Uncrewed Systems Technology 047 l Aergility ATLIS l AI focus l Clevon 1 UGV l Geospatial insight l Intergeo 2022 report l AUSA 2022 report I Infinity fuel cell l BeeX A.IKANBILIS l Propellers focus I Phoenix Wings Orca

Platform one Researchers in Belgium have developed the first UAV navigation architecture to fuse an event-based camera and a frequency modulated continuous wave radar (writes Nick Flaherty). Each sensor is processed by a bio- inspired spiking neural network (SNN) with continual spike timing-dependent plasticity (STDP) learning similar to that used in the human brain. Unlike current neural networks used for SLAM systems, this approach does not require any offline training phase. Instead the SNN continuously learns features from the input data on the fly via the STDP learning. An event-driven camera (also called a dynamic vision sensor, DVS) is a new type of imaging sensor composed of independent pixels that asynchronously emit spikes whenever there is a change in light intensity. In contrast to traditional image sensors that capture RGB light, the DVS cameras perform well in low-light conditions, producing a stream of data that contains patterns in both the spatial and spike timing dimensions. This can then be used as the input for a spiking neural network (SNNs, see AI focus, page 38). The researchers used a Davis 346 DVS camera from Inivation that weighs 100 g without the lens. It has a measurement area of 346 x 260 pixels and delivers 12 million events per second to the SNN, combined with the data from the radar sensor and an ultra-wideband sensor that provides the distance to the ground. The SNN outputs are then used for map correction. The team, at KU Leuven, conducted numerous experiments to benchmark the system against state-of-the-art AI methods, showing that it performs particularly well when there are big variations in the lighting. It was tested on three different flight sequences in a warehouse environment. Navigation by neural net Airborne vehicles The UAV’s bio-inspired spiking neural net does not require any offline training / / WWW . H A R W I N . C O M Connectors shown actual size ENABLING TECHNOLOGY EVERYWHERE Harwin’s connector products are proven to perform in extreme conditions, with shock, vibration and temperature range rigorously tested. Micro connectors start at 1.25mm pitch delivering 2A per contact, up to 8.5mm and 60A - we cover a wide range of applications for when SWaP matters most. With our quality, service, support, and highly reliable products, you can depend on Harwin. Harwin UAV Uncrewed Systems Jan 23.indd 1 05/12/2022 08:45