Launch & recovery | Focus without disruption from turbulent air, whether atop a van or under a vast, crewed aircraft. Similarly, the UAV can spool up its engines or motors freely without the pins disturbing them, and the device will release once enough power is achieved to enable a stable free flight. Several key details of the components are key to the solution working effectively. For one, having a UAV localise itself relative to a moving, constantly changing, local point of reference is a major challenge. Today, this relies on the launchand-recovery device using high-speed, optical, sensor-based tracking of UAVs with a 100 Hz update rate. Additionally, the wraparound software layer around the flight controller is fed by data up to 150 Hz from a separate, lightweight companion computer (to minimise interference with end-users’ existing hardware), which performs sensor fusion using data from both the UAV and the recovery system. The exact timing and selection of pins for closing on the UAV can be based on combined localisation data coming from both the aircraft and the launch-andrecovery system, or solely from the latter if minimising comms is important (as it tends to be for military users). Key advantages of the system include greatly reducing the launch and recovery costs of last-mile and point-to-point deliveries by UAV (with estimated 85-95% reductions, compared with conventional equipment). The system can also streamline deliveries by moving sensitive goods from container ships directly to trucks or trains, bypassing harbours and loading bays, and the accidents that sometimes happen there. The UAV may also stow itself in a nearby, appropriately equipped vehicle, rather than returning to its launch point if the former option is a more energy- and time-efficient course of action. The solution is now tapped for use in various applications, including moving military convoys, commercial package delivery, disaster relief, agriculture, and land and livestock management. Summary Despite the many new launch-andrecovery solutions that have appeared over the last decade, it is worth noting that none of the older ones have been made obsolete in a practical sense. Catapults, nets and hooks remain in use across numerous organisations, and the new, innovative forms are making step improvements and optimisations over what came before. As time goes on, the industry can expect to see an increasing number of solutions that are operated entirely remotely, and subsequently function in a fully automated fashion, such is the trend towards removing human technicians from potentially dull, dirty or dangerous work. Once that has been achieved, uncrewed motherships for launching and recovering vehicle swarms are likely to proliferate, given the mass survey 93 Uncrewed Systems Technology | December/January 2025 One solution for mobile recovery and launch combines pinned arrays with advanced localisation to catch fixed-wing UAVs without turbulence or damaging sensitive parts (Image courtesy of Target Arm) Key advantages of the system include reducing the launch and recovery costs of last-mile and point-to-point deliveries by UAV (85-95% reductions)
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