Schiebel’s Camcopter S-100 unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), fitted with EADS Astrium’s Pseudolite-based DeckFinder local positioning system, has successfully completed a series of flight tests.
During the trials, conducted to improve the UAV’s automated launch and recovery capability in GPS-denied environments, the Camcopter S-100 has been integrated with DeckFinder receiver segment system at the Schiebel Testing Grounds close to Vienna, Austria.
The week-long flight testing has been designed to evaluate the medium-range, medium-endurance UAV capabilities, fitted with that DeckFinder, in terms of highly accurate automated operations.
Schiebel Group chairman Hans Georg Schiebel said: "By feeding the position data generated by the Astrium DeckFinder System directly into the avionics of our CAMCOPTER S-100, we are now able to operate fully automatically, independent from global positioning systems during hovering, approach and landing, enabling us to launch and recover in environments that no-one has been able to perform before."
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By GlobalDataFeaturing six radio-frequency-based transmitters (Pseudolites) and a corresponding airborne receiver, the DeckFinder system will provide highly accurate and relative 3D position information while enabling the UAV to navigate with accuracy better than 20cm over the landing zone.
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The DeckFinder local positioning system, based on GPS-independent range measurements, also allows users to operate Camcopter even with high-degrees of autonomy from small vessel decks, and in adverse weather environmental conditions.
The Camcopter S-100 UAV, equipped with a vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) system can be used to conduct search and rescue operations, aerial photography and even crowd control using tear gas in civil applications.
Powered by a single 50hp Diamond engine, the UAS can carry 34kg payload including EO/IR sensors for military and civilian operations for up to six hours in a standard configuration.
Image: Schiebel’s Camcopter UAV undergoing DeckFinder testing. Photo: courtesy of Schiebel.
