28 the pusher propeller arrangement (which sees the engine and prop placed at the back), minimises the risk of occlusion from propeller blades and other devices, and maximises opportunities for clear, wide field-of-view (FoV) surveys. “We have avoided standardising the kind of payload bay where gimbals get slung under the fuselage – common in other fixed-wing UAVs. Forgoing that for a design where the main payload forms part of the aerodynamic profile helps keep our OML [outer mould line] streamlined and aerodynamically efficient,” Hartley says. “Through partnering Hood Tech Vision, we’ve made standard offerings of differently articulating and tilting gimbals, with both EO-only [electro-optical] and multi-sensor EO/IR [infrared] solutions for housing different sensors. The nose features our pitot-static system, with the pitot tube and static ports on the side of the payload module, as that ensures we’re getting the cleanest ram air, for the sake of getting accurate air data to the autopilot for flight.” The fuselage’s cylindrical form factor enables a high degree of modularity, which most often takes the shape of conformal ‘slices’ containing extra subsystems to be inserted between standard sections of the UAV. These might, for instance, contain additional, mission-specific payloads, and hence sit between the payload nose and the main fuselage, although such systems can also integrate at the back. A GNSS antenna installs atop the main fuselage, and aft of the fuselage, the fuel module contains the standard fuel tank, which runs into the propulsion module. Body of Integrator Like the ScanEagle, the Integrator is designed with payload and pitot static systems at the nose, and the propulsion module at the rear. “We follow a similar subsystem layout as ScanEagle in that we want any optical systems as far away from the engine as possible to prevent occlusion- and vibration-related interference,” Todorov says. “While that is true of almost any UAV design layout, our users will often integrate something like our Alticam 14 EO/IR turret, in which the imager’s optical zoom narrows down as precise as 0.13o for long-distance ISR, so it really is incumbent on us, as the platform designer, to mitigate as much vibration from being induced into the stabilised gimbal as possible.” Integrator’s blended-wing body affords significant and advantageous internal space for fuel, with multiple different fuel-tank sections conformal with the OML and its aerodynamic profile, to tailor total fuel capacity for varying mission needs. These tend to cluster around the main fuselage module, which again contains the aforementioned avionics module, as well as boards for power and signal routing from Integrator’s two payload bays (the second, larger payload bay is installed below the main fuselage section), the data link and actuator systems in the wings and winglets, and the propulsion and generator systems at the rear. “Integrator also features an empennage connected to the fuselage’s wing roots via two carbon booms. It’s in the empennage where we typically carry transponders, and there is optional space for extras or other mission-specific systems,” Todorov notes. A total of eight control surfaces are distributed across the wings and twin-tail empennage: two flaps and two ailerons in the wings, as well as two rudders and two elevators in the empennage. As with the ScanEagle, Integrator’s engineers tend to put their comms antennas (for radio and transponder functions) in the June/July 2024 | Uncrewed Systems Technology Dossier | Insitu ScanEagle VTOL & Integrator VTOL The Integrator has eight control surfaces across its wings and twin-tail empennage – two flaps, two ailerons, two rudders and two elevators
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