Hood River, OR, United States, October 04, 2013 -- Hood Tech Vision’s imaging systems star in first commercial use by ConocoPhillips in Arctic “to monitor whale migrations and ice flows”.

From: Hood Tech Corp Vision, Inc., Hood River, Oregon
Date: October 3, 2013
Subject: Whales and Ice: Hood Tech Vision’s Imaging Systems Lead the Way to Commercial Use of UAVs
Contact: Dr. Andy von Flotow, Hood Tech Corp Vision, Inc., 541-387-2288, [email protected]

Widely reported is news that a popular UAV certified for commercial application has successfully begun its mission, as allowed by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) (e.g. http://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/2013-09-23/after-first-commercial-flight-other-uas-types-advance). The certification provides for monitoring whale migrations and ice flows for ConocoPhillips in the Arctic and has just produced first results. Moreover, the first commercial success appears to be encouraging others and possibly opening the way for other applications for commercial use. “We’re happy to be first, and hope that this initial success leads to many more in the commercial area. We’re also pleased, but not surprised, that our imaging systems performed reliably, even in the extremes of the Arctic,” said a Hood Tech Vision representative. “After all, they’ve been used in a wide range of environments on both land and sea, across a wide variety of weather extremes, so we’ve come to expect that they’ll perform well no matter where. And we are also happy to contribute to the type of environmental monitoring that is important both to mineral exploration and to climate change research.”

When Hood Tech began producing 800-gm video-camera turrets in 1998, it enabled an entirely new class of small unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Hood Technology Vision now designs and manufactures imaging and video processing systems at the highest level of the National Imagery Interpretability Rating Scale (NIIRS): level 9. Hood Tech matches improved stabilization technology with electro-optical lenses that zoom up to 170 times. This results in a field of view of 0.3 degrees, in a package that weighs less than six kg. Designed for manned and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), boats, land vehicles, and stationary mounts, the reliability and utility of Hood Tech’s daylight and thermal imaging products has been demonstrated over more than 700,000 hours of use in a variety of temperatures, humidity, dust, smoke, haze, and other environmental factors (http://www.hoodtechvision.com).

Dr. Andy von Flotow founded Hood Technology in Hood River, Oregon in 1992. Along with the design and manufacture of stabilized imaging systems, Hood Tech:

Develops, tests, and manufactures launch and retrieval systems for UAVs
Operates controlled launch and quiet wind tunnel test facilities
Monitors blade vibrations in industrial turbines and jet engines, including diagnostic methods that predict possible future failures.

The Hood Tech web site is: www.hoodtech.com

Contact:
Andy von Flotow
Hood Tech
3100 Cascade
Hood River, OR 97031
5413872288
[email protected]
http://www.hoodtech.com