Jump to content

Insitu: Difference between revisions

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Content deleted Content added
July 22, 2008 is now in the past
No edit summary
Line 20: Line 20:
}}
}}


'''Insitu, Inc.''' is an [[United States|American]] company, headquartered in [[Bingen, Washington]]<ref name="contact">{{cite web |url=http://www.insitu.com/contact |title=Insitu, Inc. Contact Information |accessdate=2008-06-18}}</ref> that builds [[UAV]]s. On [[July 22]], 2008 it was announced that Insitu would be acquired by long-time partner Boeing. This was not be a merger, as Insitu has continued to maintain its own separate corporate structure.
'''Insitu, Inc.''' is an [[United States|American]] company, headquartered in [[Bingen, Washington]]<ref name="contact">{{cite web |url=http://www.insitu.com/contact |title=Insitu, Inc. Contact Information |accessdate=2008-06-18}}</ref> that builds [[UAV]]s. On [[July 22]], 2008 it was announced that Insitu would be acquired by long-time partner Boeing. This was not a merger, as Insitu has continued to maintain its own separate corporate structure.


==History==
==History==

Revision as of 20:38, 19 November 2008

Insitu, Inc.
Company typeWholly-Owned Subsidiary of Boeing Integrated Defense Systems
IndustryUAV Systems
FoundedBingen, Washington (1994)
HeadquartersBingen, Washington
Key people
Steve Sliwa, CEO
ProductsUAV aircraft and Control Systems
Number of employees
<400
ParentBoeing Defense Systems
WebsiteInsitu.com

Insitu, Inc. is an American company, headquartered in Bingen, Washington[1] that builds UAVs. On July 22, 2008 it was announced that Insitu would be acquired by long-time partner Boeing. This was not a merger, as Insitu has continued to maintain its own separate corporate structure.

History

Insitu originally designed its UAVs for use by commercial fishermen to track schools of fish, and reduce the time required to make a sufficient catch[2]. The name Insitu come from the Latin phrase In Situ, which means "in place", referring to the ability of the aircraft to make tight orbits in specific locations, but also to be able to do certain resonance in place of actual people.

Technical Information

Unlike most other UAVs, those produced by Insitu require a very small footprint for takeoffs and landings. This is due to the aircraft being launched by a pneumatic catapult launcher and recovered by flying into a suspended cable, which is captured by the aircraft by hooks on the end of the wings. This allows the aircraft to be launched and recovered from a truck, zodiac, small ship, or other area where a traditional runway is unavailable or impractical.

The aircraft can be configured to operate autonomously, or operated using telepresence. However, landings are always performed autonomously, as the aircraft require specific angles and speeds to make a successful landing.

Current Products

A ScanEagle held by a US Marine to in Iraq
A ScanEagle in its catapult launcher
A ScanEagle is recovered at sea aboard the destroyer USS Oscar Austin
ScanEagle[3] - In Partnership with Boeing
Insight[4] - Non-Military version of ScanEagle
GeoRanger[5] - A specialized version of the Insight with ground-penetrating radar and other equipment specifically designed for Geological Surveys

Future Products

Integrator[6]

Former Products

Aerosonde - A weather tracking system, spun off as Aerosonde Ltd
SeaScan - A system to track fish (typically tuna) to reduce the time required at sea, and to prevent the catching of Dolphins. SeaScan is the basis for ScanEagle, Insight, and GeoRanger.

References

  1. ^ "Insitu, Inc. Contact Information". Retrieved 2008-06-18.
  2. ^ "Insitu, Inc. History". Retrieved 2008-06-18.
  3. ^ "ScanEagle™ Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) from Boeing and Insitu". Retrieved 2008-06-18.
  4. ^ "Insight™ Unmanned Aircraft System by INSITU". Retrieved 2008-06-18.
  5. ^ "Fugro GeoRanger by Insitu for Geomagnetic Surveys". Retrieved 2008-06-18.
  6. ^ "Insitu Integrator unmanned aircraft system (UAS)". Retrieved 2008-06-18.