Uncrewed Systems Technology 046

14 Platform one A team from Chalmers University of Technology, in Sweden, is developing a fully autonomous UAV system for rescue operations at sea (writes Nick Flaherty). The system uses a mixture of fixed-wing and rotary UAVs with a USV to provide comms links to search an area independently, alert authorities to people in distress and provide basic assistance before crewed rescue vehicles have arrived. The USV is a marine catamaran called the SeaCat, which serves as a base for a fleet of fixed-wing UAVs that monitor the surrounding area. A rotary quadcopter can then approach people in distress and deliver items such as supplies, healthcare aids or flotation devices. The quadcopter can carry loads of up to 2 kg, while the fixed- wing UAVs have a longer range to search a larger area. “The project is based on the simple principle that different drones have different advantages, and by allowing several types of autonomous drones to work together, search efficiency and rescue response speed can be significantly improved, with the potential to save more lives,” said Xin Zhao at the Fluid Mechanics Division of Chalmers. The SeaCat provides an internet uplink as well as a local comms link that is used to coordinate the UAVs in flight, and includes a launch pad for the fixed-wing versions. All the UAVs have cameras and a positioning system for autonomous operation, The catamaran follows a predefined route with a closed loop, and the fixed-wing UAVs are automatically assigned to search areas according to an algorithm that partitions an area depending on the number of them that are available and their battery power. When a fixed-wing UAV detects objects in the water, the quadcopter is sent to the scene to take pictures. The photographs can then be sent to a rescue centre on land via the USV. The rescue centre can also send out the quadcopter with supplies. When one of the fixed-wing UAVs runs out of power it lands in the water near the SeaCat, where it can be picked up and recharged automatically, then sent out again. Rescue team Airborne vehicles Dr Donough Wilson Dr Wilson is innovation lead at aviation, defence, and homeland security innovation consultants, VIVID/futureVision. His defence innovations include the cockpit vision system that protects military aircrew from asymmetric high-energy laser attack. He was first to propose the automatic tracking and satellite download of airliner black box and cockpit voice recorder data in the event of an airliner’s unplanned excursion from its assigned flight level or track. For his ‘outstanding and practical contribution to the safer operation of aircraft’ he was awarded The Sir James Martin Award 2018/19, by the Honourable Company of Air Pilots. Paul Weighell Paul has been involved with electronics, computer design and programming since 1966. He has worked in the real-time and failsafe data acquisition and automation industry using mainframes, minis, micros and cloud-based hardware on applications as diverse as defence, Siberian gas pipeline control, UK nuclear power, robotics, the Thames Barrier, Formula One and automated financial trading systems. Ian Williams-Wynn Ian has been involved with uncrewed and autonomous systems for more than 20 years. He started his career in the military, working with early prototype uncrewed systems and exploiting imagery from a range of uncrewed systems from global suppliers. He has also been involved in ground- breaking research including novel power and propulsion systems, sensor technologies, communications, avionics and physical platforms. His experience covers a broad spectrum of domains from space, air, maritime and ground, and in both defence and civil applications including, more recently, connected autonomous cars. Professor James Scanlan Professor Scanlan is the director of the Strategic Research Centre in Autonomous Systems at the University of Southampton, in the UK. He also co-directs the Rolls-Royce University Technical Centre in design at Southampton. He has an interest in design research, and in particular how complex systems (especially aerospace systems) can be optimised. More recently, he established a group at Southampton that undertakes research into uncrewed aircraft systems. He produced the world’s first ‘printed aircraft’, the SULSA, which was flown by the Royal Navy in the Antarctic in 2016. He also led the team that developed the ULTRA platform, the largest UK commercial UAV, which has flown BVLOS extensively in the UK. He is a qualified full-size aircraft pilot and also has UAV flight qualifications. Uncrewed Systems Technology’s consultants October/November 2022 | Uncrewed Systems Technology Chalmers University’s fixed-wing UAV, part of the sea rescue system