The Company Propelling the Development of Next-Gen Unmanned Systems

The Company Propelling the Development of Next-Gen Unmanned Systems

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X-47b, Northon Grumann
X-47b, Northon Grumann

WindRiver, the company that has been supplying software products to the international aviation market for 30 years now, and is an Intel subsidiary, is active mainly in the operating systems and embedded software markets. It’s main markets are aviation, industry and automation. It specializes in operating systems for systems installed in airborne platforms, operating systems which have received all the necessary aviation certificates.

The company’s products are installed in a variety of unmanned vehicles: Northrop Grumman’s X-47B; the European nEUROn; NASA’s Curiosity; the Robonaut – the first humanoid robot in space; the unmanned MBARI underwater research vehicle, and many more.

Robonaut, NASA
Robonaut, NASA

According to Alex Wilson, Windriver business development director for the aviation and defense markets, since most vehicles are still in their prototype phase, their software doesn’t have serious safety requirements and standards. Windriver’s advantage is the ability to rely, after the testing phases, on its experience in the certification of products according to the very high safety requirements of the international aviation markets – while using products that are in fact COTS (Commercial off the Shelf).

iHLS – Israel Homeland Security

nEUROn
nEUROn

Interoperability between different unmanned systems in the field is a growing trend in the American market. In order to achieve seamless interoperability the U.S. Army began calling for companies to develop a uniform system architecture (UCS – UAS Control Segment). The FACE consortium was established, an open consortium which develops standards for aviation systems, based on well known and proven civilian standards and business models (POSIX and ARINC-653).

Recently a lot of attention was given to the cyber security issue. Intel acquired McAfee as well, and the “trinity” of companies is now capable of developing full ciber security solutions on all levels. Intel itself develops security mechanisms on the hardware and component level, Windriver develops secure operating systems and embedded software, and McAfee develops enterprise-level solutions.

Alex Wilson, Director of Business Development, Aerospace and Defense, WindRiver
Alex Wilson, Director of Business Development, Aerospace and Defense, WindRiver

According to Wilson, the unmanned vehicle technologies are progressing in three directions: Autonomous operation of the vehicles themselves, autonomous cooperation between different vehicles, and the integration of manned and unmanned systems. Wilson and Windriver will present their developments in Israel’s unmanned vehicles event, on November 26th in Rishon Lezion, as part of the systems and capabilities expo and the live demonstration of more than 20 vehicles.

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