Announcements - NRC Aerospace flight tests prototype video-based automatic station-keeping system

June 13, 2005 — Ottawa, Ontario

System increases efficiency of Search-and-Rescue operations by keeping helicopter locked onto a target

IMAGO's prototype video tracking system installed on the NRC Bell 412 for automatic station-keeping flight tests.(high resolution image)

Paris, June 13, 2005 -- The National Research Council Institute for Aerospace Research (NRC Aerospace) has successfully completed the first flight test of a prototype video-based automatic station-keeping system that will enable a search-and-rescue (SAR) helicopter to lock onto a target and automatically maintain position over it. Working with IMAGO Machine Vision Inc., a Canadian company that specializes in video tracking systems and algorithms, NRC Aerospace created a system that allows two-way communication between IMAGO's specialized tracking system and the Fly-By-Wire flight control systems of the NRC Bell 412 helicopter, allowing it to lock on and follow a target without human intervention. The system, which was accurate to within a metre under ideal conditions, has the potential to reduce pilot workload and increase the speed and safety of rescue operations.

Pilots using Canada's new Search and Rescue helicopter, the Cormorant, face high workload challenges because the hoist used to lift people, and objects, is located far back on the aircraft, making it difficult for them to see the object over which they're trying to stay positioned. They have to rely on cues from the person handling the hoist, or from a video camera that has a small field of view and a different frame of reference. To alleviate the situation, NRC Aerospace and IMAGO began collaborating in 2002 on a video-based automatic station-keeping system.

NRC Aerospace Research Officer, Dr. Greg Craig, stated, "Our initial concept was to use a video camera to lock onto an object, such as the edges of a boat, and track its position within the image. Then, based on the position of the camera with respect to the helicopter, feed that information into a flight control computer so that when the object moves, the helicopter moves with it. The whole idea is that instead of the person at the hoist telling the pilot that the object is moving, it's all done automatically." IMAGO provided the video-tracking algorithms while NRC Aerospace set up the flight control system to take the camera input and move the helicopter around in response to it. 

Flight trials of the automatic station-keeping system were carried out between January and April, 2005. Dr. Craig said, "One of the key features of the system is that IMAGO's software allows the tracker to lock onto a passive and non-compliant target. We had the helicopter follow someone walking around in a field by using the video tracker data to drive the helicopter's flight control computer. As far as we know, no one has done this before. Earlier systems were able to track a known target, such as a square or rectangle, or specific signals sent from the target. Our system doesn't care what the shape is. If it has a unique feature, such as color or shape or distinct movement from the background, IMAGO's system can lock onto it and track it. That's a big advantage." 

The next step, likely this fall, is to improve the tracker system robustness by tracking targets in increasingly difficult conditions.

IMAGO Machine Vision Inc. is a Canadian company that, since 1991, has set the standard in high-performance portable video target trackers and trajectory measures systems. Today, IMAGO's fully integrated target tracking systems are used by defence laboratories throughout the world.

The National Research Council Institute for Aerospace Research (NRC Aerospace) is Canada's national aerospace laboratory, undertaking and promoting research and development in support of the Canadian aerospace community in matters affecting the design, manufacture, performance, use and safety of aerospace vehicles.

For more information please contact:

Michelle Gagnon, Communications Officer
NRC Institute for Aerospace Research
Tel: (613) 991-5738
E-mail: michelle.gagnon@nrc.gc.ca