112 and several areas of customisability, including filters and visual/audio alerts for targets entering predefined ranges or geofences for flight-safety restrictions.” Sunhillo’s surveillance technology ecosystem includes software for the fusion of surveillance data; a key solution for users who possess multiple radars and/or ADS-B sensors, and are at risk of target overlap and cluttering on a visualisation display. This data fusion is used at multiple US Military ranges, and it will be deployed to NASA and AFWERX for a digital Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) operations centre for uncrewed systems. “Sunhillo also has ADS-B receiver technology, which is currently deployed in all branches of the US military, usable via a simple plug-and-play installation with an antenna, and it can receive targets up to 200 miles [321 km] away,” Walczak added. Vector Technics attended the expo to showcase its capabilities in manufacturing bespoke BLDC electricmotor and motor-controller designs. “As well as providing electric propulsion and power-distribution solutions for highend UAV manufacturers, we provide our manufacturing capabilities to overseas electric-motor companies. CR Flight, for instance, have chosen Vector Technics to manufacture their counter-rotating electric-motor product, which involves their patented eVector technology,” said Prudhvi Raj of Vector Technics. “Traditional manufacturing facilities are filled with mechanical engineers and technicians of that sort, but we’re all aeronautical engineers and pilots who have built UAVs. So when a customer comes to us, we don’t offer them an off-the-shelf motor; we ask them about their aircraft: its design, its aerodynamics, its weight and so on. We’ve brought in expertise in electronics, aerodynamics, materials science, coatings and more to cover all possible ways to optimise an electric UAV powertrain.” Further key assets in Vector Technics’ manufacturing are the use of Litz wire in its stators, and a policy of completing comprehensive design and development cycles within two weeks of a consultation with a customer. “That includes finishing a first prototype for them to trial,” Raj says. “We will design both outrunner and inrunner motors, and linear motor actuators, as well as rotary ones, with integrated sensors upon request; and as well as accommodating most any constraint the customer specifies in the custom design, everything we produce is mil-certified, so they can be flown in NATO aircraft.” FT Technologies discussed with us one of its wind sensors, which has recently been updated with integrated barometric pressure following customer requests. “It was previously known as the FT742, but with the added capability we’ve renamed it the FT743, and putting it on a UAV means you can now also measure altitude using barometric pressure data,” said Gordon Bease at FT Technologies. “Our Acoustic Resonance coremeasurement technology is unique and exclusive to FT Technologies. It is the only ultrasonic wind measurement technology that is immune to vibration and external noise. Our customers are using our sensors on multi-rotor craft and fixed-wing drones to provide critical meteorological information to assist in applications such as methaneleak quantification, windfarm energy production analysis, wildfire monitoring, atmospheric profiling, scout drones [and] Pitot tube replacement, etc.” The FT743 weighs 252 g, measures 71.2 mm tall, can detect wind speeds from 0-75 m/s, and operates in temperatures from –40 C to 85 C. Silvus Technologies showcased its DOCK StreamCaster, DOCK ULTRA SL4210P, a body-mounted, tactical networking system with integrated EUD, MANET radio mesh networking, edge computing and AI processing capabilities. “We integrated our StreamCaster 4200 radio with a Samsung S23TE EUD [end-user device] in one compact, chest-mounted unit, providing the warfighter with video, voice and IP data communications, and instantly access Android Tactical Assault Kit [ATAK], and Intra-Soldier Wireless and Nett Warrior connected devices,” said Brad Carraway at Silvus. “It takes them from a personal area network to a wide-area mesh network instantaneously, and utilises unified power for both the MANET radio and the EUD, removing 36% of the cabling and weight than if you just ran those two systems separately about your person.” As well as using ATAK to tap into any connected UAV’s sensor feed, the DOCK ULTRA SL4210P integrates an nVidia Jetson Nano AI for AI-powered object August/September 2024 | Uncrewed Systems Technology Sunhillo’s Margate II ADS-B receiver FT Technologies’ wind sensor
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MjI2Mzk4