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

74 In operation | Skypersonic Skycopter and Skyrover Autonomous recharging When the range as dictated by battery energy is reached, the Skycopter will either transmit a warning to the astronauts that the systemmust return to its base for charging, or a failsafe function might be activated to force it to perform an automatic ‘return to base’ flight using GNSS to guarantee a precise route home. As discussed, the Skycopter and Skyrover will be extremely far away from the CHAPEA astronauts, who will be isolated inside their base and so could not carry out maintenance on the vehicles even if they were allowed to leave the base. As a result, solutions for autonomous charging will probably be used. One solution hypothesised by Skypersonic, which has experimented with autonomous charging concepts, includes that from the aptly named Skycharge, in Germany, which produces a conductive charging pad with multiple tiles that can be individually charged depending on where the UAV and its strut-mounted power inputs land. Combining such a systemwith solar panels could enable self-sustaining autonomous charging systems on Mars. The vehicles themselves might even take forms that are useful for energy security, including the use of the Skyrover as a wireless charging platform for the Skycopter to land on, effectively turning the former into a mobile range extender. Future plans Upcoming trials of Skypersonic’s technology through CHAPEA (scheduled for 2023, ’25 and ’26) and related missions will see it delivered to more distant locations. Santangelo explains, “There is a reason we designed the Skyrover to be so small, especially compared with the Perseverance Mars rover – it has to be carried and transported around the world, because we’re set to use it in many other places around the world, not just on Mt Etna. “So NASA will be validating our remote piloting solution link through operations of Skyrover and Skycopter in different locales relative to the CHAPEA base, to verify that it really will provide very low- latency HD video and control, no matter where their uncrewed systems are on Mars, when that day finally comes.” Although Skypersonic’s main focus until now has been indoor industrial inspections, its recent and upcoming work with NASA is spurring it to look more towards how its UAV technology can be used in space missions. “Any planet with an atmosphere could theoretically be explored with UAVs, be it Mars, Venus or maybe even the gas giants,” Santangelo says. “To that end we’re now working on a system called Stratocopter, a rotary UAV designed for hovering in extremely thin atmospheres such as 30 km above Earth. “That isn’t complicated to achieve, aside from the issue of battery energy densities, and UAVs operating in the stratosphere can substitute or supplement satellites, or fly in the thin atmosphere of Mars. “Combine that with, say, a network of relatively stationary balloons about 30-40 km up, with thin-film solar panels on their tops to power landing pads and charging stations hanging underneath, and the Stratocopter could repeatedly land, recharge and launch to provide persistent high-altitude surveillance or comms relays.” February/March 2023 | Uncrewed Systems Technology The Skyrover could in future use its arm to place Skyloc beacons for localising itself and other uncrewed systems