The remote-sensing business unit of automation vender ABB was awarded a contract by the Canadian government to develop a helmet-mounted camera system for the Canadian Forces. ABB will carry out the integration, manufacturing, testing and provide in-service logistic support. The development and production of this infrared camera will be accomplished in cooperation with NovaSyst.
The system will operate in the shortwave infrared region (SWIR). SWIR imaging sensors provide recognition capabilities that complement other technologies for the detection and identification of threats under low-light or nighttime operational conditions. This technology is suitable for area surveillance, camouflage detection, target acquisition and tracking under all weather conditions.
"The success of this project will be measured by our ability to miniaturize the size, weight, power consumption, reliability and cost of the system, and to maximize the functionality and imaging sensitivity of this new generation helmet-mounted camera,” says Marc-Andre Soucy, director of the Remote Sensing Industry at ABB. “At maturity, full deployment within the Canadian Forces is the ultimate goal of this key project."
ABB established its office for the Remote Sensing industry in Switzerland in 2009 with a project to develop optical instrumentation for the European space remote sensing market.
