Uncrewed Systems Technology 049 - April/May 2023

60 Digest | Eurolink Systems Beluga electric quadcopter designed to be capable of fully autonomous operations and coordinated swarm tasks. Also, an 8 MP MIPI CSI-2 tiltable FPV navigational camera is installed inside the nose (behind a transparent window) for vision-based AI tasks, with up to 4K UHD (3840 x 2160) resolution. Video and other data is processed on board through a CPU and GPU (as well as any additional, modular companion processor boards that have been requested). These are all integrated in an avionics compartment. Lapiana notes though that a version of the Beluga with two HD cameras installed in stereo is also now available. Meanwhile, a wide range of gimbals and payloads are available for the ISR version, and Eurolink can customise the system to specific customer needs for special sensors. “The onboard electronics allow a wide suite of AI algorithms for obstacle avoidance and other advanced features,” says Enrico Remiddi, chief strategy officer at Eurolink. “And the use of common military interfaces for Ethernet, power, serial comms and other standards throughout the architecture allow fast and easy mounting of boards. “This modularity allows the use of some common components between our UGVs and UAVs. That simplifies the maintenance and logistics for many of our users, particularly in defence and security where they often need to get their system back out and on its next mission within a fewminutes.” Either civil or military transponders can be installed, withModes A, Cand S available, alongwith internal altitude sensors or encoders, Extended Squitter, and compliancewithDO-178C Level C, DO- 254 Level C, DO-160Gand other standards. Different tracking antenna ranges are offered aswell, fromonewith a 21 km range to omnidirectional two-axis antennaswith an effective range of 35 or 50 km. For different ISR mission sets, a wide array of different camera gimbals can be supplied and pre-installed, from a 140 g EO systemwith a 40x optical zoom and 2x digital zoom, to an EO/IR gimbal with a 30x optical zoom, 16x digital zoom and a laser rangefinder, for a total weight of 1500 g. Numerous other standalone sensors can also be installed, including Lidars, hyperspectral cameras, gas detection sensors and CBRN meters. Naturally, if users are satisfied with less than 60minutes of flight time, they can install more than 1.5 kg of payload sensors. If more computing power is needed than that offered by the GPU, Eurolink can also turn to themodularity inherent in the Beluga’s design by installing additional companion computers, be they GPUs, CPUs or FPGAs. Aerodynamics through biomimicry Explaining the UAV’s design principles, Lapiana says. “We started with the Beluga whale’s shape, before making it more aerodynamic in CAD, giving us more energy efficiency, speed and beauty.” That lattermost quality is a widely known Italian engineering philosophy. Belugas move through water by oscillating or ‘bobbing’ up and down, and in the UAV the quadrotors oscillate in a similar way during flight, pitching downwards to accelerate forwards. The UAV’s shape therefore helps it reach its 112 kph top speed without needing tiltrotors, a pusher propeller or other features typical of VTOL- transitioning fixed-wing UAVs. Notably, the hull is also tested and validated to withstand a range of environmental conditions, to suit the harsh operating theatres that military and emergency service members need to be able to fly it in. In addition to having trialled the Beluga in sustained flights at 6000 m above sea level, it has also been tested in temperatures from -25 to +50 oC. It is also designed to meet the IP67 rating for protection against moisture ingress, not only for withstanding rain but to enable landing on (and take-off from) water, by using O-rings and plastic gaskets at potential ingress points. Eurolink has also designed optional floats to keep any payloads above the water line. These extend the Beluga’s ability to take off and land on rough seas as well. Noise reduction Eurolink has sought to minimise the UAV’s noise output, for the sake of greater stealth in military operations and practicality reasons in urban airspace integration. “If you consider the growth in urban air mobility and the markets for autonomous drone deliveries and logistics, then humans might soon have hundreds of drones flying over their heads regularly, which will create immense noise pollution,” Lapiana notes. “But the type of noise and its effects are even more important. The US FAA April/May 2023 | Uncrewed Systems Technology A plexiglass window under the nose covers an 8 MP MPIP CSI-2 tiltable FPV camera, for vision-based AI tasks