Uncrewed Systems Technology 048 | Kodiak Driver | 5G focus | Tiburon USV | Skypersonic Skycopter and Skyrover | CES 2023 | Limbach L 2400 DX and L 550 EFG | NXInnovation NX 100 Enviro | Solar power focus | Protegimus Protection

110 In operation | Protegimus Protection security services the site, the planned frequency of flight missions, the length of the contract and the particular service package adopted. Just as no two sites are the same, so all clients are different, and the company tailors its service package to each one individually, O’Callaghan says. “The operational flight software is user-friendly and intuitive. Users have a clutter-free interface where they can manage the current operation and existing fleet of UAVs and/or docking stations,” he says. “The initial trigger to alert the system that an intruder is on site will come from perimeter sensors or the CCTV,” he explains. “The UAV will then deploy automatically to where the initial trigger was received and search the area. When the intruder is detected by the UAV’s onboard thermal camera and confirmed, we have the option to take manual control of the UAV from the mission dashboard and track them, directing ground personnel to their location to intercept and deal with the situation.” The system also enhances safety on construction sites, because the information it generates can be used to prevent accidents and fires. “During routine missions the UAV can highlight and detect anything out of the ordinary, and can alert the control room of a potential fire through hotspots detected by the onboard thermal sensors,” he says. “We can also ensure health and safety compliance by observing whether the correct PPE is being worn by on-site personnel.” In addition to their cameras, the UAVs can be equipped with effectors such as strobe lights, spotlights and speakers to warn people that the police have been called if criminal activity has been observed. Operator’s view The human-machine interface used in Protegimus’ operations centre is the software dashboard developed by FlytNow. O’Callaghan explains that the box comes packaged with the UAV and a one-year subscription to FlytNow’s software, which is the heart of the system’s automation, mission management and situational awareness. The dashboard is laid out over a Google Maps viewof the site. Overlaid on this are a number of windows; one shows a live camera viewof the box fromwhich the UAV is about to be deployed. The camera and others track the UAV throughout its flight. There is also a status window informing the operator what the system is doing at any given moment. When preparing for flight, for example, the window displays a label saying as much, and shows an indicator for the UAV and one for the docking station, either in green for go or red for no-go. If all is well, the status window indicates that the pre-take-off routine has been successful and the operator can then click ‘Next’ in thewindow. This brings up a checklist that includes a link to documented permissions fromauthorities to fly the UAV(s), carry out their calibration, a ‘GPS lock’ that shows the number of satellites fromwhich the UAV’s receiver is getting data, battery status in terms of charge, a figure for comms latency inmilliseconds, and the readiness of the emergency landing routine shown by whether the emergency landing button is set. When the status of all these items is acceptable and confirmed, the operator clicks the ‘Check All’ button and then the ‘Next’ button. This brings up the rest of the checklist that shows predefined actions including the low battery and critical battery fail-safes, in which the UAV automatically returns to its launch site when the battery reaches 20% and lands immediately when it reaches 10%. The other items on the list refer to actions on the loss of any of the three comms links. The UAV returns to its launch site if the LTE link drops for 30 seconds, immediately if the RC link drops, and after 30 seconds from loss of the FlytNow link. The final item is the ‘Mission Finish’ action, which is a normal return to the docking station. With all those items checked, the operator is free to click the ‘Execute’ button, after which the UAV lifts off and the status window confirms that the mission has started. Throughout the mission, the dashboard has an ‘Abort’ button that stops the current action and puts the UAV into hover mode. February/March 2023 | Uncrewed Systems Technology An operator station running FlytNow software enables multiple UAV missions to be managed at different sites by one operator