101 Aero Systems West presented its Heavy Lift Multicopter industrial range. Built in the US, the UAVs can comply with Department of Defense ‘Blue UAS’ requirements for military and federal applications, based on where the vehicles and their components are made, said Daniel Neal. The largest is the proven Heavy Lift Octocopter Industrial Drone. With a take-off weight of 43-72 kg, it carries payloads of up to almost 32 kg and can fly for over 50 minutes. Motors, electronic speed controllers and propellers come from KDE, batteries from MaxAmps and the flight controller is Cube Pilot’s Orange Cube, with the Blue Cube optional for government requirements. “The primary navigation sensor is a dual-blended setup of the Cube Pilot Here3+ GNSS system,” Neal added. “Almost everything else we either cut, manufacture, assemble or solder in-house. “It’s a fully open-source system, so you can integrate whatever you want onto it. We’re a payload-agnostic, airframe OEM. Each customer wants a different payload and we will integrate that for them, or we can deliver the ready-to-fly aircraft and they can integrate it.” The company also offers a hexacopter and a quadcopter on the same basis. Airspace Link presented Air Hub Portal, through which the majority of US pilots access the company’s UASrelated information services. Rich Fahle emphasises its role in facilitating uncrewed flight operations, particularly through the Low Altitude Authorization and Notification Capability (LAANC) and as an FAA-approved B4UFLY flight-safety service provider, delivering information about controlled and special use airspace, critical infrastructure, airports and information on temporary flight restrictions for special events. At the core of Air Hub Portal is technology that supports diverse UAS activities, ranging from corporate asset management to city coordination for public safety and logistics. The company helps cities prepare for future uncrewed operations, including inspection services, deliveries, and eVTOL air taxis. Many cities are ill-prepared for this shift, and Airspace Link acts as a facilitator, helping communities understand the need for coordinated drone operations, Fahle said. Fahle highlights Air Hub Portal’s unique features, such as integration with Esri’s GIS data, which provides real-time flight-safety information, easing flight planning. “We are the only app that has Esri’s GIS data integrated into the software,” Fahle explained. Airspace Link’s technology is built on open architecture principles, allowing other service providers and technologies to be incorporated into the platform. Anello Photonics discussed its Silicon Photonics Optical Gyroscope (SiPhOG) miniature inertial-sensing technology for navigation in GNSSdenied environments. Gerhard Boiciuc said SiPhOG is the world’s first optical gyroscope on a chip, which brings greater accuracy than micro-electromechanical system (MEMS) gyros while being much smaller and cheaper than fibre-optic gyros (FOGs). “The technology brings high-precision FOG performance in small-form factor on a silicon platform that can be scaled to high volume, which MEMS cannot do,” Boiciuc said. “The idea is to create something small, accurate, reliable and robust that’s not susceptible to temperature and vibrations, and easily used for autonomous applications.” “The current bias instability for our first-generation product is at 0.5o per hour. Most MEMS are around 3-5o an hour or higher. Similar-performance FOGs are much bigger, consume more power and are much more expensive. A bias instability of 0.5o per hour seems to be sufficient for most autonomous applications,” he added. Mario Paniccia said the core of the SiPhOG consists of a photonics integrated circuit (PIC). “This PIC allows us to integrate all the discrete components into a single chip.” Available now are: the Anello X3, a three-axis inertial measurement unit Commercial UAV Expo | Show report Uncrewed Systems Technology | October/November 2024 SiPhOG miniature inertial-sensor package, pictured to the right of the Cube autopilot (Images courtesy of Peter Donaldson)
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