76 we now offer three configurations of it. “The X60 Uno is a single-motor system for UAVs with one propeller, ESC and motor per arm, and it integrates an ESC inside its mounting hub for straightforward cooling. The X60 Duo doubles up on that for a coaxial, two-rotor architecture, and the third iteration features a customisable, bulkier profile and interface on the drone arm, for things like mounting programmable LEDs that can serve as green or red warning lights.” The X60 Uno weighs 685 g, outputs 8.2 kg of continuous thrust on a 44 V (12 S battery) input, and can support a 20 kg MTOW quadrotor or a 30 kg MTOW hexacopter. The X60 Duo produces 13.5 kg of continuous thrust and is designed for up to 30 kg MTOW X8 (four-armed) octocopters, with each Duo theoretically supporting 7.5 kg of MTOW. Alva also showcased the X80motor, which is designed for UAVs around 50% heavier than the X60’s users. It is still in r&d, with commercialisation to follow after further development andmarket research into ideal users, but it will produce up to 21.5 kg of thrust with a 32 in propeller, and ideally power a 30 kgMTOWquadcopter. “And our FiberPrinting tech enables all these products to be the first slotless e-motors with high power density,” Franzen added. “We can design them as inrunners or outrunners, and they produce no torque cogging, with very good step response of the thrust output.” Custom battery manufacturer and charging system manufacturer Amicell came to the exhibition to showcase its mobile energy solutions for use in UAVs and robots. Among the solutions Amicell presented were its Universal Battery Analyzers for small UAV battery packs, which in addition to recharging batteries will generate test reports on the conditions of packs. “With these, UAV flight operators, maintenance technicians and manufacturers can test and closely track the health and performance levels of their batteries, for greater flight safety and maintenance costeffectiveness,” said Amit Manor. The company currently offers the UBA5, which handles packs with capacities from 10 Ah to 120 Ah and up to 2 A of load current per channel when analysing multiple fully charged batteries (or up to 3 A or 45 W from batteries being recharged), and the UBA5 which is compatible with batteries from 0.5 Ah to 120 Ah and up to 150 W per channel when analysing multiple fully-charged batteries (or up to 5A or 240 W from batteries being recharged). Both systems are compatiblewith modern lithium-ion and lithium-polymer chemistries such as LFP, NiMH and Ni-Cd, and can handle battery voltages up to 70 V. “We also have high energy density battery packs – 320 Wh/kg from our lithium-polymer pouch cells – which we can customise for dimensions and form factors, and fit into wings or even tails,” Manor added. We last featured the Cobra Aero in issue 44 (June/July 2022) and its A99H two-stroke engine, which is designed as a spark-ignited, liquid-cooled I3 and optimised for running on heavy fuel. These days the engine is being integrated into a UAV being produced by L3Harris for the US military. “The newest tech we’ve integrated into this platform is Power4Flight’s IntelliGen, which regulates the power from the A99H’s generator such that it can be stored in a HV battery, for instance in dedicated VTOL rotor packs, or delivered via a LV bus for payloads and avionics,” commented Sean Hilbert. “IntelliGen can also preheat and start a heavy-fuel engine using HV lift battery packs; then, during warm-up, we can put that energy back into the battery. We’ve also installed some optimised air ducts underneath for tight integration of the cooling system. They’re much smaller, lower-drag ducts than you’d need for an air-cooled system, just to deliver air to our radiator.” Cobra has also delivered the first unit of its A99S, a series-hybrid version of the A99H, to its alpha-tester customer. It is a 4.5 kW system (when running at 6500 rpm), with a future iteration planned that will run at 9000 rpm to produce 9 kW of shaft power, 8 kW of which the company June/July 2023 | Uncrewed Systems Technology Cobra Aero’s A99H heavy-fuel engine is to be packaged and integrated for one of L3Harris’ UAVs
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