Insitu UAVs to get Sentient’s ViDAR
Sentient Vision Systems and Insitu have signed an exclusive global distribution agreement for Sentient’s Visual Detection and Ranging (ViDAR) software for Insitu's tactical UAVs, Sentient announced on 6 June.
The ViDAR payload will be incorporated into Insitu’s fleet of UAVs, beginning with the Boeing Insitu ScanEagle small, long-endurance UAV. ViDAR is an autonomous detection system used for electro-optic imagery in maritime operations. It provides a 'find' function to tactical UAVs and claims to provide coverage of the ocean surface that 80 times greater than current electro-optic sensors.
ViDAR can be modularly fit into the ScanEagle, in a 'slice' that consists of a large digital video camera at the rear that continuously scans the ocean across 180 degrees in front of the UAV. The inbuilt software autonomously detects objects on the ocean surface and provides an image and coordinates of a detected object in real-time to the ground control station. The primary sensors can be cross-cued to the object by clicking on the image.
Don Williamson, vice president, ScanEagle product line, Insitu, said: ‘For two decades, Insitu has been at the forefront of customer-inspired innovation. Adding ViDAR’s capability to ScanEagle demonstrates our focus on continuing to deliver mission-critical technology for our global customer’s maritime ISR needs.’
Simon Olsen, director, business development, strategy and partnerships, Sentient, said: ‘The inability to find objects on the ocean’s surface has placed a huge limitation on the utility of tactical UAS. ViDAR literally changes the game. Fast boats, rubber rafts or even a person in the water – ViDAR finds them all – and does so at a fraction of the size and cost of existing technologies.’
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