10 Skyryse has successfully implemented single-swipe takeoff and hover for a production helicopter for the first time, writes Nick Flaherty. Each time, Skyryse performed a textbook-perfect seamless and stable hover. While it wasn’t the first time the aircraft achieved this, having accomplished it countless times in test vessels, it is the first time it has been achieved in a fullyconforming, triple-redundant production unit without any backup conventional controls in the cockpit. “Until today, every helicopter ever built has taken off using basically the same mechanical controls that Igor Sikorsky used in his first flight 85 years ago,” said Dr Mark Groden, CEO of Skyryse. NexAIoT in Taiwan has developed an autonomous mobile robot platform using an AI accelerator from Kneron, writes Nick Flaherty. The NexMOV-2 uses the Kneron KL730 neural-processing unit for SLAM and obstacle avoidance, and it replaces a 2D Lidar laser sensor with a camera via an integrated image signal processor (ISP). The chip is automotive-qualified for reliability, and it has four ARM Cortex-A55 processor cores alongside a neural processor unit, a vision digital-signal processor (DSP) based on the Tensilica DSP core from Cadence Design Systems and the ISP. The A55 cores and integrated units provide the performance of up to 4 tera operations per second (TOPS). This is four times more power-efficient than the earlier Kneron AI chips. “Running AI requires AI-dedicated chips with an architecture that is completely different from anything we’ve seen before. The NexMOV-2 AGV engine-start with the swipe of a finger – will allow any pilot, regardless of experience level, to achieve a perfect takeoff every time with just the swipe of a finger.” Skyryse updated its SkyOS universal operating system to be scalable to make any aircraft optionally piloted. SkyOS runs on SkySentinel, a proprietary, tripleredundant computer and fully-digitised, fly-by-wire backbone, developed by the company. “The benefit of digitising the controls is that it gives us the flexibility to create the most ergonomically-advanced cockpit ever designed,” said Groden. “This updated design not only makes the aircraft easier and safer to operate, but also allows us to create a truly modern cockpit that will become the standard for aviation.” the NexMOV-2 demonstrates the potential of integrating Kudan’s Visual SLAM technology to address complex localisation challenges across diverse operational environments. By relying solely on Visual SLAM for positioning and AI-powered 3D vision for navigation, the NexMOV-2 proves how advanced visual perception can enhance the performance of autonomous mobile robots while streamlining hardware and reducing costs,” said Tian Hao, chief operating officer at Kudan. Airborne vehicles Ground vehicles Takeoff with the swipe of a finger Robot with advanced visual perception “This latest accomplishment – following our successful achievement of the world’s first fully-automated autorotation, the world’s first aircraft flown with a single control stick, and the world’s first A simple re-appropriation of adjacent technologies, such as graphics-dedicated GPU chips, simply isn’t going to do the job,” says Albert Liu, founder and CEO of Kneron. The SLAM software comes from Kudan Global and runs on the ROS2 robot operating system. The Kneron chip can run the same transformer AI frameworks used in ChatGPT that are improving the detection of objects in images. Our collaboration with NexAIoT on xx Platform one February/March 2025 | Uncrewed Systems Technology SkyOS allows autonomous helicopter operation (Image courtesy of Skyryse)
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