LiveU and FlyMotion Collaborate on Wireless Video for Integrated Drone Command Vehicles

By Mike Ball / 26 Jan 2016
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FlyMotion TRIDENT mobile commandFlyMotion, a provider of unmanned aerial systems (UAS) solutions, has announced that it has developed a drone command and control vehicle. The solution, called TRIDENT, integrates technology for live video acquisition, management and distribution over IP from LiveU, a developer of live video transmission technology, with FlyMotion’s capabilities as a FAA 333 approved UAS solution provider.

Combining innovative UASs with high-quality video transmission tools presents unmatched video-sharing capabilities for a wide range of end-users, including TV broadcasters, law-enforcement, search and rescue operators, security organizations and industrial inspectors. With TRIDENT, these organizations can now fully pilot an unmanned aerial vehicle with optical or infra-red/thermal cameras from inside the mobile command and control vehicle. LiveU’s hybrid bonded cellular technology enables resilient, live video captured by the UAV to be transmitted to any place in the world, making TRIDENT an indispensable solution in mission critical situations where reliable capture and transmission of live video is required.

“Several months ago, FlyMotion set out to design and engineer a UAS command and control vehicle that would become a new standard in the unmanned systems industry,” said Maurice Cooley, FlyMotion’s VP of Technology. “TRIDENT provides users with on-scene, rapid deployment functionality that allows for high-definition aerial scene analysis/monitoring in a matter of minutes. Coupled with LiveU’s state-of the-art video transmission capabilities, video can be shared quickly and easily.”

Citing TRIDENT’s potential use for aiding first responders and relief organizations in a wide variety of natural disasters, Cooley explained that the command and control vehicle is capable of launching a UAV within minutes upon arriving on the disaster site. Low altitude aerial analysis and ongoing video can be transmitted to rescue teams guiding their efforts while helping to minimize risk.

TRIDENT integrates a LiveU LU500 cellular bonded unit, which provides resilient, live HD video transmission for on-the-move coverage, optimizing all available bandwidth to deliver broadcast-quality video. The FlyMotion solution also utilizes an LU700 hybrid video uplink solution and a LiveU Xtender external antenna solution that increases network reception and bandwidth, adding resiliency for transmissions in extreme situations, while reducing latency to less than one second.

The command and control system’s layout and equipment eco-system, including a pair of 50-inch monitors with Smart board, are customized depending upon each client’s needs and built into a range of different vehicular platforms. Drones utilizing optical or thermal imaging cameras complete the UAS solution.

“Working with FlyMotion has opened up new applications of our technology,” said Avi Cohen, LiveU’s Co-Founder and COO. “Today, our video capabilities are being applied to situations that require transmitting live visual intelligence vital to mission-critical decision making, from providing more visual coverage for law-enforcement to helping utilities better see and understand what is happening with their assets without having to send people to inspect them.”

Posted by Mike Ball Mike Ball is our resident technical editor here at Unmanned Systems Technology. Combining his passion for teaching, advanced engineering and all things unmanned, Mike keeps a watchful eye over everything related to the unmanned technical sector. With over 10 years’ experience in the unmanned field and a degree in engineering, Mike’s been heading up our technical team here for the last 8 years. Connect & Contact