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

77 AUVSI Xponential 2022 | Show report by the DM15 at its peak output level. As standard, it supplies DC power over a 50 V bus, and can operate safely in temperatures from 0 C to 35 C. Its enclosure measures 260 mm wide, 250 mm long, and 170 mm in height, with a total system weight of 7.6 kg, this figure also including the weight of a 10.8 litre hydrogen tank. As discussed on page 58, Cobra International is a composites manufacturer based in Thailand, and it attended Xponential to showcase its capabilities in strength, weight minimisation, and aesthetic qualities of its composite materials. “Our facilities cover the full range of processes needed for users across the autonomous space, from design and development through to serial production of composite parts,” explained Danu Chotikapanich. “We can optimise for high, medium and low-end requirements depending on end-users’ budgets. “We also offer assembly of UAV parts and airframes, allowing customers to focus more on their electrical, electronic, software or business development activities and leave the composites optimisation to us.” The company offers carbon fibre, fibreglass and natural fibres (sustainable fibres from sources such as banana, coconut and flax) among other reinforcement materials, along with bio-based or recyclable epoxy options as well as standard epoxy resins and other thermoplastic and thermoset matrix materials. Its development technologies include additive printing machines and other rapid prototyping methods, and it also offers a range of finishing techniques including thermoforming, screen printing and surface polishing, along with trimming, gluing and sanding to specified tolerances. CR Flight discussed its latest r&d for its propulsion systems that feature its patented eVector contra-rotation technology. “On a standard motor configuration, rotational torque is imparted on fixed- wing airframes by their pusher or tractor propeller,” said Jason Emigh. “That means if too much power is run through the prop, the UAV will want to flip over, especially during take-off. “Our coaxial single-motor systems are getting a lot of interest from the heavy-lift fixed-wing STOL UAV market, because we’re a form factor drop-in replacement for conventional e-motor propulsion units, but the counter-rotating propeller system means you don’t have that torque issue [also known as the P-factor]. “You can put full power into one of our motors instantaneously and you still get a very stable, linear runway take-off,” Emigh said. “As the UAV industry moves towards larger aircraft, the issue of excess propeller tip speeds can be resolved. As each of our motors turns two props, we can achieve the same total rpm and power that some manufacturers want by having each propeller carry just half the rpm.” The counter-rotation of two props and shafts from a single BLDC motor is enabled through the use of a rotary conductor that allows the ‘stator’ armature to spin freely in reaction to the rotational motion of the rotor, once it’s induced electromagnetically by the armature. This is an innovation that forms the basis for the company’s eVector technology. Advanced Innovative Engineering, last featured in issue 7 (April/May 2016) for its 225CS Wankel rotary engine, attended Xponential to display the latest iterations of its UAV power units and discuss how they have been updated over 6 years of r&d. “Both our 225CS and 80S engines have been optimised for extremely high power density, very little vibration Uncrewed Systems Technology | August/September 2022 Cobra International’s facility in Thailand The eVector contra-rotating prop system from CR Flight