Uncrewed Systems Technology 060 February/March 2025

• Intro - From the world’s first certified operation of an uncrewed passenger aircraft to self-driving systems, the potential is huge
• Platform one: Mission-critical info - NASA publishes accident report into the failure of a rotorcraft on Mars, a flexible photovoltaic solar cell that performs well in space, powered descent guidance algos for reusable rockets, single-swipe take-off and hover for a production helicopter, a mobile robot with AI accelerator, an analogue system fault detector, autonomous mine-hunting, and more
• In conversation: Robin Murphy - The AI robotics expert discusses the use of robots to save lives in dangerous situations, avoiding peril to personnel in the field
• Dossier: ACUA Ocean USV - A heavyweight hydrogen SWATH vessel with a twin-hull configuration that aims to deliver high-quality data amid the harsh waves and weather of severe sea states
• Focus: Swarming - New swarming technologies are emerging for autonomous platforms, from dramatic air displays to groups of driverless cars - and companies are coming up with new uses for them as well
• Digest: Robotnik RB-WATCHER - This ruggedised robot integrating a raft of sensors is designed to navigate and inspect the inside and outside of industrial facilities with little risk from external hazards or single points of failure
• In operation: Dropla mine countermeasures - Surveying, detecting and clearing landmines in Ukraine with a range of cameras, magnetic and EM sensors, Lidars and metal detectors – all collecting data to find potential mine locations
• Dossier: Suter Industries - Building a new wave of powerful, spark-ignited, twin two-strokes for the UAV space, ideal for military and commercial spheres
• Insight: UUVs - The latest submersible vehicles and robots gathering priceless data in every ocean around the world for every application
• Focus: Connectors - Manufacturers are rethinking their approach to customers and projects amid rising demand and evolving AI and IoT systems
• In operation: Black Widow - It pays to be small when it comes to intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance and strike missions in modern warfare
• Digest: FIXAR 025 - A UAV with a unique shape, able to simultaneously generate aerodynamic surface-lift forces and vertical-lift force
• PS: Kepler Advance system - The latest system to be validated in flight, which exploits the RF signals between a UAV and its GCS to find the vessel’s position