Unmanned Systems Technology 036

65 Flybotix ASIO | Digest “We have another feature, called Wall Scan, which is an upgrade of Wall Lock to give full autonomy,” Tschudi says. “With it, you input the width and height of a wall you’d like to scan, press a button to start the operation, and the ASIO will then go off and perform the scan. “That works for curved surfaces as well,” he adds. “If you have a chimney or oil tank, for example, you just input a couple of dimensions and the ASIO will autonomously scan it for you and then return. It can also be set to auto-centre itself in tubes and pipes, to maintain a safe and equal distance from tight walls to ensure there are no bumps or turbulence that could use excess energy.” Also, for situations where a remote operator has flown the ASIO through a path that’s dense with obstacles, Flybotix has developed a Rewind algorithm so that the UAV can autonomously pilot itself up to 5 m back along the path it has just travelled. To do that, the flight computer records all the sensor data, in addition to all commands received and executed, in order to reverse the sequence of the data and set it as navigation inputs. “The Rewind function can also be set to activate automatically if the signal between itself and the operator is lost,” Tschudi says. “Upon detecting the loss of ‘ping’ between itself and the GCS, it will start flying back along its most recent path. “Putting this number of sensors, processors for our algorithms, and LEDs on a UAV of this size and weight was a real challenge, even with how SWaP- optimised electronics have become over the past several years,” says Bouabdallah. “I don’t think it would have been possible to make the ASIO even five years ago.” Future plans Flybotix is continuing to evaluate other sensors for the future, to expand the scope of its capabilities. “We can’t disclose what those are just yet, but there are some that were heavier five years ago than the whole ASIO system is now,” Bouabdallah says. “With the inevitable progress of technology, their weights have fallen so much that there’s real opportunity to be gained by studying how we can integrate them into this UAV, and how they might be used in the years to come.” Unmanned Systems Technology | February/March 2021 Caged bi-copter Dimensions: 395 x 395 x 295 mm MTOW: 1 kg Maximum endurance: 24 minutes Range: 16 km (outdoors) Some key suppliers Propulsion motors: maxon motor Battery pack: in-house 4K RGB camera: Sony IR camera: FLIR Cage material: Solvay Autopilot software: PX4 (with in- house contributions) Specifications The ASIO has several autonomous capabilities for safety and productivity indoors, including a Wall Lock function for scanning walls or chimneys