Zero Point Motion attends DroneX

From 7th-8th September, the annual DroneX Trade Show and Conference took place at the ExCeL Exhibition Centre in London. Zero Point Motion’s chairman Gordon Aspin and software engineer Tsz Hey Lam went along to find out what’s new in the world of unassisted aerial vehicles (UAVs).

DroneX is the UK’s largest event dedicated to UAV products and services. This year’s edition hosted around 300 exhibitors showcasing their latest innovations, while the conference programme featured 150 seminars.

Motion tracking of drones is one of the key applications of Zero Point Motion’s inertial measurement units, since they can track motion much more accurately than the kinds of inertial sensors that are currently widely available.

Zero Point Motion’s sensors are also independent of global navigation satellite systems. This means they can continue functioning for drones travelling through regions where satellite navigation becomes unreliable, such as highly built-up areas and underground. What’s more, they can record data at shorter intervals than satellite navigation systems, making them invaluable for tracking UAVs performing quick and complex manoeuvres.

A highlight of DroneX for Gordon and Tsz was seeing the wide variety of use cases for drones in the exhibition area. While there were many UAVs designed for transporting payloads, one by Avion Robotic stood out for its capacity to carry up to 1.5 tonnes. Another eye-catching innovation on show was MetSprite, a drone made by Menapia to take meteorology readings by flying to high altitudes. To do this, it is designed to maintain stability in harsh wind and weather conditions.

“DroneX was filled with inspiring new drone applications and technology,” says Tsz. “I’m looking forward to seeing progress on how these ideas might be safely integrated in the real world.”