I2.4 - Perception Range Prediction for IR Pilot Sight

Event
SENSOR+TEST Conferences 2009
2009-05-26 - 2009-05-28
Congress Center Nürnberg
Band
Proceedings OPTO 2009 & IRS² 2009
Chapter
IRS² 2 - Pyrometry/Thermography
Author(s)
R. Weiss - FGAN-FOM Research Institute for Optronics and Pattern Recognition, Ettlingen, Germany
Pages
227 - 232
DOI
10.5162/irs09/i2.4
ISBN
978-3-9810993-6-2
Price
free

Abstract

The new helicopters of the Bundeswehr, the UH Tiger and the NH-90, are equipped with a far-infrared Pilot Sight Unit (PSU). This sensor is used for both navigation and obstacle avoidance. At the beginning of our project, there was no established procedure to predict the IR viewing range under given weather conditions. Aviation safety guidelines, however, require a pre-flight assessment of prevalent viewing conditions for a given sensor. A high priority project was started by the German Office of Defense Technology and Procurement (BWB) where our institute cooperated with the Geophysical Institute of the Bundeswehr (AGeoBw), the General of Army Aviation (GenHFlg) and the Bundeswehr Technical Centers WTD 61 and WTD 91. The software package IRNAV, which resulted from this project, is in experimental use by the Bundeswehr since March 2007.

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