Transcript No Slide Title

What is Vigilante ?
The Vigilante 496 OPV is either optionally piloted or an
autonomous UAV. It is capable of a maximum true air speed
of 75 knots and ceiling of 12,000 feet. It has 12 ft3 interior
volume and a 300lb. payload capacity
with its full fuel
capacity of 18
gallons. With its
Hirth engine, it has
about 5 hours of
496
endurance.
Vigilante is a SAIC developed family of Optionally Piloted
and Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) that are available to fly
your payload. These lightweight, low cost, highly capable
aircraft are based on the commercially available Ultrasport 496
sport helicopter. Because Vigilante is based on a kit, it uses a
large number of Commercial Off-the-Shelf (COTS)
components. Commercial production and use of COTS means
fewer spares required on hand and less expensive long-term
support for the user.
There are two variants of Vigilante. Both have a maximum
gross weight of 1,100 pounds, a main rotor diameter of 23 feet,
an overall length of 26 feet, and a main rotor height of about 8
feet. They both have a shrouded tail rotor. The rotating tail
rotor drive shaft is enclosed in tailboom for safety. All variants
have excellent autorotation capabilities.
The Vigilante 502 is a UAV only aircraft. It is capable of a
maximum true air speed of 117 knots and ceiling of 13,000 feet.
It has 5 ft3 interior volume, a 150-lb. payload capacity with its
full 36 - gallon
fuel capacity in a
crashworthy
fuel
system. Its design
has less drag for
improved aerodynamic performance.
502
It uses a Rotax 914
turbo engine.
As a total system, Vigilante includes air vehicle and ground
support systems. It is easily transported via trailer towed by
auto/truck/van.
It
is
reconfigurable for variety
of datalinks and payloads.
It can be operated by as
few as two people. Payload
specifics can be traded for
range and endurance.
Payload (lb)
Payload (kg)
This estimate based on a
Vigilante 502 with an empty
weight of 720 pounds:
• 4 gal /hr endurance at 30 to 40
knots
• 5 to 6 gal/hr in cruise at 80
knots, 30 minute reserve
The dashed line represents the
current fuel tank maximum of 36
gallons.
To meet mission
require-ments it could be
increased to a maximum of 58
gallons.
181
400
136
300
91
200
45
100
0
0
0
50
2
100
4
150
6
200
Range (nm)
8
Endurance (hr)
250
10
300
12
350
400
14
For more information contact: Tom Ciarula , SAIC Vigilante Program Manager, [email protected], 703-276-3125
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What is Vigilante ?
The aircraft avionics system uses a high-quality navigation
sensor, an integrated INS/GPS solution, and an integrated air
data system. It has robust fault detection and recovery
capabilities. It has a PC104-based processor suite using
proven, off-the-shelf hardware in a compact, easily accessible
packaging using the low-cost Linux-based operating system.
The Vigilante Ground Control Station is a complete system
providing dynamic real-time control of the Vigilante VTOL
UAV. The Vigilante Ground Control Software incorporates
special controls and displays tailored to the special
requirements of rotary wing aircraft, especially distinguishing
between hovering and forward flight modes. The system has
provisions for multiple modes of operator interactions,
including real-time flight director style commands, supervised
autonomy of waypoint-based
navigation,
and
fully
autonomous flight (for recovery
after lost link). The ground
station software suite includes
control of redundant command
and status data links, real-time
system
safety
monitoring
functions, telemetry recording,
and
display/playback
of
recorded data.
The Ground control station features redundant command/status
RF links in 900 MHz and 2.4 GHz. There is also a 72 MHz
backup safety pilot command link and a 425 MHz flight
termination link. A variety of additional real-time sensing
elements are recorded by the ground station including: engine
health & status instrumentation, EGT and CHT, separate rotor
and engine speed, electrical power system status, a radar
altimeter (0-600m), and an ultrasonic ground proximity
warning system.
Mission control is done via the GCS through redundant
frequency-hopping digital datalinks having a 20 NM range.
The operator may select levels of control authority over the
vehicle ranging from hands-off, waypoint inputs (from A to B
at C speed at D altitude) to joystick controlled velocity
commands (climb at x rate, turn at y rate, cruise at z rate, etc).
Automatic takeoff and land, pre-programmed lost link recovery,
and emergency autorotations are also executed autonomously.
Situational awareness is provided by digital maps, aircraft health
displays, and payload operations screens presented on the GCS
display. A stand-alone Flight Termination System is available
optionally.
This ground control station is a hardware and software
implementation based on the field-proven SAIC Direct
Dissemination Element (DDE) that supports the Global Hawk
long endurance UAV.
It provides a complete ground
control
software
suite, flight systems controls and
displays, data ac.
quisition recording
and file manageIMU
Stat
ment and mission
us
management tools.
Its user-friendly interface permits safe
employment by low- time operators and its
modular design permits rapid incorporation
of specialized inter-faces.
The
Vigilante
system
has
also
demonstrated integrated operation of a
POP-100 EO/IR sensor in flight.
The initial Flight Test Program has demonstrated speeds up to
50kts, altitudes up to 500 ft (limited by test range) and ranges out
to 2 miles (limited by COTS datalink performance). The program
has over 12 hours of flight time in autonomous flight modes and
150 hours of airborne flight-testing.
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