University Students Go Hands-on with Simulated Hood Tech UAV Imager

An article in Time Magazine’s online Business & Money section details some of the requirements for students pursuing a degree from the University of North Dakota. “The UAS operations major combines both manned and unmanned aerial training. Students first earn a commercial pilot certificate with multiengine and instrument ratings, meaning they’d have almost all the qualifications necessary to fly a Boeing jet for Delta Air Lines. After they’ve proved their traditional piloting abilities, they begin learning about unmanned aircraft. Different classes focus on operating drone cameras, ground systems, and communications platforms. In the major’s capstone course, students complete 19 lessons — about 70 hours — in a flight simulator”…of the UAV which carries imagers developed by Hood Tech. Hood Tech imagers provide a level and variety of detail for intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) long recognized to be the top tier of imagers flown on small UAVs. They have achieved a National Imagery Interpretability Rating Scale (NIIRS) level nine (9), the highest level possible. By using Hood Technology imaging systems, UND students begin at the very pinnacle of current imaging technology.

When Hood Tech began producing 800-gm video-camera turrets in 1998, it enabled an entirely new class of small unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Hood Tech matches improved stabilization technology with electro-optical lenses that zoom up to 170 times. This results in a field of view of 0.3 degrees, in a package that weighs less than six kg. Designed for manned and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), boats, land vehicles, and stationary mounts, the reliability and utility of Hood Tech’s daylight and thermal imaging products has been demonstrated over more than 700,000 hours of use in a variety of temperatures, humidity, dust, smoke, haze, and other environmental factors (http://www.alticamvision.com).

Dr. Andy von Flotow founded Hood Technology in Hood River, Oregon in 1992.  Along with the design and manufacture of stabilized imaging systems, Hood Technology:

Develops, tests, and manufactures launch and retrieval systems for UAVs

Operates controlled launch and quiet wind tunnel test facilities

Monitors blade vibrations in industrial turbines and jet engines, including diagnostic methods that predict possible future failures.