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94 In operation | UAV Factory Penguin C mechanical and thermal stresses, aiding the longevity of the powerplant after it is handed over to its end-user. The aircraft and engine are rated to a maximum operating altitude of 5 km. They can operate in ambient temperatures of between -40 and +50 C, in up to 5 mm/hour of rain (the Fukushima area has a wet climate). Furthermore, the Penguin C can remain in contact with its GCS over 100 km, more than satisfying the project’s minimum operational range of 5 km. A data link secures the command reception from (and data stream to) JDrone’s GCS and Clear Pulse’s radiological equipment, on the 2.3, 2.4, 2.5 or 5.8 GHz bands. However, flight control is handled autonomously, using a Piccolo autopilot from Cloud Cap Technology, freeing up the team to focus on incoming measurement data. Scramble and launch Until it receives an alert from the power plant, the Tokyo Electric Power Company or some other pertinent group, the Penguin C and its equipment are expected to be stored in a central station for quick retrieval. They can then be transported to within a safe distance from the accident. It is worth noting that while many UASs require bulky transportation containers and vehicles for moving small, fixed- wing aircraft and their peripherals, all the systems delivered by UAV Factory are collapsible. Each is thus packaged into a man-portable handheld container, and they can all be loaded into the back of a small truck or normal passenger car for fast deployment. “Since the UAS has a very small logistical footprint, it was no trouble sending all the systems by air cargo, as we normally do,” UAV Factory’s CEO Konstantins Popiks says. “Most UAVs and catapults for this kind of endurance are much larger, and face bigger disruptions as a result, but we designed ours so that everything in their cases would fit together on a single standard pallet.” The Penguin C’s wings collapse into three separate sections, as does its inverted-vee tail. The twin booms joining these two aerofoils are removed from the mid-wing and the tail ends. The fuselage meanwhile breaks into two parts, with the avionics and payload bay in the front section and the engine and prop in the rear (and a few detachable coverings associated with either half that also come off for transport and maintenance). This disassembly enables the UAV to fit into a standard- issue ruggedised case measuring about 1300 x 700 mm. The exact launch location will vary. Depending on the reported epicentre of the accident, several potential points for setting up a command centre and the pneumatic catapult will be established beforehand. Like the UAV, the catapult is collapsible, but it comes with a higher degree of modularity. Its carriage rail is formed from identical, interchangeable sections that can be added or removed as needed, to construct a launch system with the length (and hence launching power) appropriate for the end-user’s needs. “The angle also changes as the catapult gets longer, but that doesn’t matter much because the Penguin C will pitch and steer upwards as soon as it has a manageable airspeed, to get to the mission altitude as quickly as possible,” Popiks adds. “The launch energy is the most important thing, which is usually measured in kilojoules. A catapult with a four-piece, 4 m rail nominally produces 6 kJ; a six- piece, 6 m rail produces around 12 kJ.” The modularity comes as a result of having the same quick-connection systems on the ends of every carriage piece. It is a specialised joint mechanism developed by UAV Factory that uses internally threaded connections August/September 2020 | Unmanned Systems Technology The Penguin C was chosen over other UAVs for its long endurance, autonomy, technological maturity and follow-up support options (Courtesy of UAV Factory) Most UAVs and catapults for this kind of endurance are much larger, but everything for ours fits on a standard pallet