Xponential 2023 | Show report GNSS and so on. Another screen featured a top-down map with GNSS waypoints for the mission at hand, and the last screen featured a wider-area strategic map for managing multiple fleets and tracking other air traffic. Honeywell also introduced its Versawave satcom solution with 5G capabilities. Given the expense of satcom, it anticipates being able to lower customer costs substantially by offering a 5G data link for when UAVs are flying at low altitudes. “Versawave will manage the link automatically, so that when the quality of the 5G or 4G link degrades due to position, it’ll switch over to satcom seamlessly, with the IP address carrying over regardless,” Shah said. “The new product will start shipping in the summer this year.” Honeywell also showcased its Resilient Navigation Solutions for GNSS-denied environments. This consists of a threelayer approach, made up of Infinidome’s GPSDome null-steering beam for mitigating GNSS jamming sources, onboard INS navigation solutions, and a radar for velocity-based drift correction. Manta Air exhibited its latest UAV recovery and safety solutions, with a specific focus on developing and manufacturing parachutes and airbags for multi-rotors, VTOLs and fixed-wing systems without landing gear. The company specialises in intricate development processes, using advanced methods and proven techniques through extensive field experiments and analyses, and also has in-house equipment for conducting experiments on newly developed parachutes and airbags. “Our parachutes and airbags are reusable as long as they remain undamaged; we have UAV clients who have used our solutions multiple times for different missions,” said Olga Grab. For fixed-wing UAVs, the company’s parachutes typically do not integrate launching systems. The airflow generated when the parachute housing doors open at high speeds swiftly and effortlessly inflates the parachute. “However, for multi-rotors and VTOLtransitioning craft, we install active launching systems to rapidly deploy the parachute and decelerate the vehicle’s descent,” explained Grab. “Safety regulations increasingly demand back-up safety systems for VTOL drones in case of rotor failure, especially when flying over people. That’s where our solutions play a crucial role.” Manta Air also offers advanced flotation devices for operations in marine environments. They are installed on aircraft flying over water. In the event of an emergency where the aircraft falls into the water, the flotation device is automatically activated upon contact. It inflates and enables the aircraft to float on the surface, preventing it from sinking. Ultra Motion launched two new actuator products at the show, one of which was its first ever rotary actuator (the company having until now produced only linear actuators). “The T3 Series is a rotary brushless DC servo, which incorporates features such as our integrated BLDC control electronics with CAN comms, contactless absolute feedback, D38999 connectors, and our shock and vibrationhardened design for withstanding harsh environments,” said Rob Koch. The T3 Series actuator communicates over CAN 2.0B, RS-485, and RC PWM, and provides torque of up to 19.2 Nmwith speeds up to 400 o/s. The company also showcased its soon-to-be-released L2 Series of BLDC linear actuators, which are far smaller than the A-Series Servo Cylinder. It has the same comms interfaces and absolute position sensing as the Servo Cylinder and T3, and produces up to 362.87 kg of peak force with speeds up to 15.24 cm/s. “The L2 is a single-motor design currently, but we’re planning to release a redundant version with two motors, two controllers and so on for higher reliability by the end of this year,” Koch added. “We’re also showing our R Series linear actuators, which are our highest power density solution for applications like thrust vector control, and can deliver up to 567 kg of force,” he said. 81 Uncrewed Systems Technology | June/July 2023
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