Uncrewed Systems Technology 046

17 Platform one Uncrewed Systems Technology | October/November 2022 As uncrewed systems become larger and more powerful, a growing number of end- users want to be able to carry multiple payloads simultaneously, but factors such as the payloads’ different weight distributions and interfaces can require extensive customisations and potentially different airframes (writes Rory Jackson). RN Technologies has therefore developed its MX-1 modular payload expansion platform, with the aim of allowing new payload modules and hence functionalities to be added more smoothly to UAVs, independently of how their airframes have been designed. “The MX-1 is implemented conformally to the shape of a UAV or other vehicle that it’s applied to,” explained Richard Neill, CTO of RN Technologies. “Each solution is designed this way to make for space-efficient integrations, following the outline of the airframe’s structure. “The electrical and electronic interfaces of the MX-1 don’t interfere with anything central to the vehicle’s operations or autonomy, and we can shape, stack or insert them in a wide variety of ways to enable a lot of plug-and-play functionality in an uncrewed system.” An example of that is a dual-gas sensor module with two separate breakouts – one for a lower explosive limit gas sensor and the other for a photo-ionisation detector system – and multi-gas sensor modules for mounting more than two instruments have also been developed. At the core of the MX-1 is a Linux- based processor module that maintains a bidirectional comms interface with the vehicle, in order to communicate telemetry and controls between the payloads and the UAV, as well as to any GCS or cloud system. The module has dual ARM cores and 16 Gbytes of RAM. It also has wi-fi 6 installed for wireless or back- up interfacing, and can support other radio link technologies for full multi- communication or mesh scenarios. RN Technologies is now working on a future version of the MX-1 in which the structural materials and electronics required would all be 3D-printed as a single, monolithic assembly. At the moment, it is experimenting with depositing silver conductive paste to form circuit traces during the printing process, for fabricating the system’s backplane electronics. Airborne vehicles One platform fits all The platform can be custom-designed to ease the integration of different payloads into uncrewed systems