NovAtel Technology OnBoard Mini-Helicopter

NovAtel Inc. (Canada) its GPS engine is onboard Neural Robotics Inc.’s (NRI) AutoCopter Express Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) – a fully autonomous and electric-powered mini-helicopter that can be used as an aerial platform in the sky for applications including aerial photography, surveillance, pipeline and utility line inspection, convoy escort, and mine detection.

The key technology in the AutoCopter is NRI’s patented neural network-based flight control system. The algorithms in this system provide the ‘intelligence’ to allow operators, without any piloting experience, to manoeuvre the helicopter (via joysticks on the transmitter) to takeoff and land, fly to a point and hover, etc. The system can also be flown in a fully autonomous mode (automatic takeoff, pre-programmed flight path, and automatic landing). The system consists of NovAtel’s GPS+ Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS) capable engine combined with a PC/104 computer, and attitude and heading reference system.