Ascend Engineering addresses the growing limitations of traditional flight controllers in modern unmanned aerial systems (UAS) in its latest white paper, The Complete Drone Companion Computer Integration Guide.
As drone platforms demand more autonomous capabilities, offloading tasks like image recognition and GPS-denied navigation to a companion computer has become a critical architectural shift. This paper explores how separating flight control from mission computing opens new possibilities for performance and scalability.
The document begins with a detailed overview of the current landscape of companion computers, providing insights into the performance characteristics, limitations, and use cases of various available options. From lightweight single-board computers (SBCs) to high-performance embedded systems, the paper outlines how different hardware profiles align with operational needs.
It then moves beyond the hardware to explore the expanded functionality companion computers enable, such as GPS-denied navigation, image recognition, collision avoidance, and advanced command and control logic. These capabilities are central to the increasing autonomy expected of next-generation unmanned systems.
Finally, the white paper outlines integration strategies, offering guidance for teams considering commercial off-the-shelf options, internal development, or partnerships with system integrators. For organizations facing the technical and strategic challenges of system modernization, this paper offers a structured approach to companion computer adoption in support of scalable, high-performance UAS operations.
