New power management architectures are providing more efficiency for UAVs and UUVs, and more safety for UGVs. Boosting the efficiency has demonstrable benefits for range, while a distributed architecture provides power conversion closer to high-power devices and with enhanced safety.

All of this reduces the size of the heat sinks required, further reducing the weight and size of autonomous system designs.

Nick Flaherty examines the factors driving the need for new power management architectures and the improvements they promise.