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

73 AUVSI Xponential 2022 | Show report flying the IntuVue-equipped UAV within distance of another, non-cooperative UAV moving at similar altitudes. The first aircraft successfully detected the second and calculated optimal trajectories for steering around it, before returning to its original course. These functions were all performed autonomously and without incident roughly 300 ft above the ground. With the concept now fully proven, Honeywell anticipates designing future IntuVue products for small, Class 1 UAVs up to very large advanced air mobility craft and heavy-freight UASs. The upcoming Version 2 radar will weigh 1.5 lb and consume 65 W on a 28 V DC supply. Commercial availability is expected by either late this year or early 2023, with initial fabrication runs having being completed at the time of writing and testing phases being imminent. Lastly, Honeywell also displayed its range of hydrogen fuel cell systems. Two products currently exist – the 600u, a 600 W liquid-cooled PEM fuel cell, and the 1200u, a 1200 W version, which is effectively a dual, modular assembly of the 600u – although the company plans to go to 2-3 kW solutions in the future as commercial and defence UAVs continue to be built larger and heavier. The solutions currently available are aimed at smaller hexacopters and octocopters, as well as some fixed-wing VTOL-transitioning designs that can leverage the fuel cells’ power better for long-endurance missions through low- power cruise airspeeds. Both systems have an MTBF of 1000 hours for the balance of plant and 3000 hours for the fuel cell stack. They operate from 5 C to 45 C, and consume hydrogen at a rate of 53 g/kWh when outputting 200 W. Both systems extend flight range and duration to about three times that of an equivalent battery-powered system. For example, a multi-rotor that flies for 20 minutes on battery power can fly for an hour on hydrogen, while a fixed-wing craft that flies for 2 hours on battery can fly for 6 on hydrogen. The systems weigh about 2 kg for 600 W and 4 kg for 1200 W, and are designed to work as range extenders with lithium-ion or lithium-polymer batteries. Target Arm had a working display of its Tular 3.0 launch & recovery system (LARS) for small UAVs, and the company’s Jeffrey McChesney was on hand to discuss the system and its latest developments. “The Tular is designed around not only being a LARS for both rotary and fixed- wing UAVs, but also being able to function autonomously, and perform that duty from any moving vehicle,” he explained. “To date, we’ve successfully performed stable UAV deployments at 65 mph and captures at 35 mph – consistent with the speed limitations of rotary UAVs – in military as well as commercial use cases. We’ve had six contracts with the US military, one with BAE Systems, and others we can announce later this year for first responders, oil & gas and other applications.” The Tular consists of two opposing ‘beds’ of pins that gently encapsulate a UAV by closing about it from above and below. It has rubber balls on the end of each pin to compress softly instead of scratching or piercing, preventing the UAV from veering off or being blown away, as can happen with some LARS systems. “Launch is actually the easier of the two processes, as the UAV can stabilise itself easily after release before flying away,” McChesney added. “We’re currently at a TRL of 7 out of 9 in terms of the technology’s maturity; we’re now mainly just looking into ways of ruggedising and hardening the system, consolidating the electric subsystems and finalising our technical documentation. “Those are all happening later this year, and we expect to release them with what we’re going to call our Tular Next- Generation, which we might alternatively brand as Tular 4.0. “We anticipate a lot of different kinds of users as we productionise that system, as a high-speed LARS opens up a cost- efficient means of package deliveries, infrastructure inspections, firefighting awareness and many other applications.” Ghost Robotics brought its Vision60 four-legged Q-UGV (quadrupedal uncrewed ground vehicle) to the exhibition floor. “Ghost Robotics started in late 2015 as a spin-out from the University of Pennsylvania,” Michael Subhan said. “Our founders, Dr Gavin Kenneally and Dr Avik De, did their research on legged robotics and mammalian locomotion, Uncrewed Systems Technology | August/September 2022 Concept image of Target Arm’s Tular launch & recovery system