Unmanned Systems Technology 033 l SubSeaSail Gen6 USSV l Servo actuators focus l UAVs insight l Farnborough 2020 update l Transforma XDBOT l Strange Development REVolution l Radio telemetry focus

56 Update | Farnborough Airshow 2020 capability as in its predecessor. And all third-generation Ellipse products will be made available in OEM form factors, for tighter integration where size and weight are at a higher premium. The Ellipse-D, for example, measures 29.5 x 25.5 x 16 mm, weighs 17 g without its enclosure and 65 g when covered. “To qualify, test and calibrate our new INSs, we used our latest calibration algorithms and multi-axis rotary tables that we purpose-developed for producing higher performance sensors,” Leplomb added. Tecnalia spoke to us about its ‘aerotaxi’ for autonomous urban transport. The craft has been designed around carrying a single passenger, to reduce its footprint (with the hub measuring 2 x 2 x 1.8 m) and make integration easier in urban environments. It has a wide rear access port to enable the passenger to enter it while standing. Antonio Bardasco Monge said, “The main technical difference compared to other similar urban air mobility designs is that it is an over-actuated aircraft – all its degrees of freedom can be commanded independently. This offers great advantages over other aircraft architectures when you fly in adverse conditions such as strong winds, or when you have to perform manoeuvres in which accuracy or stability is critical, such as take-off and landing in tight areas.” This propulsion architecture incorporates four quadrotor-like sets of rotors, meaning 16 propeller drives in total. They adjust relative to the hub using passive mechanical joints for flight stability, and will enable a top speed of 90 kph, or potentially up to 190 kph, at altitudes of 300 m or higher depending on legislation. UAV Navigation has launched two new versions of its foremost UAV guidance products. “The Vector-400 has been designed for the needs of our fixed-wing clients, such as unmanned aerial targets [UATs] and catapult-launched UAVs,” David Pinta said. It weighs 210 g, or 255 g when packaged with a built-in data link, measures 74.5 x 68 x 58 mm and consumes 2.5 W in standard operations. Measurements of pitch and yaw are output to 0.5 º accuracy, and in GNSS outages the drift under dead reckoning is limited to 30 m/minute. “Development of the Vector-400 started when we decided our AP04 autopilot for UATs needed updating,” Pinta recounts. “Also, the system includes complex manoeuvres such as sea-skimming. These high-speed and low-altitude wave-level flights increase the difficulty of detecting the UATs, enabling special tests with radars and other systems.” Also newly launched is the Polar-500, an advanced version of the company’s Polar-300 attitude and heading reference system. The Polar-500 incorporates a dual-GNSS compass for enabling precise heading in static and dynamic situations (even without a calibrated magnetometer), and can now communicate using the ARINC-429 protocol for antenna steering, based on requests for these features from the UAV community. The Polar-500 consumes up to 2 W, weighs 170 g, and matches the Vector-400 for pitch and roll accuracy. MicroLink Devices told us about its latest thin-film solar panels, development of which was supported by the US DoD’s Rapid Reaction Technology Office (RRTO), explicitly for optimising MicroLink’s flexible solar sheet array performance for pseudo- satellite-type UAVs. “High specific power generation relative to mass is critical for enabling the multi-month endurances of HALE UAVs and operations at high altitudes and in the winter months,” Ray Chan said. Under the RRTO programme, MicroLink has further reduced the mass of its triple- junction (TJ) inverted metamorphic (IMM) epitaxial lift-off (ELO) PV cells. The latest demonstrated result was a flexible solar array panel with a specific power output of more than 1600 W/kg. “The efficiency of our TJ IMM ELO solar cell technology now exceeds 30% AM0 [the solar spectrum in zero-atmospheric conditions] at 25 C, which is August/September 2020 | Unmanned Systems Technology Tecnalia’s autonomous urban aerotaxi The Vector-400 from UAV Navigation