New Launch and Retrieval System Complements Hood Tech Vision Imagers

Hood River, OR, January 11, 2016 — /EPR NETWORK/ — A big quadrotor UAV can both launch and retrieve an aircraft featuring Hood Tech Vision imagers, extending the life and commercial applications they can accomplish.

According to International Business (http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/scaneagle-quadcopter-aircraft-system-launches-military-uav-into-sky-then-catches-it-1527236) a new launch and retrieval system will extend the useful life and commercial applications of one of the airacft that carry Hood Tech Vision imagers—including electro-optical and infrared cameras. The new system consists of a large multi-rotor, vertical-takeoff UAV that carries and releases the aircraft with its imagers, and then retrieves the aircraft after completion of its mission using a line suspended from the multi-rotor snagging the jam cleat on the fixed wing of the aircraft.

The development team first designed the jam cleat system in 2002. The system’s proponents welcome the recent upgrade for commercial applications. “We’re delighted that our imagers will continue to be so useful”, said a Hood Tech Vision representative. “They have a proven record during the past decade and a-half of delivering for both military and commercial purposes such as search and rescue, firefighting, and railroad track monitoring.”

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:
Dr. Andy von Flotow
Hood Technology
1750 Country Club Rd.
Hood River, OR 97031
5413872288
andy@hoodtech.com
http://www.hoodtech.com