General Atomics Aeronautical Systems demonstrated aircraft carrier
deck-handling controls for its MQ-25 tanker bid using a pair of motion-sensing
director wands and an Avenger unmanned aerial vehicle as a stand-in for its
yet-to-be-built prototype.
The demonstration showed the ability to control the
Avenger UAV on a tarmac using hand movements, including the ability to direct
taxing, and transition to the launch and recovery phases, General Atomics
showed in a video posted to its website. The specially designed director wands
are the same size, shape and weight as those used on aircraft carrier decks to
direct manned aircraft, such as the F/A-18 Super Hornet, the company said.
General Atomics’ wands use proprietary gesture
recognition algorithms to identify standard hand movements, as designated by
Naval Air Training and Operating Procedures, and then translates and sends
those commands to the MQ-25 air vehicle, the company said. The aircraft receives
the commands and converts them into the appropriate actions.
“MQ-25 will be able to talk back to the controller
and other flight deck personnel using a small series of LEDs that change colors
and flash to show that they have received a command and indicate the aircraft’s
condition or operating state,” said General Atomics’ David Alexander, president
of GA-ASI’s aircraft systems. “A safety observer on deck can stop the aircraft
instantly any time an unsafe situation is identified. To give you an idea of
how the system works, think Wii for aircraft control.”
Directors can fully control aircraft taxi operations
on deck using the wand, including lowering and raising the launch bar,
spreading and folding the wings, and raising the arresting hook, General Atomics
said.
Boeing and Lockheed Martin also are bidding to win
the MQ-25 tanker UAV contract from the US Navy, but have yet to publicly unveil
their deck handling control technologies. The US Navy said it plans to award
the programme contract in September.
(Evangle Luo of TTFLY shared with you)
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