The FALCON flies with the help of the WatchMan500™

A group of engineers from the DeVry Institute of Technology (Calgary) have recently developed an unmanned helicopter, utilizing the WatchMan500™ Data Acquisition System as its core processor.

Code named FALCON (Fully Autonomous Light Copter for Observation and Navigation) the project’s primary focus was to develop a system utilizing both hardware and software to address the obstacles inherent to unmanned flight. The system consists of flight stabilization, navigation, comunications, and object recognition. Furthermore, the system is scalable, allowing it to be integrated into helicopters of various sizes.

“AXYS Technologies’ WatchMan500™ was an obvious choice for the onboard main processor because of its modular design, low power consumption and multiple communication ports,” commented project leader Kevin Handcock. “The WatchMan500™ is a compact, light weight unit that is incredibly powerful in its processing capabilities. One of the main advantages was that the programming was quite easy. We did not have to learn a new programming or assembly language. We would recommend the WatchMan500™ for any project requiring the interfacing of sensors and other equipment.”

The FALCON project has numerous applications for situations where pilots are required to perform dangerous operations that could result in the loss of life. These include fire spotting, avalanche assessments, reconnaissance, surveying, weather information, and search and rescue.

Beyond aviation, the WatchMan500™ technology is used worldwide to interface with telemetry and environmental sensors to provide remote monitoring solutions for hydrometric, oceanographic, and meteorological applications.

AXYS Technologies Inc. designs, manufactures, distributes, and maintains remote environmental data acquisition, processing, and telemetry systems. For further information contact AXYS at: info@axystechnologies.com or visit www.axystechnologies.com

DeVry Institute of Technology (Calgary) is a leader in electronics and technology-based business education. The FALCON Project is part of a Senior Project Development Lab. For further details, research http://falcon.negative0.net and www.devry.ca

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Media Contact: Robin Hurd
Marketing & Sales Coordinator rhurd@axys.com
250-655-5860

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