Uncrewed Systems Technology 049 April/May 2023

• Intro - Image sensing systems are becoming smaller and less expensive, opening up new applications for UAVs as well as UGVs
• Platform one: Mission-critical info - Intel and Daedalean unveil the first certifiable avionics design using machine learning, MIT develops simple and scalable way to build AUVs, UAVs automate rice plant counting, and much more
• In conversation: Noel Heiks - The chairman of Censys Technologies explains how she sees AI playing a vital role in high-resolution inspections by UAVs
• Dossier: Marine Advanced Robotics WAM-V - This auto-levelling USV is proving to be a go-to solution for users who want to survey large areas quickly, even in rough seas. We detail its development and the surprising inspiration behind it
• Focus: Image sensors - Sensor prices are falling and they’re getting smaller, setting the stage for a raft of new design options for uncrewed vehicles
• Digest: Ottonomy Ottobot - How Covid-19, social distancing and labour shortages created the conditions for producing this last-mile delivery UGV
• Digest: Eurolink Systems Beluga - Taking its design cue from the bulbous-headed cetacean has led to this quadrotor that’s intended for multiple applications
• Insight: UGVs - If a job’s considered too dangerous or too dirty to be carried out by people, there’s now more than likely to be a UGV that has been designed specifically to do it instead
• Show report: IDEX 2023 - Our round-up of products showcased at the latest outing for this biennial exhibition for the armed services
• Dossier: Rotron RT600-HC - We report on the development of this popular twin-rotor Wankel gasoline engine developed for uncrewed helicopters
• In operation: Cleo Robotics Dronut X1 - Details of the design choices behind this duct-shaped UAV for inspecting hazardous and GNSS-denied indoor spaces
• Focus: Sonar systems - USV and UUV operators are demanding more from sonar technology, leading to its developers to continue making advances in its capabilities, details of which we explain here
• In operation: DroneWorks solar panel inspection - How this UAV removes the need to use people to inspect solar arrays, and how the data it generates can save a lot of money
• PS: The human body as a UAV platform - A look at research that shows we don’t mind UAVs landing on us, but it depends on where and what we’re doing at the time