Z Microsystems to provide rugged displays for Navy shipboard UAV control system
SAN DIEGO, 27 Feb. 2013. U.S. Navy unmanned aerial drone experts needed color rugged displays for the Small Tactical Unmanned Aerial System (STUAS RQ-21A) program aboard several kinds of amphibious transport ships. They found their solution from Z Microsystems Inc. in San Diego.
The Naval Surface Warfare Center in Washington is choosing Z Microsystems to provide the company's Intelligent Display Series (IDS) for the STUAS RQ-21A shipboard electronics aboard LHD, LHA, and LPD amphibious assault ships.
The STUAS RQ-21A program provides intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) support for the U.S. Marine Corp using the Integrator unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) Insitu Inc., a subsidiary of Boeing.
The Navy earlier this month completed its first test flight of the STUAS system at sea from the amphibious transport dock USS San Antonio. The system also completed three months of land-based trial flights at the China Lake Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division in Ridgecrest, Calif., before launching from an amphibious assault ship.
The Z Microsystems IDS flat panel displays offer real-time enhanced video (RTEV) capabilities for tactical surveillance missions. The liquid crystal display (LCD) panels use a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) to apply image enhancement algorithms to incoming video streams without adding latency, company officials say.
An image-enhancement algorithm in the display brings out detail in images degraded by poor visibility or atmospheric interference. Operators can turn image functions on or off with the click of a button.
"The Naval Surface Warfare Center selected Z Microsystems displays after seeing how well they enhanced situational awareness and decision making with no added latency by clarifying images in fog, dust, sand, battlefield smoke, and haze -- typical when operating in a littoral or combat environment," says Bob Kopas, vice president of military programs at Z Microsystems.
Z Microsystems also provides the Zview system for real time video enhancement, and the ZBox integrated system for real time video switching, remote routing, video enhancement, and stitching requiring several monitors.
For more information contact Z Microsystems online at www.zmicro.com.
John Keller | Editor
John Keller is editor-in-chief of Military & Aerospace Electronics magazine, which provides extensive coverage and analysis of enabling electronic and optoelectronic technologies in military, space, and commercial aviation applications. A member of the Military & Aerospace Electronics staff since the magazine's founding in 1989, Mr. Keller took over as chief editor in 1995.
