Xponential 2022 | ULPower UL350i and UL350iHPS | Elroy Air Chaparral | Gimbals | Clogworks Dark Matter

112 autopilot also offers users the option to write their own scripts and add their own custom autonomous features,” he notes. The autopilot also supports different manually selected control modes, including loiter, altitude hold, stabilised, return to launch point, GPS waypoint navigation (with automatic take-off and landing) and ‘fly here and follow me’ modes. Like all Clogworks’ UAVs, the hX Gen2 is fitted with a pilot’s point of view camera, so PoV piloting via a compatible VR headset is feasible. Navigation sources A multi-constellation GNSS system is standard, combining GPS L1C/A, GLONASS L10F and Beidou B1 receivers. The navigation system is also ready for RTK enhancement to reduce positioning errors to 1 or 2 cm in the best installations. RTK exploits the fundamental properties of a GNSS signal, particularly its phase, in addition to the information encoded in it to calculate corrections that it transmits to mobile receivers within range. Inevitably, the base station is extra. Opdam stresses that the quality of the hardware installation dictates how reliably RTK will work and the accuracy that can be achieved in any UAV. As yet, the vehicles have no GNSS- independent navigation capability, but Clogworks is cooperating with companies who are developing software to control the UAVs’ flightpath without recourse to satellite signals. Among the safety-of-navigation enhancements made to the Gen2 machines is a lighting system to improve their visibility to other airspace users. The system includes two extra status lights in the two GPS masts on the top of the fuselage and a conspicuous flashing green LED light at the back of the aircraft as standard, plus a red headlight on top of the 3 W navigation lights placed at the end of each arm, while all the LED lenses on the Gen2 aircraft have been tuned for maximum visibility. “We can also offer additional lighting options where required for specific applications, such as a remote controlled high-visibility beacon with multiple modes that can be clearly seen even at distances of more than 500 m,” Opdam says. Being seen electronically by other aircraft and air traffic management systems is also crucial, and to that end the company has integrated the Ping RX and Ping 1090i ADS-B systems from Uavionix. These transmit the UAV’s identity along with its position derived from its navigation system to compatible receivers in other aircraft and on the ground. Optimum placement of the antennas is one of the most important aspects of the hardware integration, Opdam notes, but there can also be regulatory issues. “Depending on the ADS-B system, you might have to ask for an Ofcom licence in the UK.” Clogworks has also integrated sense & avoid systems into Dark Matter vehicles. Comms and control In addition to the standard options for comms bearers that Clogworks installs in its systems, the company also integrates customer-specific links that offer AES128/256 encryption. It offers three ground control system options as well – Ardupilot Mission Planner, QGroundControl and UgCS. Outlining the thinking behind this, Opdam says some customers are used to a specific GCS, sometimes for historical reasons and sometimes because of their specific application, so Clogworks is happy to accommodate that need. “They all do pretty much the same thing, but the main difference is how the interface is displayed and laid out,” he notes. “UgCS has perhaps a few extra features for the automated mission planning.” One major advantage from a UAV developer’s perspective of using these systems is that it keeps the effort involved in getting the vehicle to work with them, through writing code for example, to a minimum, as all three are fully Pixhawk- compatible, he adds. August/September 2022 | Uncrewed Systems Technology Among the changes embodied in the Gen2 vehicle is an enhanced lighting system with extra status lights on the GPS masts, a flashing green LED at the back and red headlights added to the arms