Airborne Innovations' RaptorEye II Ultra Compact Aerial Imaging Payload Enables Digital Imaging for Small UAVs

Airborne Innovations LLC will introduce the RaptorEye II Ultra Compact Aerial Imaging Payload at the AUVSI 2009 show in Washington DC, August 10-13.

The system integrates a high performance / low power Intel Atom processor, high speed Expresscard interface for large capacity storage (currently available up to 128GB), and an optional one watt broadband radio link for image and metadata transmission, in a very small form factor.

It provides small UAVs and manned aircraft with a compact rapid imaging solution supporting multiple digital cameras.

“The new RaptorEye II will allow smaller classes of unmanned aircraft to carry high performance large format cameras up to 16 megapixels,” said Jon Becker, President of Airborne Innovations.

“Multiple digital and analog cameras can be connected to a single RaptorEye II for rapid imaging applications, with imagery transmitted over an integrated broadband datalink or via satcomm systems like Iridium.

This is the first compact and powerful solution available which can for example support multiple digital imagers in a gimbaled day/night camera system.”

RaptorEye II is an aerial imaging system designed for high performance, small size, and low power consumption, with configurations as small as 1.2”x3.1”x5.9” (30x79x150mm). It is designed to accept multiple digital and analog cameras, and can store large amounts of image data and transmit it via the onboard or external datalinks.

The system is also suitable as a general purpose high performance small form factor x86 based payload computer for high performance processing and image transmission, for applications such as multispectral imaging, synthetic aperture radar (SAR), and other uses.

In addition it contains multiple interfaces for payload integration, including dual Gigabit Ethernet,dual analog video inputs, RS232 x 2, USB2 x 4, CAN Bus, GPIO, and 12V regulated power output for payloads, along with internal SATA expansion for more high speed large capacity storage. Interfacing Firewire and Cameralink based sensors is also possible.

Airborne Innovations, founded in 2004, is a provider of advanced aerial imaging systems and other UAV payloads and software services. Jon Becker, the founder, has 17 years of experience in UAV hardware and software systems.

Customer successes include Idaho National Laboratory's Rapid Airfield Damage Assessment System implemented for the Air Force Research Laboratory using the RaptorEye in 2008, and over the horizon imaging missions with the Aerosonde UAV in 2006.