Press
2d3 Technology Guides UAVs to Safer Landings
VALSDelivers Essential Visual and Positioning Data to Reduce the Loss Rate
16.JULY.2009
Irvine, CA, July 14, 2009 - 2d3, Inc. (www.2d3.com), a leading provider of vision science solutions for industrial, defense, and entertainment applications, announced today that it has developed a solution to visually assist a UAV during the critical, final phase of landing. Work on the new technology is being spearheaded in its Irvine, CA office, to address the need to reduce the loss rate of unmanned aerial systems during the landing phase of flight.
The Visually Assisted Landing System (VALS) consists of proprietary software and commercial off-the-shelf (CoTS) hardware integrated with existing on-board aviation, navigation and visual systems. The system provides high-rate altitude and attitude information to the existing autopilot by using the on board camera systems. No additional ground-based systems or specialized navigation equipment aboard the aircraft are required.
"Since the late 1990s, 2d3 has been working with and developing systems that allow for the determination of position and orientation of a camera in realtime, simply by tracking features in an image sequence or scene. VALS is a natural extension of that work, and we are very pleased to be in a position to provide a critical piece of the puzzle to help safely and reliably guide a UAV from 100 feet to touchdown," commented Jon Damush, 2d3's President.
Early trials have proven that existing cameras and sensor data can be processed using advanced vision science techniques, allowing the aircraft to land without human intervention. Current UAV operations call for a remote pilot to land the aircraft manually through the use of stick and throttle control inputs transmitted wirelessly. Operators are reliant on the ability to view the runway via RF broadcast video. Any loss of communication, link or video quality can have a dire effect on the successful outcome of the landing. By providing what is essentially a vision-based sensor, 2d3 have provided a way to enable repeatable and safe landings when no remote pilot is available due to loss of control signal or no available RF link at an unplanned airport.
"Interestingly, humans can not land airplanes without being able to see the runway, yet we expect Unmanned Aerial Systems to do that all the time, using sensors that are not ideally suited to the task. While we are still a ways away from being able to fly an airplane completely visually with an automated system, this technology will initially provide augmentation to existing systems, ensuring the aircraft always gets back down in the event of the feared loss of control link." Damush continued, "It is our hope that solutions such as VALS will serve as building blocks for additional vision-based solutions on-board existing and future airborne platforms."
About 2d3
2d3 is a CoTS technology provider specializing in the enhancement and exploitation of EO/IR still and motion imagery. Using innovative vision science techniques, 2d3 can improve and extract the information contained in motion imagery for better situational awareness, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance. Software based stabilization, super-resolution, spectrum optimization and geo-reference motion imagery are just a sample of the capabilities contained in 2d3's repertoire. 2d3 solutions are deliverable as stand-alone software products, APIs or embedded systems. 2d3 is a wholly owned subsidiary of Oxford, UK based OMG plc, with US offices in California and Pennsylvania. For more information, please visit www.2d3.com or call (949) 540-0740.
