Honeywell has upgraded its micro air vehicle (MAV) to include a two-axis gimbal for the unmanned aerial vehicle’s Sony 10X-zoom electro-optical camera (second picture). The original MAV’s payload canister includes two fixed Sony cameras, one looking forward and one looking down.
(Photo: Honeywell)
Dan Fouts, business development manager for Honeywell, says the US Navy explosives ordnance disposal officials asked for the changes after an in-theatre test of about 20 MAVs last summer.
Without the gimballed camera, Fouts says operators would have to climb or descend the MAV to get a full picture of areas like road intersections with the fixed cameras. The backpack-able 11kg (25lb) MAV has 40min endurance, 40kt (74km/h) airspeed and a 1.5kg payload, which includes the camera and an infrared sensor.
The upgrades are available now says Honeywell, and will be standard equipment as part of a Navy sole-source contract to Honeywell for 185 MAVs. Fouts says the cost increase is minimal in part because the upgrade contains one camera rather than two.
Source: FlightGlobal.com