Autonomous Systems Are Getting Smarter And Smarter...
Atair Aerospace told
Aero-News recently the company will exhibit its Onyx precision
guided parachute systems and LEAPP Long Endurance Autonomous
Powered Paraglider UAV technologies at the 2006 Association of the
United States Army (AUSA) Annual Meeting and Exposition, which
kicks off in Washington Monday.
Featuring the company's advanced "Flocking/Swarming" technology
-- allowing the autonomously guided parafoil
systems to mimic birds and insects -- Onyx systems
(below) are designed to allow military cargo to be parachuted from
high altitudes of up to 35,000 feet, autonomously glide for 30+
miles, and land within 150 feet of a preprogrammed target.
With this technology, multiple Onyx systems (50+) with payloads
ranging from small ground sensors or small munitions to 2,200 lbs
of mission-critical supplies can be deployed in the same airspace,
guiding to one or multiple targets without the possibility of
midair collisions.
Atair is the first company in the world to successfully develop
autonomous agent swarming UAVs. The company was recently awarded a
$3.2 million contract by the US Army to supply Onyx systems.
But Onyx isn't the only advanced system Atair will exhibit at
AUSA. Atair will also debut its Long Endurance Autonomous Powered
Paraglider (LEAPP) UAV technologies, with display of the Micro
LEAPP ISR UAV and LEAPP UAV.
Micro LEAPP (below, right) is a light-weight, small-scale
version of Atair's DARPA-funded LEAPP UAV, designed for special
operations intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR)
missions.
Atair states Micro LEAPP can operate fully autonomously or be
piloted by remote control via a portable base station computer and
advanced software which allows continuous tracking, mission and
flight planning, video and data downlink. Micro LEAPP is one-man
deployable and transportable using a backpack. Mission critical
features of Micro LEAPP include up to eight (8) hours of flight
time and a max payload capacity of 50 lbs.
Atair's DAPRA-funded
full-scale LEAPP UAV, which is designed for loitering surveillance
missions of 48-55 hours aloft, utilizes the largest elliptical
paraglider wing ever built with a wing span over 112 feet. Maximum
payload capacity for the LEAPP UAV is 2400 pounds inclusive of
fuel.
Atair Aerospace is a high-technology defense contractor
dedicated to modernizing military and government logistics by
creatively solving complex aerospace and engineering problems that
integrate the state-of-the-art in parachute designs and guidance,
navigation, and control systems.
Atair Aerospace will be available for questions and technology
demonstrations at Booth #4511 during the 2006 AUSA Annual Meeting
and Exposition.
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