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The InView Unmanned Aircraft System has been developed for use in scientific,
commercial and state applications. The InView has been developed with a focus on
safety, automation and modularity. It can take off from, and land on, a
grass field. It can be assembled by two people in 45 minutes and then pre-flight
tested within 15 minutes.
The InView aircraft has extensive safety features and a 700
km range. It is large enough to carry professional sensors, such as a high
resolution digital SLR camera, and is modular in construction so it can be
transported in a small van.
You can
download
a copy of the latest InView brochure (2011 Version 18).
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The long range InView Unmanned Aircraft System at a glance
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The InView can carry a payload under each wing and a larger
payload in the fuselage, under the central wing section.
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scientific,
commercial and state missions
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Payload
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4 kg
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comprehensive safety features
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Endurance
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7+ hours
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modular and
easily transportable
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Max speed
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112 kph
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assembled
and tested within an hour
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Loiter speed
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24 kph
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can operate
from a grass field
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Weight
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19.5 kg without fuel
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capable of
very slow flight
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Wingspan
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4 m
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user
definable payloads can be carried
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Fuel
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AVGAS 100LL fuel packs
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operates in
manual, microprocessor based autopilot and PC autopilot flight modes
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Propulsion
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2x SAITO FG-30 engines
Total Power = 3.6 kW
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Scientific, commercial and state mission examples
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Maritime border patrol
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- Detect and monitor fishing, smuggling and immigration activities.
- Monitor off-shore oil and gas platforms.
- Monitor shipping and detect piracy activities.
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Monitor incidents and relief activities
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- Monitor and map volcanic ash particle densities using LIDAR.
- Locate victims following flooding, an Earthquake, or a mud slide.
- Provide a communications relay capability to people working in an area where the communications infrastructure has been damaged.
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Monitor fires and the spread of toxic plumes
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- Circle and monitor a fire, where toxic smoke might be given off.
- Monitor the travel of a toxic gas cloud from a chemical incident.
- Detect and monitor radioactive plumes.
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Monitor oil and gas pipelines
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- Perform routine flights to monitor up to 700 km of pipeline.
- Use difference detection software to identify any changes.
- Routine flights enable the use of differential thermal imaging.
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Geophysical survey work
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- Attach a Caesium beam magnetometer under each wing.
- Fly at low level and perform high definition geomagnetic surveys.
- InViews flying in formation reduce the survey duration and cost.
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Wide area surveillance
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- Slowly fly along a supply route, around a base, or, around an island.
- Use high resolution, side and forward looking, photography to detect and identify distant people and objects.
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Security services
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- Detect and monitor criminal and terrorist activities.
- Detect people automatically using real time face detection software.
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Flight training
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- Fly a real aircraft remotely as part of progressive pilot training.
- Experience real flight physics after using flight simulation software.
- Fly where no pilot would dare to fly a manned aircraft.
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Research and Development
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- Test the capabilities of electro-optic sensors in an unmanned aircraft.Explore experimental "Detect and Avoid" technologies.
- Test line-of-sight wireless and satellite communications links.
- Explore formation flight technologies and the capabilities of a swarm of long range unmanned aircraft flying beyond line-of-sight.
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The InView Unmanned Aircraft System consists of
the InView Unmanned Aircraft and the InView Ground Control Station. The InView
Unmanned Aircraft can fly:
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on one of its two engines. The safety provided by two engines is a
requirement of some exploration companies for aircraft operating
Beyond Line of Sight;
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using one aileron, should the other servo, or
servo linkage, fail;
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using one of the two elevator sections, each
section having a dedicated servo;
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using the ailerons and the elevator should the
rudder fail.
When flying Beyond Line of Sight, the command
uplink and the telemetry downlink is via a satellite data modem communications link.
Distributed sensors provide an early warning of
system failure, allowing the autopilot to fly the aircraft back to base before
the system degradation becomes too serious.
The beauty of the modular construction of the InView is that one can easily and quickly change the aircraft configuration. In this case, the single tail was replaced by two, smaller, tails for added reliability for a late afternoon flight in Winter.
The use of the twin tail fins increases the safety of the InView by adding more
redundancy.
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The InView is assembled within 45 minutes from modules
that can easily be transported in a small vehicle. Individual sections can
be upgraded to suit a particular mission, or replaced as part of routine
maintenance, or as a result of damage sustained.
The InView is only disassembled prior to transportation. Aircraft fueling and
pre-flight testing typically takes around 15 minutes.
Above: the InView can readily be transported in the 4x4 vehicle on the left.
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"Plug and Play" high performance sensors
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Examples of other professional sensors that can be carried
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a camera mounted on the underside of each wing forms a
stereo imaging system used to
record synchronised pairs of photographs which are processed into 3D
representations of the air space and the underlying terrain;
a scalar Caesium beam magnetometer, mounted under each wing and a vector fluxgate
magnetometer in the tail section, enable mapping of the Earth's vector
magnetic field; a high resolution
Radio Direction Finding unit,
based on the use of two sets of wide baseline antenna assemblies, one
attached to the underside of each wing.
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An Internet Protocol (IP) Pan, Tilt and Zoom (PTZ) camera, mounted at the
front of the InView, is connected to a Ethernet HUB on the InView.
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A wireless Ethernet bridge connects the Ethernet HUB on the InView to another Ethernet HUB at the Ground Control
Station, which can be up to 64 km (40 miles) from the InView.
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An operator at the Ground Control Station can operate the IP PTZ camera on the InView and monitor real time video,
without using the on-board PC, provided the InView is within 64 km of the Ground Control Station.
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640 x 480 pixel resolution real time video download
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30 frames per second (depends on communications link signal-to-noise ratio)
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21x optical zoom
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2 Lux minimum illumination for colour video
The InView Ground Control Station can be located in a standard van for mobility.
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Outstanding features of the InView Unmanned Aircraft System
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Safety
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The InView has two engines, and can fly
on one.
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The InView can fly even if an aileron, a
rudder or elevator servo, or even a servo linkage, fails.
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The InView has a dual autopilot system.
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Long flight range
small logistical footprint
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The InView can fly 700 km with a 4 kg
payload.
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The aircraft can take-off from, and land
on, a grass field.
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Only two people are needed to operate the
InView.
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Modular construction and ease of
transportation
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Capable of slow flight, thanks to
the engines moving air over the wings and the Fowler flaps
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Lower crash damage
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Crash damage is directly related to the
kinetic energy of the aircraft and the rigidity of the airframe. The
InView has a low kinetic energy: it has a maximum weight of 27 kg with
fuel and has a maximum speed of 112 kph.
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The InView is constructed from carbon
fibre and environmentally friendly LitePly, so it will disintegrate on
impact.
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Appropriate payload
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Environmentally friendly
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This small aircraft has been constructed
from less than 20 kg of materials. Less waste is associated with its
disposal.
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This aircraft uses less fuel per km flown
than a manned counterpart, and uses fuel efficient four stroke engines.
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The engines have been effectively
silenced to make this aircraft difficult to detect and less of a
disturbance to people and animals.
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Global operation
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The InView contains quality, high
performance, commercially available, sensors and systems.
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The InView contains nothing that has a
military sensitivity.
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The InView has been developed, and is
manufactured, in the U.K.
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Efficient lift flaps enable short take-off from a grass field, and slow flight
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The high lift flaps behind each powerful wing mounted engine, shown above, ensure:
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a short take-off from and landing on, a path, a dirt road, a patch of sand, or, a wild grass field, even with a surrounding fence;
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unusually slow flight capability, ideally suited to taking high resolution forward and side looking photographs and precision magnetic field measurements;
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ability to carry a heavy payload, such as extra fuel for a long 7+ hour flight.
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Three flight control modes are supported
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Manual Radio Control Mode
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The operator
controls all aspects of the aircraft and flies the aircraft using the
video downlink from the underside camera.
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Microprocessor autopilot
Mode
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Control Unit, with Real
Time Operating System, as above. The aircraft flies on a flight path
that has been pre-defined, as a sequence of GPS waypoints,
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PC autopilot Mode
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The PC autopilot, with
Windows 7 OS, is more capable and extendable.
If the PC fails, control passes to the Microprocessor based
autopilot.
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Unmanned Aircraft benefits in brief
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Far less expensive than a manned aircraft. Even with a
limited budget, you may still be able to both purchase and routinely operate
a small fleet of InView Unmanned Aircraft. Very much less expensive to fly than manned aircraft
on routine missions. No nearby airport is needed, and the aircraft can be
transported in the back of a small van. Use a formation of unmanned aircraft, managed by a
Pilot-in-Command and a Co-Pilot at the Ground Control Centre, to achieve
even greater operational cost savings. Fly anywhere without danger to the Pilot, or, ever
needing to rescue a Pilot. Fly the routine and / or dangerous missions you need
to without pilot constraints, such as low level night flights, or long range
flights over the desert, or, over icy Arctic waters.
The InView Unmanned Aircraft executing a tight turn.
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The InView is built to order, and can be ordered now.
Contact Barnard Microsystems Limited, or their
representative, for pricing for the Unmanned Aircraft and for the Ground Control
Station. The InView takes from 6 to 8 weeks to build and test. A typical system
consists of three Unmanned Aircraft and one Ground Control Station.
We believe the mid-size InView Unmanned Aircraft is destined to become a
very popular aircraft for use in a wide variety of commercial, scientific and
state applications due to its exemplary safety features, its impressive verstility and
its attractive pricing. The InView is built to order, and takes typically 6 to 8
weeks to build.
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