UAV Navigation and Cobham have developed a “small, light and cost-effective SATCOM solution available to the UAV community. UAV Navigation’s POLAR AHRS unit is integrated with Cobham’s AVIATOR UAV 200 to provide a reliable and very cost-effective SATCOM unit,” say the companies.
POLAR is a high-end, MEMS-based, Air Data Attitude and Heading Reference System (ADAHRS) and Inertial Navigation System (INS). It has been designed for system integration in avionics and other attitude sensing applications. Its reduced size, weight and interface options mean that it can be readily embedded into a system integrator’s product. In addition to being used either as a standalone unit or as an OEM component within a system, the POLAR is also used as the ADAHRS unit within UAV Navigation’s range of autopilots, providing precise attitude estimation and dead reckoning navigation.
With AVIATOR UAV 200, operators can now send flight commands to a UAV in near real time on BLOS missions. “By making immediate route adjustments as and when necessary, mission flexibility is enhanced and platform security also benefits. AVIATOR UAV 200 connects back to base via Inmarsat’s SwiftBroadband service, providing a reliable command and control communication link for BLOS operations, as well as a real time feed from on-board payload sensors, via a single channel ‘always on’ data service. AVIATOR UAV 200 is by far the smallest SATCOM device in its class for UAVs,” says Cobham.
