Uncrewed Systems Technology 053 December/January 2024
- Intro - An accident involving a robotaxi and a roll-out of full Level 3 autonomous driving show how car developers are converging
- Platform one: Mission-critical info - Fox Robotics has teamed up with academia to trial a UGV for a range of farm tasks, German researchers are developing an eVTOL with gliding capabilities, quantum computing enters the picture for controlling UAVs in airspace, and much more
- In conversation: Dr Bryan Cole - The head of uncrewed systems research at US environmental science agency NOAA makes his case for using more UASs
- Dossier: AALTO Zephyr 8 - How this latest version of the solar-powered stratospheric UAV is being developed to provide services such as low-latency comms and Earth observation for months at a time
- Focus: Real-time operating systems - Larger real-time RTOS systems are being deployed in uncrewed systems of growing complexity, so developers are turning away from traditional hypervisors to using separation kernels
- Digest: GPA Seabots 100 - Harbours are host to a soup of ecological threats such as litter and chemical spills, a growing concern that this autonomous USV has been designed to address
- Insight: Defence - Uncrewed military systems developers continue to adapt to the changing nature of military conflicts, as these systems prove
- Dossier: INNengine Rex-B - Prototypes of this cam-operated two-stroke axial unit for use with UAVs are showing considerable potential
- Show report: DroneX 2023 - Highlights of new services, aircraft designs, propulsion systems and avionics that were on display at this trade show
- Focus: Thermal imaging - Thermal sensors play a critical role in almost every uncrewed system mission, and now they are expected to form part of a multi-sensor gimbal, leading to a series of fresh developments
- Show report: DSEI 2023 - Capability and intelligence came across as the prime movers behind the defence-focused products on display at this show
- In operation: Skyline Robotics Ozmo - Cleaning the windows of high-rise buildings is dull, dirty and dangerous, so this uncrewed system is taking over from people
- PS: AI in uncrewed system comms - AI is providing a raft of benefits to uncrewed system comms, prime examples of which we investigate here