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86 re-designed tilt-rotor arms, with the front rotors lowered to better avoid the backwash over the wing during transition from VTOL to horizontal flight, to resolve an issue that affected the V-22 Osprey, the original inspiration for the Wingcopter’s design. The company is also working on a heavy-lift version of the craft, the Wingcopter 178-HL (for ‘Heavy Lift’), which has added layers of fibreglass composite materials in the wings and body as well as more carbon fibre in the tilt-rotor arms. “We’ve used more composite wherever more stiffness and reduced weight was required,” Ansgar Kadura told us. “The empty weight of the 178-HL will be 6 kg, and with a more powerful motor than the previous Wingcopter models, and new propellers, we anticipate an MTOW of 16-18 kg.” He added, “With larger batteries in the 178-HL than the 178 – potentially two packs of about 30,000 mAh and weighing 3.5 kg each – we anticipate a 5 kg payload capacity to carry heavy Lidar or other sensors, something that is not currently an option with other electric VTOL UAVs.” Mejzlik Modellbau has developed new propeller designs and construction options for specialised UAV applications. The first has a 27 in diameter across its two blades; the second is 36 in, and was custom made and tested for generating 120 kg of thrust on a heavy-lift UAV weighing 200 kg. “A UAV should use different propellers depending on the use case,” said Tomas Mejzlik Jr. “For photography, for example, you would need a stable hover for avoiding blurry image capture – a three-blade prop is heavier than a two-blade, but much better for minimising any vibrations. “On the other hand, if your application is centred more on flight time then a two-blade prop is better.” If the company’s off-the-shelf solutions do not suit an end-user’s needs, the company commonly changes materials, diameter, pitch, weight or other factors. For example, it can produce a ‘Super Light’ variant using a lighter carbon fibre and less epoxy in the carbon composite, or it can increase the epoxy-to-fibre ratio to make blades that are more resistant to damage from gravel and debris during take-off. WiBotic attended the Expo to showcase its development kit for wireless charging of battery-powered commercial unmanned systems. The kit, which is intended to allow UAV manufacturers and technicians to test the company’s adaptive charging technology, consists of a transmitter circuit board that includes a 48 V DC supply, a transmitter coil, a receiver coil and a charger circuit board for converting the incoming high- frequency power signal to DC so that charging can begin. The transmitter board and coil power a UAV’s landing pad or other docking station, and are integrated into it, while the receiver coil and charger board are installed on the aircraft. When the UAV approaches or lands near the landing pad, the transmitter antenna recognises the presence of the receiver and begins sending power to the UAV’s battery autonomously. The system is intended to be configurable and battery-agnostic. It can be set to charge lithium batteries at different rates, for example at 0.25 Coulombs if the UAV is resting overnight and maintaining battery longevity through less intensive charging is desirable. A software interface for the adaptive charging kit is also under development. “We’re developing an API that will enable users to remotely update their preferred charging parameters in real time over the web,” Matt Carlson said. “A developer could then integrate charging system control into their own autopilot or scheduling software.” The company also showcased its WiBotic PowerPad, a landing pad design for UAS companies who don’t have their own, as well as an example of how it can be integrated into other designs. It has a powder-coated aluminium body and a plastic lid for durability and corrosion resistance, as well as a more lightweight onboard charger than in the kit’s previous iteration, which weighs 39 g and measures 2.5 (diameter) x 1.5 in. December/January 2018 | Unmanned Systems Technology Commercial UAV Expo The Wingcopter 178 has an MTOW of 9.6 kg