2022Hood River, OR, October 23, 2015 -- /EPR NETWORK/ -- Hood Tech Vision works with the creators of ViDAR to bring wide-area detection to tactical UAVs. This collaboration supports the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) and others.
From: Hood Tech Corp Vision, Inc., Hood River, Oregon
Date: October 20, 2015
Subject: Hood Tech Vision Works with Australia’s Sentient to Develop Wide-Area ViDAR Detection for UAVs
Contact: Dr. Andy von Flotow, Hood Tech Corp Vision, Inc., 541-387-2288, andy@hoodtech.com
According to Australian Defense Magazine (ADM) (http://www.australiandefence.com.au/news/kestrel-on-board-for-ran-scaneagle-trial), “‘…ViDAR has the potential to be game changing for Naval [unmanned aircraft systems]’”¸ quoting Simon Olsen, Sentient's Director of Business Development, Strategy and Partnerships. “The software is designed to be incorporated into a purpose built ViDAR payload that can be modularly applied to the existing [UAV] currently being flown by the [Royal Australian] Navy [RAN] as part of wider…trial program.” The system, developed by Sentient and Hood Tech Vision, identifies pattern anomalies, such as boats, buoys, debris, and/or sea animals, etc.--by contrast with wave tops. The software, paired with Hood Tech Vision’s electro-optical cameras featuring zoom, persistent focus, and tracking capability, provide the ability to spot and then follow objects of interest. The system is planned to undergo trials by the Royal Australian Navy, which “has procured a license for…[the] software “for use as part of trial [of unmanned aerial vehicles] on board RAN ships for surveillance over objects of interest that have already been detected [by ViDAR].”
“Typically detection of objects in the ocean requires manned aircraft with much greater payload capacity – aircraft which are often expensive to operate and deploy.
“Kestrel Maritime ViDAR now gives [Hood Tech Vision and the Navy the] crucial capability to search as well as to conduct surveillance, dramatically increasing its usefulness to [naval forces].”
“The Navy is looking at the…ViDAR trials to potentially support, among other systems, wide area maritime surveillance”, Captain Allen Whittaker, RAN, said.
“[T]he RAN will be trialing the…ViDAR payload as a part of their support to ongoing Navy experimentation activity [in use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs)].
“The RAN has been flying another version of [ViDAR] for land missions since…Afghanistan.
“The ViDAR system is also in service with the US Navy on the FireScout platform.
“[ViDAR] has been in use with the [Australian Defense Force] ADF on various platforms for some time now with the system first appearing in 2011.”
ViDAR provides a critical point of difference for [a UAV], enabling the UAV cameras to scan significant areas autonomously in both blue water and littoral environments.
When Hood Tech began producing 800-gm video-camera turrets in 1998, it enabled an entirely new class of small unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Hood Technology Vision now designs and manufactures imaging and video processing systems at the highest level of the National Imagery Interpretability Rating Scale (NIIRS): Level 9. Hood Tech Vision matches embedded stabilization technology with electro-optical lenses that zoom up to 200X. This results in a field of view of 0.24 degrees, in payloads that weigh from less than one to six kg. Hood Tech Vision imagers consume as little as one-fifth the power common for such systems, increasing the power budget available to other sensors for Multi-INT missions. Designed for manned and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), boats, land vehicles, and towed and stationary mounts, the reliability and utility of Hood Tech’s daylight and thermal imaging products has been demonstrated during more than 900,000 hours of use in a variety of temperatures, humidity, dust, smoke, haze, and other environmental factors (http://www.hoodtechvision.com).
Dr. Andy von Flotow founded Hood Technology in Hood River, Oregon in 1993. Along with the design and manufacture of stabilized imaging systems, Hood Tech:
Develops, tests, and manufactures launch and retrieval systems for UAVs
Operates controlled launch and quiet wind tunnel test facilities
Monitors blade vibrations in industrial turbines and jet engines, including diagnostic methods that predict possible future turbine failures.
The Hood Tech web site is: www.hoodtech.com
Contact-Details: Andy von Flotow
Hood Tech
1750 Country Club Rd
Hood River, OR USA
5413872288
ken@hoodtech.com
http://www.hoodtech.com
