CARVEC - Cameraship

This is the CARVEC single-operator stills camera ship technology demonstrator. It is probably the most technically advanced sub-5Kg helicopter system in the world. It uses a small electrically powered helicopter to carry a professional quality digital still camera to make aerial photography easier than ever before.

The helicopter is fitted with the complete CARVEC stability augmentation system. Just put it down, switch it on and you're ready to fly in two seconds. No field calibration is required and it works in all conditions.

The mount is tilt-axis only and withdraws to a 'park' position automatically for take-off and landing.

Being electric, the helicopter needs no starting equipment, leaves no exhaust residue to dirty the camera lens and is very quiet in operation.

The flight-mode of the transmitter operates the camera-control system.

While the large lever is in position 1, the camera is turned off (via the Sony 'Acc' port) and the mount is driven to the parked position. This mode is used for takeoff and landing.

Selecting position 2 causes the mount to drive down and the camera is turned on. The video from the camera is then sent over the downlink and allows a 'camera eye' view for lining up the shot.

The shoulder lever now controls the angle of the mount. Position a points the camera vertically down, while position b points it forwards.

The mount is stabilised in tilt by the CARVEC system. As the helicopter pitches, the mount is driven to stabilise the camera.

When the smaller switch is moved from position 3 to position 4, the camera is commanded to take a single shot.

Placing the switch into position 5 causes the camera to start taking shots continually every 4 seconds.

The pilot flies the helicopter using video-glasses which have a small screen near the right eye. This allows the helicopter to be observed directly, and also the framing of the shot to be monitored.

The video also has a comprehensive overlay system. This includes a master warning caption which alerts the pilot to any faults detected by the CARVEC built-in test functions. It will also alert him if any of the battery voltages drop below preset thresholds.

The pilot can concentrate of getting the best position for the shot. CARVEC takes care of all the corrections needed to hold the required attitude.

The helicopter has an on-board flight recorder module which records all the system telemetry data for off-line analysis. This allows system performance/vibration levels to be monitored and provides a 'black box' function to aid in any investigation of in-flight incidents.

The data recorded includes rotor speed, attitude, attitude rates, accelerometer vibration levels, built-in test results, pilot demands/switch selections, battery voltages and many other parameters recorded at 30Hz. The module has a recording capacity of over 6 hours flight time.

The helicopter has now started a series of trials flights to test the operation in the real-world. Below are a selection of photographs taken during the first flights. All pictures were taken using a single-operator flying the CARVEC equipped Logo. The pictures below are reduced quality.