16 Dr Donough Wilson Dr Wilson is innovation lead at aviation, defence, and homeland security innovation consultants, VIVID/ futureVision. His defence innovations include the cockpit vision system that protects military aircrew from asymmetric high-energy laser attack. He was first to propose the automatic tracking and satellite download of airliner black box and cockpit voice recorder data in the event of an airliner’s unplanned excursion from its assigned flight level or track. For his ‘outstanding and practical contribution to the safer operation of aircraft’ he was awarded The Sir James Martin Award 2018/19, by the Honourable Company of Air Pilots. Paul Weighell Paul has been involved with electronics, computer design and programming since 1966. He has worked in the realtime and failsafe data acquisition and automation industry using mainframes, minis, micros and cloud-based hardware on applications as diverse as defence, Siberian gas pipeline control, UK nuclear power, robotics, the Thames Barrier, Formula One and automated financial trading systems. Ian Williams-Wynn Ian has been involved with uncrewed and autonomous systems for more than 20 years. He started his career in the military, working with early prototype uncrewed systems and exploiting imagery from a range of systems from global suppliers. He has also been involved in ground-breaking research including novel power and propulsion systems, sensor technologies, communications, avionics and physical platforms. His experience covers a broad spectrum of domains from space, air, maritime and ground, and in both defence and civil applications including, more recently, connected autonomous cars. Professor James Scanlan Professor Scanlan is the director of the Strategic Research Centre in Autonomous Systems at the University of Southampton, in the UK. He also co-directs the Rolls-Royce University Technical Centre in design at Southampton. He has an interest in design research, and in particular how complex systems (especially aerospace systems) can be optimised. More recently, he established a group at Southampton that undertakes research into uncrewed aircraft systems. He produced the world’s first ‘printed aircraft’, the SULSA, which was flown by the Royal Navy in the Antarctic in 2016. He also led the team that developed the ULTRA platform, the largest UK commercial UAV, which has flown BVLOS extensively in the UK. He is a qualified full-size aircraft pilot and also has UAV flight qualifications. Dr David Barrett Dr David Barrett’s career includes senior positions with companies such as iRobot and Walt Disney Imagineering. He has also held posts with research institutions including the Charles Stark Draper Laboratory, MIT and Olin College, where he is now Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Robotics, and Principal Investigator for the Olin Intelligent Vehicle Laboratory. He also serves in an advisory capacity on the boards of several robotics companies. Uncrewed Systems Technology’s consultants Flying Ship in the US has shown the design of an autonomous sea-skimming vessel that is 10 times faster than a boat and a quarter of the cost of an aircraft, writes Nick Flaherty. It has performed over 70 test flights using ground effect, flying 2 m above water. This wing-in-ground (WIG) design uses the extra lift that comes from the reflection of air from the surface of the wafer as the craft ‘flies’. This creates a cushion of air that boosts the overall efficiency of the design. Five different-sized craft are planned, capable of carrying loads from 20 kg, with a 10 ft wingspan as a test vehicle for the sensors up to 2500 kg with a range of 2,300 nautical miles. Sister company Ground Effect Technology is developing the design, which uses a Lidar laser sensor to detect obstacles and maintain a maximum height above the waves of 2 m (6 ft). This means the design will operate alongside other waterborne craft and must use the same collision avoidance rules as conventional shipping – a key requirement for autonomous algos. This puts the craft into the Class A category in the Maritime Regulations, which allows for operation only in ground effect. The first version being designed is 36 ft long with a fully electric motor able to carry a 1100 kg (2500 lb) payload with a 300 nautical mile range. A larger version is being planned to carry larger payloads using a hybrid electric powertrain that generates power for the electric motors from a generator using traditional fuels. Using the ground effect and constant load generator together increases the efficiency of the design, allowing a longer range or larger payload. Ground effect lets the craft land on a beach or small slipway to deliver supplies to out-of-the-way locations and disaster zones where docks are unavailable. Autonomous vessels Autonomous seaskimmer performs over 70 test flights February/March 2025 | Uncrewed Systems Technology Using ground effect for an autonomous marine craft (Image courtesy of Flying Ship)
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MjI2Mzk4