GPS World

Tag: UAV

  • Exploring, once again, the brave new world of UAVs

    Exploring, once again, the brave new world of UAVs

    Welcome to Part 2 of our coverage of the mammoth AUVSI Xponential 2019 show in Chicago, which drew 8,000 attendees, featured 300+ speakers on its technical program, and furnished a temporary home for more than 800 exhibitors. It was “Everything Unmanned” and a challenge to cover. Last month we looked primarily at new vehicles. This month’s column focuses on sensors, capabilities and apps aboard those and other airborne drones — and even an anti-drone drone!

    Sagetech: For UAVs to gain entry to the US National Airspace System (NAS) and to other controlled airspace all around the world, sense-and-avoid capability is paramount. Sagetech comes from the world of Mode-S transponders, with which the majority of piloted aircraft are equipped. These devices transmit aircraft identification and provide the moving IDs on air-traffic controller display monitors. In the military sector, Identification Friend or Foe (IFF) interrogator-transponders enable similarly equipped aircraft of NATO countries to determine which are friendly aircraft within their immediate airspace, and which are not.

    The MX12B Mode 5 IFF with FAA-certified civil modes. (Photo: Sagetech)
    The MX12B Mode 5 IFF with FAA-certified civil modes. (Photo: Sagetech)

    Sagetech has just released a micro-mode 5 MX12B aviation transponder that enables small unmanned aircraft to interoperate within NATO airborne units. The transponders weigh around 10lb, so mil-spec UAVs operating in NATO airspace can now also carry this light-weight unit.

    For civilian UAVs, GPS has been added to provide aircraft position outputs in Automatic Dependent Surveillance Broadcast (ADS–B) message format, allowing other aircraft and UAVs to receive a vehicle’s location. The Sagetech ADS-B transponder is small, certified to Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) standards (TSO C-166b) and is affordable. Boeing Scan-Eagle UAVs apparently already carry Sagetech transponder capability.

    uAvionThe tailBeacon ADS-B retrofit. (Photo: uAvionics)ics
    The tailBeacon ADS-B retrofit. (Photo: uAvionics)

    uAvionix: Another avionics supplier has brought out certified ADS-B capable transponders, but with a novel way to add the required capability to general aviation (GA) aircraft, typically smaller private planes. The FAA has mandated that all aircraft should be fitted with ADS-B capability by January 1, 2020 in order to fly within controlled airspace, so uAvionix has simplified ADS-B retrofit for older GA aircraft.

    All aircraft have wingtip and/or rear-tail beacon lights; this update replaces their existing beacon with a light which also includes ADS-B capability when paired with the aircraft transponder.

    The FYXnav TSO CERTIFIED GPS navigation source. (Photo: uAvionics)
    The FYXnav TSO CERTIFIED GPS navigation source. (Photo: uAvionics)

    uAvionix also supplies a couple of GPS sensors for external mounting on UAVs: the FYXnav sensor is FAA-certified to TSO-C199 Traffic Awareness Beacon System Class B.

    Sensefly released a new inspection application for their eBeeX UAV, specifically designed for solar farms. With a dual thermal/video sensor for data collection and data processing using application-specific Raptor Maps software, Sensefly claims to reduce the inspection time required for a 150MW solar farm to around 1 day, a 300-times improvement on ground inspection using a hand-held thermographic sensor.

    Provided an inspection operation could support five 70-minute eBee-X flights during one day, the UAV could over-fly up to 161 acres of solar panels at an altitude of 138ft, gathering anomalies during each flight. This adds up to 150MW of solar panels over the 5 flights. Sensefly claims this to be twice as fast as with multi-rotor dones. The Raptor Maps software then generates an inspection report identifying each anomaly, using the eBee X’s video and thermal imagery to identify, classify, and localize the detected problems.

    The Fortem DroneHunter intercept drone. (Photo: Fortem)
    The Fortem DroneHunter intercept drone. (Photo: Fortem)

    Fortem makes an anti-drone defense combining a radar detection system with a DroneHunter drone that attacks other UAVs, releasing an 80ft net to capture intruders. For those nefarious drones which are hardened against RF countermeasures, this system is also touted as capable of recovering the offending drone without damage, returning it to the operator in a net at the end of a tether. The DroneHunter flies autonomously on its intercept mission, carrying a compact radar system integrated with a ballistic net release system.

    Septentrio continued promotion of its Mosaic chip-level GNSS at Xponential. The new chip uses the same proven core DSP with a new RF front-end and a new processor, working with more than 30 signals from the existing six GNSS constellations, and with L-band and satellite-based augmentation systems (SBAS).

    Septentrio’s Mosaic chip-level GNSS. (Photo: Septentrio)
    Septentrio’s Mosaic chip-level GNSS. (Photo: Septentrio)

    The chip appears to be aimed at the high-precision market, replacing the AsteRx-m2 board level receiver family.

    The chip runs Septentrio RTK algorithms, is quite small (1.29 x 1.29 x 0.15 in), is designed for high-volume surface mount manufacture, and comes with a set of popular interfaces. The chip is sampling now, with production planned for later this year.

    NovAtel is growing, opening new offices in the US and needing more local real-estate to fit its headquarters in Calgary, Canada. The company is now part of Hexagon Positioning Intelligence (Hexagon PI), a partial re-branding that includes VERIPOS correction services and recently purchased AutonomousStuff, specializing in ground vehicles. Each organization still operates individually through its own brands. On the NovAtel booth, existing products were presented through a number of new applications, including those of the growing mil-spec products group.

    Summary. While AUVSI Xponential was over in early May, the companies who were there have not rested. All are developing new approaches for UAVs and unmanned ground vehicles, sensor systems for even wider applications than seen in Chicago, and all manner of other added capabilities. This business only gets bigger and more innovative.

  • Two little eyes that can see and navigate

    Two little eyes that can see and navigate

    The RealSense camera uses two fisheye lenses and an IMU to construct location awareness. (Photo: Intel)
    The RealSense camera uses two fisheye lenses and an IMU to construct location awareness. (Photo: Intel)

    The Intel RealSense Tracking Camera T265, designed for positioning and maneuvering mobile robots and other portable systems, includes an inertial measurement unit (IMU) that enables developers to create solutions with advanced depth-sensing and tracking capabilities. Intel introduced the camera in Q1 of 2019. An earlier model, the D435i, also includes an IMU but is a depth camera, not a tracking camera.

    As robots, drones and other autonomous mobile devices must — eventually — interact independently and intelligently with their environments, they must track their locations as they move, navigating unfamiliar spaces while discovering, monitoring and avoiding still and moving obstacles in real time.

    Block diagram of camera components. (Image: Intel)
    Block diagram of camera components. (Image: Intel)

    Moving toward that goal, the T265 includes two fisheye lens sensors, an IMU and an Intel Movidius Myriad 2 video processing unit (VPU), a system-on-chip component for image processing and computer vision at very high performance per watt.

    Vision-based simultaneous localization and mapping (V‑SLAM) algorithms run directly on the VPU with very low latency. The T265 has demonstrated less than 1% closed-loop drift under intended use conditions. It also offers sub 6 ms latency between movement and reflection of movement in the pose.

    The RealSense device measures 1 x 0.5 x 4 inches (108 mm x 24.5 mm x 12.5 mm), weighs around two ounces (55 g), and draws 1.5 watts to operate the entire system, including the cameras, IMU and VPU. Its spatial sensing and tracking capabilities are based on technology developed by RealityCap, acquired by Intel in 2015.

    The camera performs inside-out tracking: it does not depend on external sensors to understand its environment. Tracking is based on information gathered from the two fisheye cameras, each with a 163-degree range of view (±5 degrees) and capturing images at 30 frames per second. The wide field of view from each sensor keeps points of reference visible to the system for a relatively long time, even if moving quickly.

    Visual-Inertial Odometry. A key strength of visual-inertial odometry is that the sensors complement each other. The images from the camera are supplemented by data from the onboard IMU, which includes a gyroscope and accelerometer. The aggregated data from these sensors is fed into the SLAM algorithms.

    The algorithm identifies sets of salient features in the environment, such as a corner of a room or object that can be recognized over time to infer the device’s changing position relative to those points.

    The visual information prevents long-term drift from the inertial that degrades position accuracy. The IMU operates at a higher frequency than the cameras, allowing for quicker response and recognition by the algorithm to changes in the device’s position. A map of visual features and their positions is built up over time. In re-localization, the camera uses the features it has seen before to recognize when it has returned to a familiar place. The camera can locate its point of origin with an error margin of less than one percent.

    Drone testing demonstrated that, in both cases, the tracking and position data generated by the peripheral was closely correlated with what was provided by GPS. This supports the viability of using it for navigation in areas where GPS is not available, such as under a bridge or inside an industrial structure.

  • USGS, scientists test drone-based river analysis

    USGS, scientists test drone-based river analysis

    2019 Aquatic Airshow participants at Androscoggin River in Auburn, Maine, on May 1. (Photo: Mario Martin-Alciati, USGS)
    2019 Aquatic Airshow participants at Androscoggin River in Auburn, Maine, on May 1. (Photo: Mario Martin-Alciati, USGS)

    The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and independent scientists gathered this month in Auburn, Maine, to evaluate the use of sensor-mounted unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) to gauge stream stage, velocity, bathymetry and discharge.

    The technology is being evaluated and modeled to determine whether it will support the fast, accurate and safe measurement of rivers, especially when they are flooded or contain floating trees, ice or other debris.

    Close to two dozen hydrologic, geospatial and scientific experts gathered in what has been dubbed the “2019 Aquatic Airshow” to assess the technology. They were led by John Fulton of the USGS Colorado Water Science Center, Jack Eggleston of the USGS Water Mission Area Hydrologic Remote Sensing Branch, and Joe Adams and Sandy Brosnahan of the USGS National UAS Project Office.

    The USGS Water Mission Area works with partners to monitor, assess, research and report on a wide range of water resources and conditions, including streamflow, groundwater, water quality, water use and water availability.

    The testing involved equipping drones with noncontact sensors, including ground-penetrating radar for measuring river depths, doppler velocity radar and cameras with velocimetric analysis for measuring water surface velocities and calculating mean-channel velocities; and high-resolution cameras for photogrammetric mapping of surface topography and vegetation structure.

    All the evaluated sensors were equipped with GNSS receivers; some with RTK correction capability. Most of the drones used were equipped with a low-grade inertial measurement units (IMUs) for navigation.

    Team members from the USGS Water Science Centers in Colorado, New England and Virginia collected ground-truth river monitoring data with acoustic doppler current profilers deployed from a boat and multiple other surveying techniques to verify the accuracy of the drone-based stream data.

    Woolpert Chief Scientist Qassim Abdullah was one of two scientists from the private sector asked to participate in the airshow. Abdullah has more than 40 years of experience in analytical photogrammetry, digital remote sensing, and civil and surveying engineering.

    For the event, Abdullah devised a process in which the data collected by the drones underwent Pix4D triangular adjustment to produce three-dimensional models of the water surface and river edges to assist the modeling of river velocity using the drone-based doppler velocity radar and large-scale particle image velocimetry.

    USGS scientists are in the process of evaluating the data and modeling produced by this testing to conclude whether this technology will prove beneficial.

    Abdullah said the airshow was a success due to the varied contributions from each member of the team, their diverse backgrounds and their shared focus on water research.

    “This was a great example of how a public-private partnership can work together to activate and elevate necessary, groundbreaking technologies to address worldwide issues,” Abdullah said. “Airshow team members brought different perspectives, processes and applications to the testing, which not only proved essential for this project but will help with many others moving forward. I love working with this group and look forward to continuing to help advance these vital technologies.

  • Robinson helicopter tested as UAV for heavy lifts

    Robinson helicopter tested as UAV for heavy lifts

    A Robinson R22 helicopter was converted by UAVOS to an unmanned drone. UAVOS — which specializes in the design, development and manufacturing of unmanned vehicles and autopilot systems — successfully completed in-air programmed missions with the unmanned helicopter.

    The first flight this spring of the modernized helicopter lasted more than one hour and was performed in a fully self-piloted mode, reaching an altitude of up to 2,200 feet (670 meters). During the flight, all scheduled tests were performed including fully automatic take-off, enroute flight and landing. The tuning of UAV control settings was completed as well.

    The converted R22-UV is serving as a platform for research and testing for commercial UAV options. For instance, upcoming test flights will include cargo delivery of up to 330 pounds (150 kg) in automatic mode. Flights with a duration of 6+ hours using additional fuel tanks and a payload for monitoring the land surface are also planned.

    Besides that, UAVOS is planning to check operational limitations of the UAV during night flights and flights under severe weather conditions. A top priority is testing the possibility of using spraying equipment and to see whether R22-UV could serve agricultural purposes.

    Components installed. The UAVOS components installed in R22-UV helicopter included autopilot, servo drives, sensor system and additional backup power supply. During the conversion, the aircraft electrical system was upgraded, manual control was removed, the fuselage was altered for servo drives and components of the automatic control system installation. In addition, the pilot seats were removed and replaced by additional fuel tanks.

    Powered by a gasoline engine, the unmanned R22-UV helicopter is able to deliver cargo or carry payload with a total weight of up to 330 pounds (150 kg) with a maximum take-off weight of 1,400 pounds (635 kg).

    Heavy payloads. The converted aircraft has a practical ceiling of 13,780 feet (4,200 meters) and has a top speed of 189 kph. The UAV is designed to carry high-precision, heavy professional equipment 88 pounds (40 kg and more) for a wide variety of missions including lidar, synthetic aperture radar, heavy optical equipment or gas analyzers.

    The R22-UV can be operated in the regions without airfields, under severe weather conditions and during night-time, in the conditions with high stress risk for a pilot. The converted helicopter is useful for oil and gas companies that need to deliver cargo to hard-to-reach places, or where chemicals hazardous to humans are spread on the fields and forests. Operational limits for high-altitude flights and missions in heavy turbulence and high mountain regions should be defined after appropriate testing.

    The project was carried out jointly with King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST), a scientific government institution of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

  • Ocean mapping, exploration inventions honored with XPRIZE

    With more than 80 percent of the world’s oceans unmapped, the deep ocean is one of the last unknown areas on Earth. On May 31, teams with unique exploration solutions were honored with the Shell Ocean Discovery XPRIZE.

    XPRIZE is a global competition to advance ocean technologies for rapid, unmanned and high-resolution ocean exploration and discovery. The teams invented new technologies for rapid, unmanned and high-resolution ocean exploration and discovery.

    The results were revealed at an awards ceremony hosted at the Oceanographic Museum of Monaco, part of the Oceanographic Institute, Prince Albert I of Monaco Foundation.

    The grand prize winner, receiving a total of $4 million, was GEBCO-NF Alumni, an international team based in the United States, while KUROSHIO, from Japan, claimed $1 million as the runner-up.

    GEBCO-NF Alumni was led by Rochelle Wigley, Ph.D., and Yulia Zarayskaya, Ph.D. The 14-nation team integrated existing technologies and ocean-mapping experience with a robust and low-cost unmanned surface vessel, the SeaKIT, along with a novel cloud-based data processing system that allows for rapid seabed visualization, to contribute towards comprehensive mapping of the ocean floor by 2030.

    Runner-up was KUROSHIO, from Yokosuka, Japan, led by Takeshi Nakatani, Ph.D. The team integrated technologies from their partners to create a surface vessel and software platform that can operate with different autonomous underwater vessels, which increases the versatility of their technology.

    Field Testing. To determine winners, the panel of independent judges reviewed data from field testing conducted in Kalamata, Greece, and Ponce, Puerto Rico. In Kalamata, teams had up to 24 hours to map at least 250 square kilometers of the ocean seafloor at five meters horizontal resolution or higher.

    The gold-standard high-resolution baseline maps, against which the team maps were judged, were provided by Ocean Infinity and Fugro, while Esri, the global leader in geographic information system (GIS) software and geodatabase management, donated its ArcGIS Online platform for the teams and judges to use.

    NOAA Prize. The $1 million National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Bonus Prize went to teams for developing technology that could detect a chemical or biological signal underwater and autonomously track it to its source. The award was split between junior high school team Ocean Quest from San Jose, California, which claimed $800,000 as the winner, and Tampa Deep Sea Xplorers, from Florida, taking $200,000 as runner-up.

    Additionally, the judges unanimously recommended a $200,000 Moonshot Award for Team Tao from the United Kingdom for its unique approach to seafloor mapping, even though they did not meet the criteria of the competition.

    As part of the total $7 million prize purse, four teams opted to compete for the $1 million NOAA Bonus Prize. In a field test in Ponce, Puerto Rico, teams needed to demonstrate that their technology can “sniff out” a specified object in the ocean by first detecting and then tracing a biological or chemical signal to its source.

    The judges determined that no single team was able to trace the signal to its source in the timeframe allowed, so the prize was divided among the two teams that came the closest. In 2018, nine finalist teams were awarded an equal share of the first $1 million of the $7 million prize purse, in recognition of their progress-to-date and to support the teams’ continued technological development.

    Seabed 2030 and science fiction. As part of its post-prize impact work, XPRIZE announced a partnership with Seabed 2030, a collaborative project between The Nippon Foundation and The General Bathymetric Chart of the Oceans (GEBCO) to inspire the complete mapping of the world’s ocean by 2030 and to compile all bathymetric data into the freely-available GEBCO Ocean Map.

    Additionally, and in anticipation of World Oceans Day on June 8th, XPRIZE will launch a science fiction ocean anthology featuring 19 original short stories and artwork set in a future when technology has helped unlock the secrets of the world’s oceans.

  • FAA provides more access to airspace to fly drones

    More than 100 control towers and airports have been added to the hundreds of Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) air traffic facilities and airports that currently use the Low Altitude Authorization and Capability (LAANC) system.

    LAANC is a collaboration between the FAA and industry that directly supports the safe integration of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) into the nation’s airspace.

    LAANC expedites the time it takes for a drone pilot to receive authorization to fly under 400 feet in controlled airspace. By adding contract towers to the number of LAANC-enabled facilities, drone pilots will have access to more than 400 towers covering nearly 600 airports.

    In less than two years, LAANC has provided fast access to controlled airspace for more than 100,000 flights, according to Matt Fanelli, director of strategy at Skyward.

    Image: Skyward
    Image: Skyward

    “People have been asking the FAA to add more airports and today, 109 contract towers have now been added to LAANC.” Skyward has updated its 2019 LAANC Facilities Guide so that UAV pilots can easily reference airports near them that will be adding this service.

    Contract towers are air traffic control towers that are staffed by employees of private companies rather than by FAA employees. LAANC provides air traffic professionals with visibility into where and when authorized drones are flying near airports and helps ensure that everyone can safely operate within the airspace.

    The expansion to more than 100 contract towers means the FAA has further increased drone pilots’ access to controlled airspace safely and efficiently.

    LAANC is used by commercial pilots who operate under the FAA’s small drone rule (PDF) (Part 107). The FAA is upgrading LAANC to allow recreational flyers to use the system and in the future, recreational flyers will be able to obtain authorization from the FAA to fly in controlled airspace.

    For now, recreational flyers who want to operate in controlled airspace may only do so at fixed sites.

    Featured image: iStock.com/valio 84sl, via FAA

  • Thermal drone designed for efficient solar farm inspections

    The new senseFly Solar 360 UAV is designed to enable the automated and efficient inspection of solar farms.

    Photo: SenseFly
    Photo: SenseFly

    SenseFly has introduced its senseFly Solar 360. Created in collaboration with software company Raptor Maps, the offering is an efficient thermal drone solution that enables the automatic assessment of solar plant performance at a sub-module level, the companies said.

    Created by combining eBee X fixed-wing drone technology, senseFly’s Duet T thermal mapping camera and Raptor Maps’ software, senseFly Solar 360 is a fast and fully automated drone. It is easily integrated into solar management workflows without requiring either drone piloting skills or the manual analysis of aerial solar farm data.

    “At senseFly we are continually looking across the industry to identify new commercial partners with whom we can bring to market what our customers need, which is vertically-focused end-to-end solutions,” said Gilles Labossière, CEO of senseFly.

    “With Raptor Maps, we are collaborating with a true solar industry pioneer,” Labossière said. “Their software takes the guesswork out of solar farm inspection and, crucially, speeds up this process — from days down to hours. This efficiency, combined with the eBee X’s large coverage and reliability, ensures that farm owners and operators — or the drone service providers they employ — can inspect utility-scale solar farms more quickly, easily, and accurately than ever before.”

    “Solar power is the largest source of new energy generation in the world,” said Nikhil Vadhavkar, CEO of Raptor Maps. “This rapid growth has fueled demand for industry-specific solutions to allow solar customers to scale. Our enterprise-grade software has been deployed across six continents and 25 million solar panels to increase power production and reduce risk and maintenance cost across solar portfolios. We are proud to collaborate with senseFly, the industry leaders in commercial fixed-wing drones, to increase access to Raptor Maps while providing a comprehensive, end-to-end solution that scales with the solar industry.”

  • Auterion enables Impossible Aerospace to launch new US-1 drone for first responders

    Auterion enables Impossible Aerospace to launch new US-1 drone for first responders

    Photo: Impossible Aerospace
    Photo: Impossible Aerospace

    Auterion and Impossible Aerospace are collaborating to bring to market the US-1 UAV, which has a two-hour flight time.

    Auterion is the provider of Auterion Enterprise PX4, an open-source-based, enterprise operating system for drones. Impossible Aerospace is Silicon Valley, California-based drone manufacturer on a mission to assemble the highest performance electric aircraft.

    “During critical public safety incidents, real-time intelligence from a UAV is extremely important. This is why the two-hour flight time of the US-1 is a clear necessity.” said Spencer Gore, CEO of Impossible Aerospace. “We turned to Auterion for software because their operating system is auditable and trusted for government applications.”

    “Public safety organizations can now field a drone with government solicited, cyber-secure and trusted software that enables the drone to stream real-time footage to a command center,” said Kevin Sartori, co-founder of Auterion. “Choosing Auterion and its open-source, open-standards approach will greatly simplify the integration of the US-1 into the IT-infrastructure of public safety organizations.”

    Thousands of professional drone pilots and businesses around the world count on open-source flight control software PX4, which was created by Auterion co-founder Lorenz Meier in 2011 and has evolved into a global developer community. Similar to Red Hat, Auterion builds the open-source infrastructure so that drone manufacturers can go to market faster with new products flying trusted software.

    The US-1 quadcopter made its public safety debut in February with a California-based police force. The drone gives police agencies a new category of assets that sit between lower-end drones and police helicopters. This enables a wider usage of aerial imagery and reduces the cost for first responders at the same time.

  • Cepton unveils long-range lidar scanner for UAVs

    Cepton unveils long-range lidar scanner for UAVs

    Photo: Cepton
    Photo: Cepton

    Cepton Technologies Inc., a provider of 3D lidar solutions for automotive, industrial, security and mapping applications, has unveiled its newest lidar scanner, the SORA-P60L.

    Cepton unveiled the SORA-P60L at AUVSI Xponential 2019.

    Part of Cepton’s SORA family of lidar scanners, the new scanner is purpose-built to deliver long-range, high-resolution imaging for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).

    The SORA-P60L offers a 400-Hz frame rate, enabling drones to fly faster while maintaining high point-cloud density. With a 550-gram payload, the SORA-P60L prolongs UAV flight time allowing more ground to be covered in a single trip, the company said.

    Cepton’s unique Micro-Motion Technology faces all lasers downward at all times, providing a dense, uniform point cloud that, in combination with the high scan rate, makes it suitable for fixed-wing and fast-moving rotary-wing UAVs.

    “Cepton’s SORA-P60L leads the lidar industry with its best-in-class point cloud density that provides superior imaging for UAVs,” said Neil Huntingdon, Cepton’s VP of business development. “With the affordable price point, long-range capabilities and high frame rate of SORA-P60L, UAVs can capture data faster and build more accurate maps. SORA-P60L is our first product from the SORA family that we have unveiled this year. We see a lot of opportunities for this unique sensor in other markets and have a number of products in development that will be revealed later this year.”

  • Live from AUVSI’s Xponential 2019

    Live from AUVSI’s Xponential 2019

    Logo: Xponential 2019The GPS World and Geospatial Solutions staff are reporting live from the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International’s (AUVSI’s) Xponential 2019 April 29-May 2 in Chicago.

    The event convenes the global community of commercial and defense leaders in intelligent robotics, drones and unmanned systems. Check out news, photos and videos from the show.

    NEWS

    VIDEOS

    Click the icon in the top left hand corner to choose the video you’d like to watch.

  • SBG Systems debuts line of inertial navigation systems at Xponential 2019

    SBG Systems debuts line of inertial navigation systems at Xponential 2019

    SBG Systems debuted its Quanta UAV series, a new line of inertial navigation systems (INS), at Xponential 2019, which took place April 29-May 2 in Chicago.

    According to the company, the Quanta UAV is a small, lightweight and low-power INS. Designed specifically for UAV survey applications, the Quanta UAV series provides precise orientation and centimeter-level positioning data delivered both in real-time and post-processing.

    “The Quanta UAV series is a new product line specifically designed for UAV applications and, more particularly, to precision applications like lidar mapping and photogrammetry,” Alexis Guinamard, chief technology officer at SBG Systems, told GPS World.

    The Quanta UAV series is also offered on two levels of accuracy: one of its most important benefits, Guinamard added.

    “The main advantage of the Quanta UAV series is high flexibility because we have two difference performance levels: the standard grade, which is suitable for most applications, and for higher altitude surveys we have Quanta Extra, which delivers improved accuracy,” Guinamard said.

    According to SBG Systems, Quanta UAV embeds a web interface for an easy configuration with a 3D view showing all parameters. Its calibration tool automatically aligns the lever arm between the two antennas and the sensor, then re-estimates it in flight for more precision. The Quanta UAV also eliminates the need for ground control points.

    In addition, the product comes bundled with one year of access to Qinertia, SBG Systems’ post-processing software, which will “enable accurate data in post processing,” Guinamard said.

    The single- or dual-antenna also adds another layer of flexibility to the Quanta UAV series. According to SBG Systems, the dual-antenna mode allows a more precision heading, which is an ideal set up for low dynamic flights.

    “I think the flexibility is the key advantage because we have these two performance levels and also the possibility to operate in real-time or in post-processing, and the possibility to operate in single- or dual-antenna,” Guinamard said. “It’s an all-in-one product.”

  • Raytheon system downs multiple drones in U.S. Air Force exercise

    Raytheon Company’s advanced high-power microwave and mobile high-energy laser systems engaged and defeated multiple unmanned aerial system targets during a U.S. Air Force demonstration. The mature HPM and HEL technologies offer an affordable solution to the growing UAS threat, the company said.

    Raytheon made the announcement at AUVSI Xponential, which took place April 29-May 2 in Chicago.

    Raytheon’s mobile high energy laser looks out into a wide-open sky. The company’s advanced high-power microwave and high-energy laser engaged and defeated dozens of unmanned aerial system targets in a recent U.S. Air Force demonstration.

    The HEL system, paired with Raytheon’s Multi-Spectral Targeting System, uses invisible beams of light to defeat hostile UASs. Mounted on a Polaris MRZR all-terrain vehicle, the system detects, identifies, tracks and engages drones.

    “Countering the drone threat requires diverse solutions,” said Stefan Baur, Raytheon Electronic Warfare Systems vice president. “HEL and HPM give frontline operators options for protecting critical infrastructure, convoys and personnel.”

    Raytheon’s HPM uses microwave energy to disrupt drone guidance systems. High-power microwave operators can focus the beam to target and instantly defeat drone swarms. With a consistent power supply, an HPM system can provide virtually unlimited protection.

    “After decades of research and investment, we believe these advanced directed energy applications will soon be ready for the battlefield to help protect people, assets and infrastructure,” said Thomas Bussing, Raytheon Advanced Missile Systems vice president.

    Raytheon’s HEL and HPM were the only directed energy systems that participated in this Air Force experimentation demonstration. The event expanded on previous directed energy demonstrations such as a U.S. Army directed energy exercise held in 2017.