UAV Factory’s Penguin C UAS Overview
by
Stanley
D. Pebsworth
Embry-Riddle
Aeronautical University
April
2016
A Research Project Submitted to the
Worldwide Campus in partial fulfillment of the requirements for course UNSY 605,
Unmanned Systems Sensing, Perception, and Processing
UAV Factory’s Penguin C UAS Overview
The UAV Factory Penguin C UAS is an unmanned
system that is available for public purchase.
With reliability and cost efficiency in mind, this system is under the
55lbs regulation requirements and has over a 20-hour flight endurance
capability (UAV Factory, n.d.). Safety
and reliability are proven with thousands of hours of flight testing (UAV
Factory, n.d.). This research of the
Penguin C UAS will describe the sensors, the
amount of power, and storage required to operate the
system. This paper will also describe the data format, protocols, and storage methods that are used to
make an effective and functional
system. In addition, this research will recommend an alternative data treatment strategy that could improve the operation of the system.
The Penguin C UAS is typically fitted with the Epsilon
140 dual sensor payload. This advanced
micro gimbal sensor is fitted with an electro optical day and night camera as
well as infrared camera. This sensor
will auto track targets with its onboard processor and utilizes a direct drive
torque motor for video stabilization often found in small unmanned
platforms. The sensor has an
environmental rated protection of IP64 and can operate in temperatures from -25o
to +50o C. The sensor
requires an input voltage of 10-16 volts and needs 15 watts of power to operate
(UAV Factory, n.d.).
Power for the Penguin C comes from its two-stroke
UAV28-EFI engine. The engine has an
integrated 100-watt onboard generator and is coupled with an onboard 100-watt
generator power unit that easily powers all onboard systems of the Penguin C
and provides both 6V and 12V outputs.
The engine control system monitors and controls the engine operation in
order to maximize life and minimize fuel consumption. Engine management and power generation can be
monitored via the portable ground station as well (UAV Factory, n.d.).
Utilizing its 32 Gb of onboard memory, the Penguin C can
store both raw video and still photos.
It records with a 720p HD video output utilizing H.264 (MPEG4) encoding
with either PAL or NTSC refresh rates.
The Penguin C can be controlled through its portable ground control
station where video recording and photos can be captured as well utilizing a
data terminal with a 100km range and the ability of 128bit or 256bit AES
encryption. This data terminal connects
using C-Band frequencies with a data link rate of up to 12Mbps (UAV Factory,
n.d.).
Improved data treatment recommendations would be an
increased onboard storage capability.
The current 32Gb capability may be too small for a 20 plus hour mission
and video capture. The ground station
does have the capability to capture video and still imagery, but having the
ability to store a complete 20-hour mission onboard would be a great
improvement. Another data treatment
recommendation is to move from 720p to 1080p video. This increase in HD video quality would also
require the increase in onboard data storage size.
References
UAV
Factory. (n.d.). Epsilon 140 dual sensor payload. Retrieved April 17, 2016 from
http://www.uavfactory.com/download/129/Epsilon_140_datasheet_v.1.0.pdf
UAV
Factory. (n.d.). Penguin C unmanned aircraft system. Retrieved April 17, 2016
from http://www.uavfactory.com/download/125/penguin-c-datasheet-v2.0.pdf
UAV
Factory. (n.d.). Portable ground control station. Retrieved April 17, 2016 from
http://www.uavfactory.com/download/88/Portable_Ground_Control_Station_Datasheet_V2.2.pdf
UAV
Factory. (n.d.). UAV28-EFI turnkey engine system. Retrieved April 17, 2016 from
http://www.uavfactory.com/download/119/UAV28-EFI%2BDatasheet%2BV1.0 .pdf
UAV
Factory. (n.d.). 100W generator power unit. Retrieved April 17, 2016 from http://
www.uavfactory.com/download/12/100_W_Generator_Power_Unit_Datasheet_V2_0.pdf
The Penguin is a fascinating system. It reminds my of the RQ-7 and other systems you might slave to your block III Apache. The endurance of the Penguin is remarkable for data acquisition.
ReplyDeleteThe Penguin C Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Has some intriguing features. Most Vehicles capable of real-time data transfer have additional on-board data storage capabilities for enhanced data collection tasks. The challenges involved in creating a reliable UAV data link are many. With a well developed end-to-end design, developers can access data on either side of the link and achieve simpler distributed application design.
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