Lead'Air introduces T-MAP UAV Aerial Mapping Camera System

May 14, 2014 -- Lead’Air Inc, US manufacturer of the Track’Air line of products, would like to introduce the T-MAP UAV Aerial Mapping Camera System at the UAVSI show in Orlando, FL.

In brief:
The new T-MAP Aerial Mapping System has been specially developed for UAV and small aircrafts. The system is very compact and light weight and can be installed on the larger type of professional UAV aircraft to carry out full mapping missions. It is based on either the 80 mp Phase One IXA180 camera or the new 50 mp Phase One IXU150 camera. T-MAP is a true turnkey system which includes:

Photogrammetrically calibrated camera and lens
Fully automated computerized image saving and management system
A powerful autonomous flight management system based on the widespread Track’Air FMS
A fully stabilized mount system with +/- 20 degrees pitch/roll correction and +/- 25 degrees yaw correction
A built-in Applanix IMU system which can be coupled to any of the Applanix IMU sensor range (AP20 to AP50)

Dimensions:

The electronic control unit is a box 7x8x6 inches (17x20x15 cm) approximately weighing 6 lbs (3kg)
The IXA 180 camera mount weights around 4.5 lbs (2 kg) and the IXU mount 1.5 lbs (750gr)
Together with the camera and a standard 80 mm lens the IXA system weights less than 15 lbs (7kg) and the IXU system weights less than 11 lbs (5kg)

Product Description:
T-MAP is an aerial mapping camera system designed primarily for a larger UAV but it can also be used on a small conventionally crewed survey aircrafts. T-MAP capabilities include the stereoscopic coverage of a large area with parallel runs of overlapping photography or any other form of aerial survey such as corridor mapping, power lines survey, pipeline survey, etc.

The system is light weight and very compact. It is designed to operate entirely on its own. Once a flight plan is designed with the Track’Air snapPLAN software, the T-MAP camera system is able to complete the entire flight without the need of input from an operator. As long as the UAV guidance system, autopilot, and FPS is able to reach the survey area, intercept, and follow a planned photo line T-MAP will take care of firing the camera at the exact predetermined positions, maintain overlap, compensate for the terrain, compensate for the drift, yaw, roll and pitch, maintain proper exposure across the runs, save the imagery to a SSD drive, and save all pertaining mission data to a database. If the flight is interrupted for any reason the T-MAP system will be able to resume operation and complete the mission.

The T-MAP camera system is derived from the existing and proven Track’Air aerial survey systems such as the MIDAS and the RedBaron. It relies on a special version of the Track’Air snapSHOT flight management software which can automatically control all phases of the photo mission and makes decisions based on the actions of the UAV. SnapSHOT is able to operate independently from the aircraft guidance system and will operate the camera on its own as long as the airplane follows the planned mission trajectory.

If required, the snapSHOT program can also interact with the aircraft autopilot or with the operator on the ground. In this case a special interface can be designed to meet the specific client requirements. If a down link exists, snapshot can send data to the ground so the operator can monitor the progress of the mission in real time. If the autopilot has a form of interface, snapSHOT can take control of the entire survey, select the runs to be flown, computes most efficient turns to reach the next line, etc.

Camera Options:
The camera itself can be either the 80 mp Phase One IXA 180 or the new 50 mp Phase One IXU 150. T-Cam, a special version of the IXA 180 is designed and built by Lead’Air is also available. T-Cam features an easily interchangeable focal plane shutter for lengthy missions exceeding the life expectancy of the camera shutter. For certain applications, being able to change the shutter in the field without having to re-boresight the camera system can be a great operational advantage.

The camera is installed in a fully stabilized mount, able to automatically compensate for +/- 25 degrees of yaw/drift and +/- 20 degrees of pitch and roll. The T-Cam/IXA 180 mount weight less than two kg, the IXA150 mount less than 1kg.

Image data is automatically saved to a SSD drive capable of storing six hours of continuous photography.

The electronic control unit is a box 7x8x6 inches (17x20x15 cm) approximately weighing 6 lbs (3kg)

The IXA 180 camera mount weights around 4.5 lbs (2 kg) and the IXU mount 1.5 lbs (750gr)

Together with the camera and a standard 80 mm lens the IXA system weights less than 15 lbs (7kg) and the IXU system weights less than 11 lbs (5kg)

Phase One and Applanix are long-time partners of LeadAir and their continuous support and cooperation have been instrumental to the design and manufacturing of the T-MAP camera system. For more information and pricing please visit www.trackair.com