CHELMSFORD, Mass., 13 May 2007. The VistaNav-SSR integrated unmanned aircraft system from Mercury Computer Systems in Chelmsford, Mass., is composed of a ground station, integrated VistaNav synthetic vision system, a small unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), and various electronic sensor systems.
Designed to improve operational mission capabilities for airborne intelligence applications such as oil and gas pipeline monitoring and forest fire detection, VistaNav-SSR (smart surveillance & reconnaissance) is extending the benefits of 3D situational awareness to small unmanned aircraft systems.
The VistaNav-SSR system enables customers to perform missions while minimizing human error and human fatalities in hazardous applications. The capabilities of small, low-power unmanned aerial systems are growing in popularity for a broad mix of airborne surveillance applications.
VistaNav-SSR includes Mercury's ACIP technology that allows plug-and-play integration of payload sensors, avionics, and data link subsystems into small, light, and low-power UAVs.
Because of integration and miniaturization, ACIP enables integration of functions such as video stabilization, compression, meta-data generation, collision avoidance and flight management, as well as anomaly detection, in a flexible configuration package.
The VistaNav-SSR is based on the Vector-LRE airframe from IntelliTech Microsystems Inc. in Bowie, Md. As a tactical-class UAV, the Vector-LRE provides a payload-to-weight ratio that allows the integration of multiple payload, navigation, collision avoidance, and communication subsystems onboard. For more information contact Mercury online at www.mc.com.
