Uncrewed Systems Technology

The era of UAVs has ushered in a variety of new approaches to power and propulsion as uncrewed aircraft manufacturers race to offer improved flight endurance, lower maintenance overheads, better fuel efficiencies, less vibration and other advantages over their competitors. Some powertrain types, previously consigned to minimal, niche use cases, have experienced commercial uptake and success among UAVs, such as Wankel engines and proton exchange membrane fuel cells. Some readers may eagerly rush to point out the perennial issues of these solutions, but the fact remains that they are today widely flown on both military and civilian platforms alike – for the various advantages they provide and for modern innovations that overcome key drawbacks or barriers to their use. While technologies such as sleeve valves and rotating cylinder valves have also contributed to highly successful and mass-produced aircraft engines, their use faded out after World War II, partially due to being outpaced by advancements in turbine engines. But with the tighter engineering tolerances now possible through modern design, material and manufacturing techniques, engines using rotary valves are making a comeback, as we have seen with RCV Engines (Issue 5) in Dorset, Britain and Strange Development (Issue 33; now Alpha-Otto Technologies) in Michigan, USA. Further west in Washington state, Avadi Engines is a company that has gained attention for its lightweight, compact, low-vibration engine designs, particularly its MA-250 prototype, which used a sleeve valve for the highly reduced part count (and hence simplicity, weight and maintenance advantages) over conventional, poppet-valve four-strokes. More recently, the company, led by CEO Landon Wilkinson, has thoroughly and definitively reworked the design of its flagship product, integrating the rotating liner technologies of its CTO, Dr. Dimitrios Dardalis, to overcome some key limitations of the sleeve valve and achieve its collective vision of an ideal engine for modern UAVs, with improvements in fuel economy and maintenance. That vision is presented in the XMD 250 four-stroke, spark-ignited, naturally aspirated engine, which is anticipated to weigh 25 lb or less (14.1 kg), and produce 13 kW of indicated power and 31 Nm of torque at an operating speed of 4000 rpm. Wilkinson says power may increase by 15% or more after the intake and exhaust ports have been optimised via CFD. As standard, the system has a horizontally disposed single cylinder and piston at the back, with the piston thrusting forwards into a crankcase, which features an oil pan beneath and an output shaft for directly driving a propeller in front. Read more ➡ https://lnkd.in/eHFCqgQj #uncrewedsystemstechnology #UAV #sleevevalveengine #autonomoussystems #uncrewedvehicles

Single-photon Lidar maps challenging terrain Researchers in China have developed a compact, lightweight single-photon airborne Lidar system, which can acquire high-resolution 3D images with a low-power laser. The system, developed at the University of Science and Technology at Hefei in China, could make single photon Lidar practical for air and space applications such as environmental monitoring, 3D terrain mapping and object identification. Single-photon Lidar uses detection techniques to measure the time it takes laser pulses to travel to objects and back. It is particularly useful for airborne applications because it enables highly accurate 3D mapping of terrain and objects even in challenging environments such as dense vegetation or urban areas. “Using single-photon Lidar technology on resource-limited UAVs or satellites requires shrinking the entire system and reducing its energy consumption,” said researcher Feihu Xu. “This employs the lowest laser power and the smallest optical aperture, while still maintaining good performance in terms of detection range and imaging resolution.” Read more ➡ https://lnkd.in/er27rbHm #uncrewedsystemstechnology #Lidar #mapping #autonomoussystems #UAV

Navigate the world of uncrewed systems with our engineer-focused supplier directory. To access the online version, click here ➡ https://lnkd.in/enSmXQZb Featured Category: Cable harnesses As the world embraces the transformative potential of uncrewed vehicles and autonomous machinery, the demand for reliable components and services has never been greater. Finding the right service provider is crucial to the success of your project. If you are searching for cable harnesses, we have seven companies in our supplier directory that can help… Click Bond Harwin LEMO GROUP Northwest UAV (NWUAV) Omnetics Connector Corporation PIDSO--Propagation Ideas and Solutions St Cross Electronics Ltd #uncrewedsystemstechnology #cableharnesses #autonomoussystems #uncrewedvehicles

Simon Moss and Rory Jackson will be walking the aisles of INTERGEO Expo and Conference today. Please drop them a message to arrange a convenient time to meet up. You can find the latest issue of the magazine and our Class of 2024 supplier directory at the entrance to the show.

Simon Moss and Rory Jackson will be walking the aisles of DroneX Tradeshow & Conference today. Please drop them a message to arrange a convenient time to meet up. You can find the latest issue of the magazine and our Class of 2024 supplier directory in the press area at the show. #uncrewedsystemstechnology #DroneXShow

Swiss watchers Of all types of bio-inspired uncrewed systems around the world, legged UGVs, and particularly quadrupeds, have made the greatest strides. Their ability to traverse stairs and challenging terrain, and push doors or gates open, makes them highly effective in many indoor and outdoor environments where UAVs and wheeled UGVs struggle. However, present limitations of battery energy density and electric-motor efficiency cause legged robots a few specific weaknesses in comparison with wheeled robots. Namely, the latter outperforms the former in movement speed, turning speed and energy efficiency, particularly on flat terrain. As of writing, most industries and businesses using legged robots are deploying them in predominantly flat areas, such as power stations, hydrocarbon facilities, factories and foundries. Hence, wheeled robots could work in such places if doors, stairs and small ground obstacles could be circumvented. Understanding how legs and wheels overcome each others’ minor weaknesses inspired Swiss-Mile’s founders to consider combining the best of both worlds: putting wheels on a legged robot. Such a UGV could walk up and down stairs, and cross uneven or cluttered ground, while also energy efficiently driving through the flat corridors and floorspaces that compose 90% of the areas they operate in. Read more ➡ https://lnkd.in/ehTzPUqt #uncrewedsystemstechnology #UGV #uncrewedsystems #autonomoussystems #bioinspired

Sensor switches from edge detection to infrared fast A compact, lightweight sensor system with infrared imaging can be fitted easily to a UAV for remote crop monitoring. The metasurface, flat-optics technology has the potential to replace traditional, optical lens applications for environmental sensing. The key is that the sensor system can switch rapidly between edge detection and extracting detailed infrared information without the need for creating large volumes of data and using external processors. The prototype sensor system was developed by engineers at the The City University of New York (CUNY), University of Melbourne, RMIT University and the ARC Centre of Excellence for Transformative Meta-Optical Systems (TMOS). The sensor uses a filter that has a thin layer of vanadium dioxide, a phase-change material that can switch between edge detection and detailed infrared imaging. This passive edge-detection metasurface operates in the near infrared regime, and the response can be modified by temperature variations smaller than 10C around a phase-change transition temperature of 65C, which is compatible with a mainstream CMOS manufacturing process. This reconfigurability is achieved through the insulator-to-metal phase transition of a thin layer of vanadium dioxide, which strongly alters the metasurface response to filter the light. It also uses a simple geometry that is compatible with large-scale manufacturing. Read more ➡ https://lnkd.in/ep6VWtn9 #uncrewedsystemstechnology #sensor #metasurface #UAV #autonomoussystems

The wider picture July’s shooting of a supermarket’s delivery uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV) in Texas, USA, highlights the challenges of operating them beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS). They have to coordinate with other delivery craft, blue light UAVs used for rescue or surveillance missions, and even crewed helicopters and light aircraft that stray into the corridors used for deliveries. Several companies are running small scale delivery services with BVLOS, often with a remote operator handling 20 UAVs, mostly under a regulatory waiver under Part 107 of the US regulations, with operations up to an altitude of 400 ft. The challenge is to scale up to tens of thousands of craft with standard operating procedures, or Part 108, which is expected before winter of this year and will allow rule-based mission plans, some completely autonomous. There are many technologies, from radar to cloud, that are expected to enable the rollout of large scale Uncrewed Aircraft System Traffic Management (UTM) systems from 2025. This means the design of an UAV is not just about the airframe and the motors, but also the sense and avoid systems, and wider coordination for BVLOS operations with UTM systems. The next-generation delivery UAVs include specific technologies approved by regulators for UTM. Several UAV developers include cloud services to manage their UAVs, but here is also a need to link them to the wider UTM systems of third parties. These have a range of technologies, from static and portable radar to monitor air corridors to GNSS satellite-positioning sensors on the aircraft, and even imaging or acoustic onboard sensors that can ‘see’ or ‘hear’ approaching aircraft. This is creating a complex system with many engineering tradeoffs, and not just for the delivery of UAVs. The coming rollout of autonomous electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) ‘air taxi’ platforms will require the UTM systems to integrate with traditional air traffic control (ATC) systems, and run vertiports where the eVTOLs can land and charge. Read more ➡ https://lnkd.in/enGcUx4V Our thanks to... Vigilant Aerospace Systems, Inc. ANRA Technologies JAXA: Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency #uncrewedsystemstechnology #UTM #uncrewedvehicles #autonomoussystems #UAV

Navigate the world of uncrewed systems with our engineer-focused supplier directory. To access the online version, click here ➡ https://lnkd.in/enSmXQZb Featured Category: Gimbals As the world embraces the transformative potential of uncrewed vehicles and autonomous machinery, the demand for reliable components and services has never been greater. Finding the right service provider is crucial to the success of your project. If you are searching for gimbals, we have seven companies in our supplier directory that can help… AVT Australia C-Astral Aerospace DST Control Embention ORTHODRONE SOMAG AG Jena UAV Propulsion Tech #uncrewedsystemstechnology #CO2024 #gimbals #uncrewedvehicles #autonomoussystems

Sensor detects surroundings in real-time 3D A 3D ultrasound sensor is being used to improve the safety of driverless vehicles. Benedex LTD Robotics and Cranfield University are using a 3D ultrasound sensor evaluation kit from Calyo in Bristol, UK, to develop a functional safety platform. The DRIVEN BY SOUND project led by Calyo allows autonomous vehicles to detect their surroundings in 3D in real time. The sensors have been optimised for 15 m near-range detection of obstacles. The Pulse 3D evaluation is a software defined array of micromachined MEMS ultrasound transducers in a 60 x 43 x 15 mm module. It has one transmitter and the reflected waves come back into the receiver array. The starter kit has 32 channels and gives a field of view (FoV) of up to 180o, depending on the distance. “The whole sensor is made of off-the shelf components. The innovation is the driver electronics and the software with our own software development kit (SDK) that allows developers to customise the sensor and the outputs,” said Mihai Caleap, CEO of Calyo. Read more ➡ https://lnkd.in/eYKSZSNN #uncrewedsystemstechnology #driverlessvehicles #sensors #3Dultrasound #autonomousvehicles