Barnard Microsystems Limited

Developing Unmanned Aircraft Systems to benefit Mankind

Consistent delivery of superior quality data - Quality Data

Civilian Unmanned Air Vehicles typically deliver raw, or, processed data from both Aerial Surveillance and Geophysical Survey work.

Compared with manned aircraft, the UAV is able consistently to deliver superior quality data, since many UAVs can be used at the same time and can work together.

UAVs can fly day and night, slowly and safely, if need be, at low levels, closely hugging rugged terrain, precisely following a defined flight plan.

Unmanned Aircraft can provide better quality data

attribute

feature

comments

quality of raw data gathered by sensors on the Unmanned Aircraft

high data accuracy
  • several Unmanned  Aircraft cover the same area, to enable  identification of instrument errors, or, drift, with post processing, to reduce these inaccuracies
  • precision flight path, closely following the terrain
  • very low interference in the magnetic and gravity measurements, from the small Unmanned Aircraft
  • low level night flight, when the disturbances in the Earth’s magnetic field are at a minimum

high data resolution
  • can use very high resolution ADCs, since the small Unmanned Aircraft  introduces less field perturbations
  • opto-isolation of sensitive circuits

low data noise level
  • use many Unmanned Aircraft, to cover the same area N times to reduce the noise level by sqrt(N)
  • fly slowly, to increase sensor integration times
  • use specially designed Unmanned  Aircraft, with very low payload vibration levels

high spatial resolution
  • very low flying (20 m above ground level)
  • scan separation = flight height, as low as 20 m
  • use many Unmanned Aircraft, to create high resolution synthetic aperture receiver

survey time

on-time completion
  • back-up Unmanned Aircraft  used for mission completion, even if some UAVs suffer systems failures

shorter survey duration
  • many Unmanned Aircraft, flying slowly to get high quality data, complete the survey sooner than a manned aircraft generating lower quality data

aerial surveillance area coverage
  • comprehensive, persistent, coverage resulting from the deployment of many Unmanned Aircraft

real time data
  • adaptive data rate relay links, with bit rates up to 2.5 Gbps, support real time data downloads

Unmanned Aircraft technology will contribute more accurate geophysical survey data
  • the potential for low level (20 m above ground) night flying (when disturbances to the earth's magnetic field and cultural noises are typically at their lowest and there are few civilian flights about) over what could be rugged terrain
  • the slow flying capabilities (down to 40 knots, or so) of the Unmanned Aircraft, allowing for data integration and consequent noise reduction
  • the very small perturbation the small, mostly carbon fibre, Unmanned Aircraft has on the surrounding magnetic and gravitational fields. The aircraft controls are in magnetically and electromagnetically shielded units and the units are themselves linked, using optical fibre technology
  • the ability to use several UAVs to cover the same survey area, so allowing for noise reduction through data averaging and the detection of any instrument drift
  • precision, computer controlled, navigation and flight control, using precision GPS, several Inertial Measurement Units and a responsive flight control system.

UAV quality data

From James Macnae presentation at SEG 2006.

For Airborne ElectroMagnetic (AEM) surveys, the best time to perform the survey is from midnight to noon, ideal time for Unmanned Aircraft, especially at night, when there are few, if any, commercial flights around.