72 Show report | Xponential 2023 as a transmission power of 26 dBm at 2.4 GHz or 24 dBm at 5.8 GHz. It consumes 6 W in operation and communicates over a range of 10 km at 2.4 GHz or 5 km at 5.8 GHz; it can also provide transmission/reception diversity and dynamic frequency selection. “We’re also releasing the ViuRC5, an Android-based GCS that has a 5.5 in touchscreen and a built-in dual-band radio link,” added Yan Li. “We’ve designed it as a low-cost solution to make it easier for UAV manufacturers to integrate.” The handheld ViuRC5 weighs 793 g, is powered by 7800 mAh of batteries and runs for 6 hours between charges. Microlink Devices spoke with us about a new form factor being used in the design of its thin-film solar cells. “Our current solar cells are 20 cm2 rectangular cells, and when we cut those out of the circular semiconductor wafers we fabricate, we naturally end up with a lot of wasted material in the corners,” explained David Tyler. “That means we only get about 4.5 W per wafer, and the wafer is where most of the manufacturing cost is concentrated. “But nowwe’re developing what we call a Quartex cell, which is shaped as a quarter of a circle, so when we cut those out, the area of wastedmaterial is much less.” The company expects this to increase the cost-effectiveness with which its solar panels are manufactured, particularly as the Quartex design uses the semiconductor material more efficiently, and requires fewer connectors and welds per unit area than the smaller rectangular cells. “It’s generally a much neater cell than before, which also means you get far more power for the same area or mass of array,” Tyler added. “And on top of improving our solar technology, our work with the AeroVironment Puma means we’re now getting interest from a couple June/July 2023 | Uncrewed Systems Technology Taisync’s Viulinx DUO dual-band radio Microlink’s AeroVironment Puma AE is motivating some companies to retrofit their own UAVs with solar cells
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MjI2Mzk4