HGH's Spynel-F situational awareness thermal camera, displayed at Euronaval 2024. (Richard Scott/NAVYPIX)
French infrared (IR) specialist HGH has debuted a new panoramic IR surveillance system specifically designed for deployment on unmanned surface vessels (USVs).
Unveiled at Euronaval 2024 on 4 November, Spynel-F features a 180º field-of-view with full staring capability, a 10 Hz video frame rate, and integrated digital stabilisation. The system is also compatible with HGH's Cyclope software core and its GAIA artificial intelligence automatic classification tool.
According to HGH, the increased use of USVs in security and defence applications is placing ever greater demands on sensors used to support safe navigation and build situational awareness. Operating in often crowded maritime environments, USVs must follow strict navigation regulations and take care to avoid potential collisions with other maritime traffic.
Spynel-F has been designed as a modular, lightweight (3 kg), and compact day/night system to support collision avoidance, and perform real-time tracking and classification of both air and surface targets. Each sensor head incorporates five cameras – using long wave uncooled focal plane arrays – to give 180º coverage in azimuth and 40º in elevation. Two sensor units can be paired to provide full 360º monitoring.
First testing of Spynel-F was completed earlier in 2024. HGH is currently targeting initial production deliveries in mid-2025.
Spynel-F is integrated with HGH's Cyclope software suite, which enables users to process IR video capture according to application or mission. GAIA has been developed as a complementary AI-enabled video processing ‘plug-in' able to perform image enhancement, data fusion, and enhanced detection/automatic classification.
For more information on Spynel and USV sensors and developments, please seeREPMUS 2024: Portuguese Navy unveils Trator Do Mar USV , REPMUS 2024: Swedish and Ukrainian USVs operate as ‘Red Forces'and,
Looking to read the full article?
Gain unlimited access to Janes news and more...
