contributemore andmore towasteful heat build-ups, although advances in processors andmicro- or nano-electromechanics might mitigate that to some extent. Ifmicroturbine developers can re-use the exhaust heat and push the capabilities of their powertrains, it stands to reason that other subsystemmanufacturerswill try similar innovations, be it with their own components or byworkingwithOEMs to re-use heat across vehicle designs. Innovations such as thermovoltaics for instance –which convert heat into electricity, much as photovoltaics dowith light – could revolutionise energy efficiency across every part of the uncrewed systems market, with some groups activelyworking on thermovoltaic r&d specificallywith future generations of uncrewed vehicles inmind. Uncrewed systems everywhere Asmanufacturing and deployment of uncrewed systems becomesmore and more efficient, and regulations are agreed and passed, obstacles to thewidespread use of UAVs, USVs, UGVs andUUVswill become fewer and further between. As we have seen, AI is advancing rapidly, which is helping with the safety and capabilities of vehicles and robots, and the intelligence and reliability of swarms. This latter point is something of a sleeping giant with regards to what uncrewed vehicles in operation will look like in the decades ahead. The bulk of the GCS manufacturers we know are now very focused on how to enable one crew member to monitor and manage several uncrewed systems at once. Part of this is down to user-friendly hardware and UI configurations; the other is AI software that enables vehicles to communicate and deliberate among themselves. Through improvements in the latter, uncrewed assets can flexibly change their formations, movements and strategies to achieve high-level objectives. Some use cases for this are wellfounded, such as UGVs working in warehouses, UAVs providing wide-area mapping, and USVs and UUVs providing large-scale asset or border security. Beyond those, industry experts point to many other ways that autonomous swarms could help the world we live in. Natural disasters for instance could be rapidly mapped and assessed for damage and casualties by uncrewed systems spread over hundreds of kilometres. Other systems can then provide aid packages quickly to victims, or even recover and evacuate injured people – as seen with vehicles such as Zelim’s Guardian USV (see page 62) and Rheinmetall’s Mission Master UGV. But among all the trends we can anticipate for the future of this industry – be it scaling upmanufacturing, wider fields of innovation or surging growth of uncrewed systems around us in our day-to-day lives – the common feature is growth. The autonomous vehicles world has grown enormously over the past 10 years, with new end-users appearing every day, and uncrewed vehicles and robots takingmore andmore industries by storm. It has all surpassed our founders’ wildest hopes, and quashed their fears many had that the bubble might burst before our eyes – so much so, that some now question if there is even a bubble that risks bursting at all. In fact, with the pace of suppliers’ technological advances matching the ever-hungry demands of the uncrewed vehicle market, the only real bottleneck is people – that is, the ability of engineering teams and flight operations crews to attract the skilled personnel they need to get ahead of their competitors. But as we have seen from these past 50 issues, and from the thousands of companies who have supported us along the way – to whomwe give our unbounded thanks for their invaluable help – the uncrewed world has no shortage of inspiring stories with which to attract seasoned experts as well as new generations of talent. For more of those stories, we invite you to continue the journey with us, and see what the next 10 years have in store. As a final note though, anyone who cannot wait that long, and wants to know immediately what their next steps for high-quality employees or employment might be, should visit www.uncrewedengineeringjobs.com, the world’s only dedicated database with up-to-the-minute updates on available engineering and technical positions in companies dedicated to uncrewed systems and technologies. 35 Uncrewed Systems Technology | June/July 2023 Intelligent swarming of autonomous vehicles will become an increasing focal point of GCS development, and of many industries and applications (Courtesy of Autonodyne)
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