Aerovironment’s Fully Automated Recon UAS
AeroVironment has unveiled Quantix Recon, the company’s new lightweight, rapidly deployable, fully-automated reconnaissance UAS that provides ground forces with on-demand actionable intelligence by delivering high resolution, georeferenced terrain, vegetation and infrastructure imagery.
Quantix Recon’s design combines the vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) advantages of a multirotor drone with the range, speed and efficiency of a fixed-wing UAS, resulting in what AeroVironment describes as a unique hybrid VTOL design.
Built to operate fully autonomously during flights, Quantix Recon can survey up to 1.6 square kilometers (0.6 square miles), or 20 linear kilometers (12.4 miles) per 45-minute single battery flight.
“AeroVironment’s Quantix Recon is a low-cost reconnaissance solution that can be in the air within minutes, capturing high-resolution georeferenced imagery of hard to access areas or dynamically changing environments.” says Rick Pedigo, vice president of sales and business development for AeroVironment.
“Because it does not rely on radio signals during flight, Quantix Recon offers greater stealth for concealed operations and is unaffected by radio frequency jammers, providing greater protection for frontline troops while reducing cognitive load.”
Equipped with multiple automated reconnaissance mode options, users can choose between line (route), area and waypoint targeted data capture. Collected aerial imagery data can be further analyzed thanks to that data being compatible with a wide range of available geographic information system (GIS) analytical tools.
Fully-automated and hands-free with five optional flight altitudes ranging from 150 feet to 800 feet, Quantix Recon’s simple, automated operation allows users to easily vary the coverage area and image resolution to suit their aerial reconnaissance needs.
Quantix Recon is equipped with dual 18-megapixel cameras that can capture both high resolution true color and multispectral georeferenced imagery. Thanks to Quantix Recon’s powerful, on-board processing, users can immediately view the high-resolution geospatial imagery on the included operating tablet as soon as the aircraft lands, without the need for other devices, internet or software.
Through the operating tablet’s Quick-Look HD app feature, users can pinch and zoom navigation down to centimeter-level ground sampling distance, which allows them to pinpoint and react to critical issues with precision and speed.
Published by AUVSI News on April 23, 2020.