108 Show report | Xponential 2024 Modules ecosystem, which enables it to integrate directly with sensors, process data immediately, and make it remotely accessible to soldiers equipped with the SRoC or other personnel and vehicles via a mesh network. Additional versions of the soldier-borne compute module are in development that will run on the Jetson Orin NX. Intelligent Energy is continuing to optimise and manufacture its larger fuel cells for UAV applications, showcasing its work in a demonstrator UAV integrating its 2.4 kW hydrogen fuel cell. “We’ve taken an airframe from Gryphon Dynamics in South Korea, a 3.7 kg YellowScan Navigator Lidar, along with COTS parts for couplings and joints,” noted Andy Kelly. “With our 2.4 kW fuel cell the system can fly 2.5 hours, compared with 30 minutes on battery alone. It flies with a 10.8 litre fuel tank, storing hydrogen pressurised to 350 bar.” As of writing, the 2.4 kW fuel cell is in rolling production and available as a COTS system, with a stock of several hundred maintained continuously. The company has capacity to ramp up production, which it anticipates will become necessary once BVLOS certification standards for UAV operations make 2.5 hour flights over the horizon legally permissible. “There are a few operators flying with Part 107 BVLOS waivers, to trial pipeline inspection, power line monitoring, and offshore flights. However, regulations will decide when things really take off, and a hydrogen fuel cell is needed for regular, routine BVLOS flights with a low-maintenance electric powertrain,” Kelly commented. MP Antenna showcased its multipolarised antenna technology. This is manually-constructed and -tuned to passively transmit or receive in more than one geometric orientation, giving in dynamic environments an advantage over standard, singularly-polarised antennas. “We manufacture and design our antennas from the ground-up in Elyria, Ohio, tuning our unique 3D elements to capture wider frequency ranges along with different polarisations than what’s possible with conventional PCB or dipole antennas,” explained Brent Miller. “Our proprietary approach to designing and manufacturing our antenna configurations in house allows for complete customisation to meet customer’s requirements while keeping lead time at a minimum. We provide our standard model lines but also provide custom solutions whether it be for frequency range, gain, mounting location, or any specific customer requirement.” VersaLogic announced its new Swift embedded computer. The system comes with a six-core Xeon processor from Intel, up to 32 GB of memory, 128 GB of NVME storage, two Gigabit Ethernet ports, and numerous USB ports. “The especially new thing about Swift compared with some of our other releases is that we’ve designed for more expansion sockets than usual; rather than have just one or two at most, Swift has three: one Mini PCIe socket and two different M.2s,” explained Chris Miller. “The extra sockets allow end-users to take our general-purpose computer and apply it at the edge to add extra functionalities they need for their uncrewed vehicles, without having to stack boards to do it. For example, we’ve got users that are working on installing 5G systems onto this board, and we have others using APUs such as those using Intel’s Movidius chips, to try and expand their AI inferencing capabilities.” The Swift weighs 476 g, measures 95 x 125 x 41 mm, and consumes 26 W in standard operations, operating over a 10-15 V DC supply. It functions in temperatures from -40° to +85°C and is rated to MILSTD-202H for shock and vibration. On Swift’s development origins, Miller explains, “When we released our Sabertooth product, we’d developed it as a two-board set, and the upper board - which we called the ‘Saber’ module - had the CPU, high-speed signalling, and the memory. The lower board carried the NVME storage and slower speed I/O, using a custom connector. “Swift is very similar to our June/July 2024 | Uncrewed Systems Technology Intelligent Energy’s demonstrator UAV integrated a 2.4 kW fuel cell as well as Yellowscan’s Navigator Lidar as a payload VersaLogic’s new Swift embedded computer comes with a six-core Intel Xeon processor, up to 32 GB of memory, 128 GB of NVME storage, two Gigabit Ethernet ports, and several USB ports
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