Vendor News

02Oct

Inertial Labs releases Industrial and Tactical grade IMU-P, MEMS Inertial Measurement Units

Inertial Labs, Inc. developer and supplier of high performance Inertial Sensors & Systems, recently released its Industrial and Tactical grade IMU-P, MEMS Inertial Measurement Units. Since its introduction in 2015, the IMU-P received much acclaim as a MEMS Inertial Measurement Unit. The IMU-P's outstanding reliability and accuracy in challenging environments -- such as high vibration, rapidly changing temperature extremes, and tough mission profiles -- grew its success. In addition to selling as a stand alone IMU, the IMU-P is integrated into Inertial Labs' AHRS, MRU, and GPS-Aided INS products.  

Growing demand for industrial and tactical

In order to satisfy market demands for Industrial and Tactical grade Inertial Measurement Units, Inertial Labs released two versions of the IMU-P:
  • IMU-P Industrial, with gyroscope residual Bias error over temperature of less than 100 deg/hr (72 deg/hr typical);
  • IMU-P Tactical, with gyroscope residual Bias error over temperature of less than 30 deg/hr (20 deg/hr typical);
The IMU-P Industrial is an excellent solution for stabilization and pointing, where a very efficient and low cost IMU can be an alternative to FOG based systems for EOS stabilization and Line of Sight pointing applications. IMU-P Tactical is a compact, lightweight, and affordable solution with high performance gyroscopes: 1 deg/hr in-run Bias stability and 30 deg/hr maximum Bias error over its operational temperature range (-40°C to 85°C), and superior accelerometers: 5 micro g in-run Bias stability and 0.5 mg Bias residual error over its operational temperature range.  This performance, coupled with its small size and cost, gives IMU-P Tactical a distinct advantage over existing MEMS IMUs on the market. Both models of IMU-P, Industrial and Tactical output high precision Pitch and Roll with 0.05 deg dynamic accuracy.  

IMU-P applications

The high performance IMU-P works in various tactical guidance, navigation, flight control, stabilization, and pointing systems. Due to its high performance level, IMU-P provides an excellent alternative to legacy tactical grade FOG IMU’s providing advantages in size, weight, power, and cost (SWaPC). The device also supports the functions of existing IMUs on the market. For example, the IMU-P is configurable to have the same mechanical and electrical interface as the STIM300. Thus, it acts as a drop-in replacement to STIM300 for approximately half the price. Other publicly available and published protocols can be supported as well. This provides customers a lower cost alternative for their existing designs without additional development costs. "More than one thousand delivered is a significant milestone signifying product maturity and customer acceptance," said Jamie Marraccini, Inertial Labs’ CEO & President. "Inertial Labs continues to invest in the IMU-P and in our IMU-P based AHRS, MRU, and GPS-Aided INS products." Shop Inertial Labs' line of products at Unmanned Systems Source.
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28Sep

Hemisphere GNSS Debuts Next-Generation S321+ and C321+ GNSS Smart Antennas

Hemisphere GNSS announced the release of their next-generation, multi-frequency, multi-GNSS S321+ and C321+ GNSS smart antennas. Hemisphere made the announcement at INTERGEO 2017, in Berlin, Germany.  

Robust and reliable

Powered by the Eclipse P326 OEM board, the smart antennas support 394 channels. They can simultaneously track all satellite signals, including: GPS, GLONASS, BeiDou, Galileo, and QZSS. This powerful set of features makes them robust and reliable. S321+ and C321+ come standard with two long-life lithium batteries providing up to 12 hours of operation. The batteries are hot-swappable so operators can change them without stopping work, maximizing efficiency and ROI. The S321+ and C321+ combine Hemisphere’s Athena GNSS engine and Atlas L-band correction technologies with a new webUI. These smart antennas offer an unparalleled level of customer-friendly performance. Designed for the most challenging environments, these ruggedized antennas meet IP67-standard requirements. The S321+ and C321+ come in two versions, with 4G LTE optimized for either North American or international locations.  

Centimeter-level RTK

Powered by Athena GNSS engine, the S321+ and C321+ provide best-in-class, centimeter-level RTK. Athena excels in virtually every environment where high-accuracy GNSS receivers are in use. Tested and proven, Athena’s performance with long baselines, in open-sky environments, under heavy canopy, and in geographic locations experiencing significant scintillation is nothing short of cutting edge. “The S321+ and C321+ represent the advanced technology, durability, and ease of use that our customers have come to expect,” said Miles Ware, Director of Marketing at Hemisphere GNSS. “By upgrading these systems with increased functionality and management capabilities, we are offering unbeatable value to the industry.”  

Atlas GNSS Global Corrections

The S321+ and C321+ ship pre-configured to test-drive corrections from Hemisphere’s Atlas L-band correction service. The bundled solution provides users worldwide with an easy way to utilize Atlas, including Hemisphere’s Atlas H10 service offering 8 cm 95% accuracy (4 cm RMS). They also use Hemisphere’s aRTK™ technology, powered by Atlas. This allows the receivers to operate with RTK accuracies when RTK corrections fail. If the S321+ and C321+ are Atlas-subscribed, they operate at the subscribed service level until RTK is restored. The S321+ is the ideal positioning system for applications such as land or marine survey, GIS, mapping, and construction. Together with SureFix™, Hemisphere’s advanced processor, the S321+ delivers high-fidelity RTK quality information that results in guaranteed precision with virtually 100% reliability. Designed specifically for construction environments, the C321+ adds another system component that empowers heavy equipment manufacturers to deliver their own machine control and guidance solutions to their customers. The C321+ can pair with Hemisphere’s recently announced SiteMetrix™ site management software platform that helps manage all construction jobsite activities, including grade and volume checking.  

About Hemisphere GNSS

Hemisphere GNSS is an innovative technology company that designs and manufactures high-precision positioning products and services for use in OEM/ODM, marine, machine control & guidance, agriculture, and L-band correction service markets.   Shop Hemisphere GNSS line of smart antennas at Unmanned Systems Source.  
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12Sep

Drone Inspections go nuclear with GPS and RADAR

AsteRx-m2 UASHigh-precision GPS receivers mounted on drones able to identify 1mm hairline defects in cooling towers  

Drones rise to the challenge

How do you inspect a structure that’s almost 160 m high and 120 m in diameter? With a few weeks to spare, a crash course in abseiling and a head for heights, a person could certainly give it a go. Imagine, however, that you need to collect enough data for a 3D model with the precision of 1 mm…all within a week. This was the challenge facing Aetos Drones. The company was tasked with inspecting a cooling tower at Tihange Nuclear Power Station near Liege in Belgium.  

Keeping reactors in top condition

The three reactors at the Tihange Power Station came online between 1975 and 1985. This makes the oldest of the three over 40 years old. Cooling towers built in this era have a life expectancy of 15-20 years. But, with careful maintenance, the lifetime can extend a further 20 years. The Tihange reactors contribute about 25% of all electricity generated in Belgium. The plan is to decommission the towers in 2025. Until then, the cooling towers need to be kept in good working order. Fortunately, drones equipped with highly precise and reliable GPS receivers can help.  

Corrosion and cooling towers

Pressurized Water Reactors, such as at Tihange, have cooling towers. These towers supply cold water to the condenser which works to cool the steam back into water. The steam drives the electricity-generating turbines. Cooling towers are elegantly simple in their operation. Warm water from the condenser sprays into the tower through a network of sprinklers, warming the surrounding air and causing it to rise. This in turn draws cooler air in through openings in the base of the tower maintaining a constant, natural draft of cool air through the tower. Corrosion is a possibility in any system where water plays a part. Cooling towers are hollow, thin-walled structures made from reinforced concrete. Over time, the humid environment can corrode the metal elements of the tower. In every cycle through the cooling tower, about 2% of the water evaporates forming the characteristic steam clouds. This increases the salt concentration in the remaining water which increases its corrosive power. In addition, high winds and winter icing can also cause damage and weaken the cooling tower.  

The inspection

Aetos Drones, were called in to carry out the inspections. And, Belgian's first certified drone pilot, Lieve Van Gijsel, took the helm. An octocopter fitted with a high-resolution camera, a RADAR system and an AsteRx-m UAS receiver conducted the inspection. The air vehicle took photographs at regular intervals as it traveled vertically up and down the sides of the cooling tower. The RADAR system was AIRobot’s Ranger, an add-on sensor specifically designed for distance detection on UAVs. The octocopter needed to get close enough to get quality images. However, the octocopter needed to maintain enough distance so as not to risk getting tossed around by the turbulence generated by the tower.  

Processing the images

Over the course of 4 days, more than 19,000 photographs of the cooling tower were taken. During the flight, the AsteRx-m UAS receiver logged GNSS measurements and the exact time each photograph was taken. After the flight, these shutter times and GNSS measurements were combined with GNSS measurements from a nearby base station using Septentrio’s GeoTagZ software. As such, each photograph was stamped with the cm-level precise RTK position of the camera – the ideal input for the next processing stage. After processing with GeoTagZ, the photographs were then uploaded to the photogrammetry software Agisoft PhotoScan. Over the course of several days, the photographs were stitched together to produce a highly-detailed 3D model of the cooling tower, precise to the level of 1 mm. Experts at Tihange then analyzed the surface of the cooling tower down to any required level of detail.  

Precise yes, but also reliable

3D inspection models with 1 mm resolution are made possible using high-quality, multi-frequency GNSS measurements from high-end receivers like the AsteRx-m. Not only does the positioning have to be precise, it has to be reliable. This requires: accurate error models, continuous tracking during mechanical jolts and advanced satellite integrity monitoring (RAIM). For large-structure inspections, such as this, multi-constellation positioning is essential to ensure there are always enough satellites available to work with. The receiver will also need a good multipath mitigation filter (APME) to disentangle direct and reflected satellite signals to avoid jumps in the calculated position.  

AsteRx-m2 UAS

The AsteRx-m UAS established itself as the receiver of choice for UAV applications requiring high-precision positioning. With the recent release of the  AsteRx-m2 UAS, drone inspections can take on applications at an entirely new level of difficulty. The AsteRx-m2 UAS adds BeiDou and Galileo as well as L5 frequency tracking. It also includes the AIM+ interference mitigation system. The additional constellations allow operation in areas where overhead structures limit the scope of single and dual-constellation receivers. Shop Septentrio's line of high accuracy receivers at Unmanned Systems Source.
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28Aug

NuWaves Engineering completes work on bidirectional amplifiers for communications, telemetry and warfare markets

NuWavesNuWaves Engineering announced the completion of the IRaD phase for their newest miniaturized 10 watt C-band bidirectional amplifier (BDA). This product adds to the existing line of NuPower Xtender bidirectional amplifiers. Currently, plans are to price this at $2,900/ea in quantities of one hundred. It is available Q4 2017. NuWaves is an international Radio Frequency (RF) and Microwave solutions provider. NuWaves continues to push their presence and expertise to higher-frequency applications. The NuPower Xtender C10RX01 and C10RX02 BDA modules follow the release of the 20 W C-Band Power Amplifier (C20R01) and the 20 W C-Band bidirectional amplifier (C20RX01). This latest BDA offers the performance of a traditional power amplifier coupled with a low noise amplifier for receive mode. It provides an amplification solution in one miniaturized package for half-duplex transceivers.  

The specifications

Both the C10RX01 and C10RX02 provide saturated RF output power of 10 Watts in transmit mode and 10 dB of gain in receive mode across the C-band frequency range of 4.4 to 5.1 GHz. Both accept a +30 dBm input signal, for compatability with common datalinks that typically provide a 1 W output. The NuPower Xtender C10RX01 requires a manual transmit/receive (T/R) control input signal. Additionally, the NuPower Xtender C10RX02 offers an autosense T/R control mode where the transmit/receive condition is determined automatically. The BDA’s aluminum chassis features improved heat dissipation characteristics for higher temperature operation. Its compact size makes it small enough for integration into a variety of platforms: air, ground, test, training. “These bidirectional amplifier modules provide the system integrator with additional options for enhanced operability across multiple scenarios in the military communications market, including unmanned aircraft systems (UAS). They fill the gap in the market for small bidirectional amplifiers,” said Jeff Wells, President and CEO of NuWaves Engineering. “We take pride in our ability to provide a full spectrum of solutions in support of the Warfighter.”  

About NuWaves Engineering

Veteran-owned, NuWaves Engineering is a premier supplier of RF and Microwave solutions for Department of Defense (DoD), government, and industrial customers. NuWaves offers a broad range of design and engineering services which develop and sustain key communications, telemetry and electronic warfare systems, as well as a complete line of commercially available RF products. NuWaves’ products include wide-band frequency converters, high-efficiency and miniature solid state power amplifiers and bidirectional amplifiers, high intercept low noise amplifiers and miniature RF filters. Shop NuWaves' entire line of RF Solutions at Unmanned Systems Source.
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08Aug

NuWaves’ new LS100A01 L & S-band PA offers significant range extension

NuWaves Engineering recently announced the release of the 100 Watt NuPower LS100A01 L & S-band Power Amplifier (PA). It is the latest in the company’s small, lightweight and high-efficiency PA family of products. With its size, weight, power, and cost (SWaP-C) profile, the NuPower LS100A01 provides significant range extension for communications systems, datalinks, and telemetry systems. The PA also provides added power for electronic warfare systems such as airborne electronic attack (AEA) at low, medium, or high altitudes, and its low SWAP profile makes it ideal for medium-sized unmanned aircraft systems (UAS). “For the systems integrator that requires greater communications range, the NuPower LS100A01 will provide a significant improvement with its 100 Watts of output power.” said Jeff Wells, President and CEO of NuWaves Engineering.  

The specifications

The NuPower LS100A01 provides saturated RF power of 100 Watts typical in L & S-band (frequency coverage from 1.6 GHz to 2.5 GHz), with module efficiencies of up to 45%. With a nominal input drive level of 0 dBm, the NuPower LS100A01 offers 50 dB of RF gain, while weighing only 22.6 ounces. Further, the PA’s aluminum chassis features improved heat dissipation characteristics for higher-temperature operation and, at a compact size of 6.5” x 4.5” x 1.0”, it is small enough to integrate into a wide variety of air- or ground-based tactical, test, or training platforms. It’s expected release date is mid-September with units starting at $3,775 in quantities of 100.  

About NuWaves Engineering

NuWaves Engineering is a veteran-owned, premier supplier of RF and Microwave solutions for Department of Defense (DoD), government, and industrial customers. An RF engineering powerhouse, NuWaves offers a broad range of design and engineering services related to the development and sustainment of key communications, telemetry and electronic warfare systems, as well as a complete line of commercially available RF products.   You can shop NuWaves Engineering line of small, lightweight and high-efficiency PA at Unmanned Systems Source.  
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25Jul

MicroPilot Integrates xNAV GNSS/INS into Autopilots for Greater Accuracy

MicroPilot recently announced the completion of work to integrate an OxTS xNAV miniature GNSS/INS system in to their UAV autopilots. The interface allows MicroPilot systems to use the blended GNSS/IMU output of the INS in their flight control system. This integration provides accurate positioning. “We were excited to work together with MicroPilot to develop an interface between our systems," said Iain Clarke, Product Manager from OxTS. "As the UAV market continues to grow people are still discovering ways to take advantage of the platform. We hope this development brings new opportunities to customers looking for integrated systems and UAV navigation options.”  

Designed for commercial UAV mapping

The xNAV is a miniature GNSS/INS system. It is designed for commercial UAV mapping applications that require precise geo-referencing capabilities. For UAV based LiDAR, hyperspectral or thermal mapping, a survey-grade INS is crucial. It provides the accurate trajectory information needed to create 3D pointclouds, digital terrain models, and other maps. INS also enhances photogrammetry applications. In addition, it reduces the need for ground control points, lowers image processing time and removes jumps and gaps in data, saving time from reprocessing to fix errors. While many autopilot systems have integrated GNSS, they are usually lower-grade, single frequency receivers only capable of 1-2 m accuracy. By developing an interface with OxTS systems, MicroPilot autopilots can use the centimeter-level RTK position output of the INS in their flight control system. The autopilot also receives the benefit of INS navigation which is robust and protected against GNSS dropouts. Thanks to the integrated GNSS and IMU in the xNAV, as well as OxTS’ tight-coupling technology, the navigation solution is smooth, resistant to GNSS jumps, and position drift is limited even when fewer than 4 satellites are in view. This can allow UASs to fly and navigate confidently in harsher GNSS environments such as urban canyons, near vegetation, or under bridges. “MicroPilot is pleased to work with OxTS,” said Howard Loewen, President of MicroPilot. “This integration will create a better performing system for our customers.”   Shop MicroPilot's line of autopilots at Unmanned Systems Source.
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