Unmanned Systems Technology 001 | UAV Factory Penguin C | Real-time operating systems | Hirth S1218 two-stroke twin | Base stations | ASV C-Enduro | Composites | Datacomms

72 integrate civilian, military and unmanned aircraft into a coordinated airspace, specifying the interfaces between modules and defining the dataflow that coordinates the large, distributed systems across a wide range of applications. Instead of human air traffic controllers proactively controlling aircraft movements – which is a problem with unmanned vehicles – the Atlantida system takes aircraft trajectory data and calculates the options for the controllers using a new technology called Aircraft Intent Description Language to capture and distribute trajectory data. Elsewhere, in the marine sector, the Quest ROV underwater unmanned vehicle developed by Alstom Schilling Robotics uses DDS in its network design to reduce the complexity of the cabling between the ROV and its support ship. DDS has now spread out from military and UAV applications, and is being used for example in Volkswagen’s Driver Assistance and Integrated Safety system, which provides steering assistance when swerving to avoid obstacles, detects when the lane narrows or the car is passing wide loads, and helps drivers to negotiate bends safely. It includes radars, video cameras and other sensors tied to a real-time processor connected via high-speed Ethernet. A simple hardware device translates DDS into CAN messages, allowing the system to access and control all the car’s systems, and this mechanism could be extended to the real-time wireless links in a V2V system. It can be used in the same way across the systems in cars, V2I roadside infrastructure and the enterprise systems monitoring traffic flow and controlling signals and other information, as it can be used on top of a specification such as DSRC to provide a control layer. Satellite comms A satellite link is an essential datacomms tool for unmanned aircraft, and to this end the European Space Agency and European Defence Agency have demonstrated a remotely piloted Heron UAV flying in commercial airspace using links from satellite services provider SES. Part of the € 1.2m DeSIRE (Demonstration of Satellites enabling the Insertion of RPAS in Europe) project, led by defence technology company Indra, the aim was to define and test the air traffic control and operation procedures applicable to a remotely piloted aircraft, and to evaluate the safety of the satellite link and the reaction capacity of the aircraft’s ground pilot, both in routine operation and emergency situations. After take-off, the aircraft switched from its line-of-sight data link to a satellite link, initiating its operational mission in segregated airspace and transmitting signals to the ground from onboard sensors. The UAV climbed to 20,000 ft and followed instructions from air traffic controllers, acting like any other civil or military aircraft, with the commands transmitted from it to the operator via satellite using Ku-band comms links at 11.45-11.7 GHz and 12.5-12.75 GHz as well as two RLOS (Radio Line of Sight) channels in the C and VHF/UHF bands. During the flight, data from the Heron’s onboard sensors, including radar and video, were transmitted in real time to the ground control centre pilot via the satellite link and further processed to enable the detection and identification of ships at sea. Mars rovers Datacomms for autonomous vehicles in space provide even more challenges, from the reliability of the links to the latency of the signals. To meet these challenges, the autonomous rover explorers on Mars use links back to the cruise stage of the Mars Odyssey in orbit via UHF as well as directly back to Earth via the 8.0-12.0 GHz X band. When the rovers cannot ‘see’ the Datacomms for vehicles in space provide challenges from reliability of the links to latency of the signals The Maven atmospheric measurement satellite is also being used as a comms relay for the Mars rovers to communicate with the Deep Space Network on Earth via X-band frequencies (Courtesy of NASA) November 2014 | Unmanned Systems Technology