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Aircraft and Payload
The aircraft to be used for our temperature monitoring payload is the 12-foot wingspan APV-3 UAV with a Cloud Cap autopilot system. Smaller UAVs represent an affordable option, both in terms of aircraft cost (<$50k), pilot skill, and facilities required for deployment. Recent advances in waypoint navigation for these aircraft are important for their ease of use.
These UAVs can support a payload in the range of 10 kg, 0.005-0.01 cu m, and consuming 20-40 watts power. We have developed a PC104+ data system with a 1394 disk interface with the following size and power spec's: 0.7 kg, 0.002 cu m, 20 w. Board-level wireless LAN equipment operating in the unlicensed 900MHz band will provide the requisite reliability for instrument control and data downlink at up to 75km range. A miniature Air Traffic Control transponder will enable operations in FAA national airspace.
Recent advances in micro-bolometer thermal infrared (8 to 13 micron) camera designs are the key technology for this mission. Many top-end IR camera systems are calibrated to read out temperature directly. The efficacy of TIR imagery in surface temperature measurement has been widely demonstrated in industry, with near-field applications such as the non-destructive thermal testing of electronics leading the way. The Indigo Omega camera was selected because it is very small (32x40x45mm), lightweight (120g), has low power requirements (1.5W) and provides a simple, high speed IEEE 1394 interface to the data system.
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