Geneva Aerospace Announces Production Of Ultra-Compact Flight
Control System
Geneva Aerospace says a small gold box recently put into
production can turn unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) into powerful,
"smart" tools. The flightTEK module includes the flight computer
and software needed to transform UAVs into autonomous machines.
Through additional development, flightTEK soon will be able to
perform highly complex autonomous behaviors previously impossible
for UAVs. These include autonomous moving-target tracking and
following, autonomous obstacle collision avoidance, autonomous
takeoff and landing for high-end UAVs, agile maneuvering and
multi-UAV collaborative control.
"Our team has deep experience developing flight control systems
for missiles," said Dave Felio, president and chief executive
officer for Geneva. "We've taken that expertise in missile guidance
systems and applied it to UAVs. As a result, we're developing an
entirely new category of capabilities for UAVs, including tracking
and operating as a fleet."
flightTEK includes Geneva's patent-pending Variable Autonomy
Control System (VACS(TM)) software, which runs on top of a
real-time variant of the Linux operating system. More than just an
autopilot, VACS serves as a true mission management system.
Geneva began work on flightTEK in mid-2003. The company wanted
to create a compact flight control system that could be easily
customized for a wide range of uses by both military and civilian
organizations, Felio said.
"UAV integrators can use flightTEK for any type of surveillance
or communications missions," Felio said. "It already includes all
of the basic flight control tools needed, as well as integrated
GPS-based navigation capabilities. More importantly, it is able to
manage the vehicle from a mission perspective. We can also work
with end-users to customize flightTEK for specific missions."
Because of its compact size, flightTEK already has been
installed in a UAV as small as 3.5 feet long and 6 inches in
diameter, said Sean Fitzgerald, director of operations for
Geneva.
"In this business, smaller is definitely better," Fitzgerald
said. "That way, the end user can maximize their space for a bigger
payload. Plus, they don't have to design around flightTEK, since it
takes up so little space."
The small size of the box doesn't limit its flexibility.
flightTEK measures just 3.5 inches by 4.75 inches by 1.75 inches.
Yet it includes a variety of input/output capabilities including
seven serial ports, 12 input and 12 output digital IO ports, eight
analog channels with 14-bit resolution, a 10/100 Mbps Ethernet port
and eight PWM ports. This enables flightTEK to interface with the
vehicle's mission payload, communication system, propulsion system
and control effectors.
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