Raytheon unveils new UAV control cockpit
As a good portion of UAV crashes are the result of human error, Raytheon’s Universal Control System is designed with the operator’s need first and foremost in mind; wrap-around displays and ergonomic comfort prevail; system is multi-platform compatible and STANAG 4586 compliant
We like unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) for a host of reasons strategic and technological, but, as readers will recall, we have been uneasy with their safety records. The Global Hawk, for instance, is said to have a crash rate more than fifty times that of F-16 fighter jets. Sometimes technical problems are the cause, but more often than not “pilot” error is to blame. Waltham, Massachusetts-based Raytheon has been hard at work on this problem, and has just recently unveiled a solution: The Universal Control System (UAS), a cockpit of sorts that not only improves operator visibility but also provides the ability to track multiple UAVs at the same time.
“We took the best-of-breed technologies from the gaming industry and coupled them with 35-years Raytheon UAS command and control expertise and developed a state-of-the-art universal cockpit built around the operator,” said Mark Bigham, business development director for Raytheon’s Intelligence and Information Systems business. Rather than build the system around the UAVm, Raytheon instead looked at the problem from the operator’s perspective — a pretty logical idea to our minds. Improvements include a wrap-around display, an intuitive interface technology based on lesson learned from the video game industry, and ergonomic changes that permit both sitting and standing.
Raytheon’s UCS system is based on an open architecture and is multi-platform, multi-sensor and STANAG 4586 compliant. STANAG 4586 is a specification that allows members of the NATO alliance to share information obtained by their unmanned air vehicles.
-read more in this Gizmag report
