Technology
One autopilot, one ground station, two airframes.
Everything that makes the aircraft useful is shared. What differs between Vinga and Nidingen is size, endurance and sensors. Four things matter; each has a drawing.
Flight
The aircraft flies itself. The operator flies the camera.
Our own flight controller handles vertical take-off, transition, cruise and landing without operator input. The same software flies both aircraft, is flight-tested weekly and ships to customers once a quarter.
Positioning continues for the length of a flight when satellite signals are jammed or spoofed, by matching what the camera sees against terrain and coastline data. Accuracy stays within the sensor footprint. If the datalink is lost, the aircraft flies a pre-planned safe route home.
Sensing
Every detection becomes a track someone can act on.
A stabilised EO/IR gimbal with laser rangefinder, an AIS receiver and, on Nidingen, a maritime radar. On-board detection flags vessels, vehicles and people, geo-references each detection and correlates it with AIS and the terrain model.
Detections become tracks. A person confirms a track before it leaves the ground station. The graph is the shape of one flight's data.
Coordination
Several aircraft, one area, one operator.
The ground station is one ruggedised laptop. The operator draws an area; the station splits it into lanes and assigns them to the aircraft available. Aircraft relay each other's detections, so the one closest to the vehicle carries the picture home.
Adding an aircraft shortens the search. It does not add an operator.
Interfaces
Where the data sits and who decides.
Encrypted command, control and video over a line-of-sight radio to 40 km; Nidingen adds a satellite link beyond line of sight. Video and detections stream over standard protocols and a documented API into the customer's own command system.
A payload bay with power and data takes third-party sensors. Interfaces to partner systems use the standards they already speak. Everything to the left of the API stays with the customer. Interface documentation is available under NDA.
Sensor view
What the operator sees.
Placeholder footage until we can publish our own. The real feed carries detections, track numbers and a geo-referenced footprint over imagery like this.