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

54 Digest | SWL Robotics Tiburon Using carbon fibre safely and effectively in a marine vessel has not been straightforward for SWL’s engineers at all times, given the risk of galvanic corrosion of metals connected with carbon composite. Additively printed aluminiumparts have therefore been a critical enabler in terms of assembling and integrating the Tiburon’s electronics safely about the carbon bulkheads. SWL’s competencies in AMmotivated it to scrutinise potential suppliers until it was satisfied that Addman could provide what it was looking for. As Enriquez Jr says, “A lot of companies and engineers use AM to replicate a part they could have just CNC-machined, but what we needed was a group that was capable of thinking about and experimenting with different component geometries to see howmuch lightness and strength you can get by shaping a part differently. “Addman has a huge additive printing house in the US, and they’re often contracted by the US government for work on rockets and hypersonic missiles. Our use case is different enough for them though that it actually challenges their machines and gets their engineers working on new r&d.” Scot Bader’s resins were also used in bonding the composites with the additively printed aluminium, something Enrique notes that no-one else is doing in the marine space; only automotive cases such as Chevrolet and its new C8 Corvette aluminium bumpers and carbon fibre body are known at the moment. For further safeguarding against corrosion and wear, all the Tiburon’s hull parts are coated after manufacturing but also wrapped in a 0.127 mm film. The exact nature of these is undisclosed, but they protect the hull against UV light as well as saltwater. “To make our hull thin and lightweight, we and Citius have developed a proprietary and detailed laminate schedule [the list of sequential layers of materials used in building up a layer] that gives us the full mechanical and lifespan potential of CFRP,” Enriquez says. “While maybe not quite as strong as a fibreglass composite, it saves way more weight than would be possible with it. We and our customers have run the Tiburon through hundreds of hours of tests and work in the field, and it has never suffered significant damage – in fact it’s stronger than we expected.” Although all the hull materials are now chosen and treated to SWL’s satisfaction, the fourth iteration of the Tiburon will incorporate two carbon fibre pontoons and some dorsal fins, for greater stability at high speeds. The company anticipates this version to be capable of at least double the current design’s speeds, but emphasises that it is selecting a propeller drive for torque, and will limit the top speed if necessary for the sake of enhancing torque. Autonomy and navigation As mentioned, the Cube Orange is currently the main autopilot computer, with Herelink+ and Here3 systems used as the GCS and GNSS respectively. Enriquez praises this system as a highly effective technology that has enabled detailed mission planning and sensor programming for every SWL customer and use case to date. However, SWL also plans to deploy Honeywell’s navigation, autopiloting and satcom systems for use cases that extend to the open ocean. That is due partially to the greater experience and therefore maturation of Honeywell’s systems in heavy-duty ocean vessels (Cube Orange is still a UAV autopilot in principle), making them suitably robust computers for BVLOS work around offshore oil rigs, wind farms or maritime border regions for example. February/March 2023 | Uncrewed Systems Technology SWL uses cameras fromMarshall Electronics, as well as payload sensors from Teledyne, FLIR and Honeywell What we needed from our AMwas a group that can see howmuch lightness and strength you can get from different shapes of a component