Industry UAV Systems Website Insitu.com | Number of employees >1052 (as of 07/2016) Acquisition date September 9, 2008 | |
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Type Wholly Owned Subsidiary of Boeing Integrated Defense Systems Key people Ryan M Hartman: President/CEO Products UAV aircraft and Control Systems Headquarters Bingen, Washington, United States Founded 1994, Bingen, Washington, United States Parent organizations Boeing, Boeing Defense, Space & Security Profiles | ||
Insitu scaneagle launch and capture
Insitu, Inc. is an American company headquartered in Bingen, Washington that builds unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV). On July 22, 2008, it was announced that Insitu would be acquired by long-time partner Boeing.
Contents
- Insitu scaneagle launch and capture
- Euronaval 2014 insitu unveils scaneagle 2
- History
- Technical information
- Current products
- Former products
- References
Euronaval 2014 insitu unveils scaneagle 2
History
Insitu was founded in the early 1990s to develop the Aerosonde concept for long-range weather reconnaissance. The company name derives from the objective of measuring the atmosphere in situ, as opposed to remotely by satellite. At the end of the 1990s the company moved on to the Seascan concept for imaging reconnaissance from tuna seiners. With the onset of the Iraq war in 2003, Seascan turned into Scaneagle, and Insitu became focused on military applications. On August 12, 2013, Insitu announced a new partnership with Airware, to enable interoperability between Airware’s autopilots and Insitu’s ground control software, ICOMC2.
Technical information
Unlike most other UAVs, those produced by Insitu do not require a runway because Insitus are launched by a pneumatic catapult launcher, and are recovered by flying the UAVs into a vertically suspended cable which captures the aircraft by hooks located at the end of the wings. This recovery system is referred to as the SkyHook. This allows the aircraft to be launched and recovered from a truck, small ship, or other area where a traditional runway is unavailable or impractical.
In 2016, Insitu began testing the Flying Launch and Recovery System (FLARES), which consists of a large octocopter for launch and recovery of a ScanEagle aircraft. The octocopter lifts the aircraft up to a launch altitude then drops it for launch. The FLARES octocopter then returns to the ground to have a cable system connected for recovery. The octocopter holds the top of the cable in position mid-air, while the lower end is tethered to the ground. This system enables launch and recovery operations clear of ground obstacles, increasing operational flexibility in site selection.
The aircraft can be configured to operate autonomously, or operated using telepresence. Aircraft recovery is performed autonomously, with human oversight combined with automated safety parameter monitoring in the event a waveoff is necessary.