Max-Viz Flight Tests Wide Field-of-Vision Enhanced Vision Systems (EVS) for Helicopters

February 8, 2003 Portland, OR
Max-Viz, Inc. released today its flight test report in which the company demonstrated a wide field-of-view Enhanced Vision System (EVS) to aid helicopter pilots. The test used three of the companys EVS-1000 uncooled long-wave infrared sensors each with a field of view of 50 degrees to generate a 150-degree total forward viewing angle in front of the rotorcraft for the pilot.

A 150 degree field-of-view can provide significant assistance to a helicopter pilot involved in certain types of challenging missions points out Chuck Aaron, Max-Viz Helicopter Sales Manager with over 16,000 hours in helicopters and test pilot for this flight &.particularly for large helicopter operations and especially in areas of the world where the pilot may be unfamiliar with the terrain. Heavy-lift machine operators involved in military, logging, construction and firefighting will experience a quantum increase in safety he said.

The test was conducted in January 2003 in Southern California with the three sensors installed on a Cobra AH-1F helicopter. The images generated by the triple EVS were transmitted to three separate dedicated video-capable displays mounted to a fold-down panel on top of the existing instrument pedestal. The system provides a unique panoramic view of areas of interest ahead of the helicopter for a pilot conducting low over-water or terrain following operations.

The EVS developed by Max-Viz uses new uncooled infrared technology to generate video-like images of the area in front of and below the helicopter in flight. This system allows the pilot to continuously monitor terrain and obstacles in degraded visibility conditions such as darkness, smoke, haze, dust and smog.

Max-Viz Inc., a Portland, Oregon, based company, was founded in early 2001 exclusively to design, develop and manufacture Enhanced Vision Systems which improve situational awareness and enhance safety in the air and on the ground by using state-of-the-art real-time infrared sensor technologies.

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