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Focus | Ground control systems
software development and interfaces to the
autopilots used on the remote craft.
At the high end the data requirements
are immense, and security concerns
are leading to different ways of handling
the data, from terabyte transit cases to
tethered tablets.
However, the role of the GCS is
changing. As it moves from a local data
display function to providing connectivity
to cloud computing resources, so the
design of the software changes. Tackling
the challenges of latency in the cloud for
linking remote craft and their cameras to
a customer via the GCS opens up new
ways of using unmanned systems.
Controlling a craft remotely over the
internet to get the right data quickly and
easily changes the way the systems
are developed and used. This reduces
the costs of using skilled operators for
monitoring and inspection, as well as a
wide range of other applications.
The development of swarm control
algorithms, based in the GCS, are
opening up yet more ways to deliver
these applications across unmanned
systems in the air and on the ground.
Acknowledgements
The author would like to thank Dave
Lippincott of Chassis Plans, Ofir Zikry of
Flying Production, Paul Holmstedt of UAS
Europe, and Konstantins Popiks of UAV
Factory for their help with researching
this article.
June/July 2016 | Unmanned Systems Technology
CANADA
Micropilot
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Threod Systems
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Aerodrones
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IAI
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Textron Systems
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