For ROVs and drones, onboard components need to be compact, lightweight and power efficient. COM Express or SMARC modules with a custom carrier board are ideal as these fall within most weight and power restrictions while still enabling real-time control and high-performance computing. Embedded computers are used to control flight by processing the inputs from the sensors, such as the accelerometers, gyroscopes and magnetometers, and generating the outputs to the motors, like speed, direction, and torque.
Industrial grade Xavier carrier boards are ideal for control units while some Nano and TX2 carrier boards are compact enough to be included in the UAVs onboard devices. For navigation and timing, Safran’s VersaSync is a GPS master clock and network time server that delivers accurate, software configurable time and frequency signals for drones and UAVs.
For hazardous environments, their VersaPNT is designed to support UAVs that perform a critical task that requires a GPS backup, when the risk of a system failure due to intentional or unintentional GPS interruption needs to be countered.
