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68 “That saves end-users such as telecoms companies time by not having to manually go up and down their poles so many times,” Libin noted. “We get much better data and measurements on infrastructure far quicker than is possible with most software packages.” Also in attendance was allocortech, which displayed its range of solutions for autonomous systems propulsion, flight control, sensing and power. “Regarding brushless motor control systems, we’re partnered with PteroDynamics [see UST 41, December/ January 2022], to help with the position control of their electromechanical folding wing system,” said Brian Viele. “Their prototype designs used COTS ESCs, but they couldn’t customise them for working at different accelerations and maximum speeds, or for things like thermal management inside the controller. “Our ESCs have a whole software framework wrapped around a motor control library on a microcontroller, so we can bring in temperature sensors, run closed-loop controllers, and just customise so much for whatever a UAV needs, no matter how unique. And PteroDynamics will be able to tune that baseline software for whatever additional features or robustness they want.” The company’s standard-issue ESC is the Taurus C60, which implements four-quadrant field-oriented control through space vector PWM, and supports overmodulation to maximise the peak power output of the motor drive. It weighs 276 g, can work on inputs from 10 to 60 V and can operate to upwards of 6 kW peak and at 4 kW sustained power. The C60 sits in an IP67-rated housing and can be interfaced with via CAN and RS-485. It can also be custom-shaped to fit into different booms, winglets and other aircraft sections. “Our most popular product though is probably the Clio Series B, a general- purpose computing platform with a large number of I/Os – two Ethernet ports, 11 CAN buses, 14 RS-485 ports, current monitored and e-fused load channels – and it’s a really flexible system that can be configured for many different embedded applications,” Viele added. Using the allocore open SDK, end-users can write their own software applications on the Clio to suit their needs. “We assumed people would install it in their UAVs’ wings to interface with sensors and actuators, and connect it to their flight controllers via Ethernet or CAN, but because it has a very powerful processor we’ve actually seen a lot of customers use it as the central flight computer.” The Clio has a 400 MHz ARM Cortex-M7 based main processor and is paired with an FPGA for flexible I/O processing. It weighs 325 g in its standard aluminium housing, although there is a composite housing option that would make the system 40 g lighter. Sony Electronics showcased numerous UAV components produced in-house for UAS manufacturers, which had been largely developed around its Airpeak S1 UAS that was on display in the centre of its pavilion. “We are the largest sensor manufacturer in the world, across the automotive, smartphone and other industries, so when we designed the Airpeak we did it with in-depth integration with all our sensors, processing systems and the knowledge from our robotics division, adding with that some newer r&d to create the propellers, propulsion motors and the flight controllers,” said El-Deane Naude. The Airpeak quadrotor weighs about 3 kg and has a top speed of 25 m/s. As well as being issued with a customised Gremsy T3 gimbal that is compatible with the Sony Alpha series cameras, it has stereoscopic cameras on each of its four sides as well as downwards for visual and depth awareness of any obstacles that might come its way. “It’s ideal for survey or other hi-res work in cinematic, industrial or agricultural applications, as it integrates smoothly with any number of our Alpha cameras, including our 50 MP Alpha 1, the 61 MP Alpha 7R IV, the 12 MP Alpha 7S III, and the 30 MP Alpha 7 IV, depending on whether their application needs really hi- res 8K or 4K video, or maybe more still photo-focused optimisation,” Naude said. “In August we released a huge firmware update that greatly improves flight control and autonomy. The only part we don’t make ourselves is the gimbal, which Gremsy built to work via a single- cable connection with our system.” Sony also announced its RTK system October/November 2022 | Uncrewed Systems Technology allocortech’s Taurus C60 ESC can work on inputs of 10 to 60 V