A tracking system called HYPERION based on eye-safe lasers could enable aircraft, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and even orbiting satellites to transmit vital data to ground stations more securely, quickly and efficiently.
The development of HYPERION has been made through Innovate UK’s HITEA programme: a team including the University of Oxford with funding from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), and Airbus Group Innovations with Innovate UK support. The group says a proof-of-concept system with a range of 1km has been successfully tested in-flight, with work to extend this range underway.
As well as transmission of data from UAVs and satellites, HYPERION could also enable airliners of the future to offload huge amounts of technical and performance data gathered by on-board sensors to ground crews during final approach to an airport, speeding maintenance procedures and cutting turn-round times.
John Laughlin, aerospace programme lead at Innovate UK, said: “Collaborations such as these between industry and academia to develop new disruptive solutions to existing challenges are essential to the success of the UK aerospace sector.”
This optical system aims a laser with a wavelength of 1550nm from the ground towards the target aircraft, which is equipped with a reflector that captures the beam, modifies it with the data to be transmitted and then sends it back to the ground where it can be decoded and ‘read’.
Professor Philip Nelson, chief executive of EPSRC said: “This EPSRC funded research will potentially make aircraft and unmanned vehicles better connected and more resilient to outside interference.”
With its optimised aircraft tracking capability and secure high-speed data link, HYPERION is claimed to be less vulnerable to interception and jamming than current RF communications that rely on an increasingly crowded part of the electromagnetic spectrum. Unless alternatives are developed that can supplement radio communications, the researchers say, it will not be possible to cope with the huge volumes of data that need to be transmitted from the skies in years in come.
It is hoped that, with further development, HYPERION could begin to be introduced into commercial use within around three to five years.
Pic: HYPERION's first laser interrogator prototype
Author
Tom Austin-Morgan
Source: www.newelectronics.co.uk