Shotover Systems: Oscar platform
Shotover Systems introduced its new Oscar Linux-based hardware platform, which is capable of integrating its Ion 2 digital video recorder and Airscape augmented reality mission management system.
The Oscar can run Ion 2 independently as a dedicated digital video recorder, or run Ion 2 and Airscape simultaneously, allowing operators to record mission video while using advanced augmented reality tools for situational awareness and mission coordination.
Tom Churchill, founder and CEO of Shotover Systems, said one of the drivers for the development of the Oscar was to provide the ability to securely transmit video from the air to the ground.
With the rapidly evolving geopolitical situation around the world, transmitting data through cellular datalinks and Starlink connectivity could expose aircraft to adversaries, he said.
“We have to pay a lot more attention now to cyber security,” said Churchill. “This is based on Linux rather than Windows, which is inherently less vulnerable.”
The Oscar can be connected to various systems within the aircraft — such as cameras, AIS, and ADSB — and either record that data or send it to the ground.
“This is our lightest, smallest, most powerful computer so far,” said Churchill, noting that the Oscar uses Nvidia processors for power efficiency and capability — but also AI performance.
“You hear AI thrown around as sort of a buzzword now . . . but there are instances in which it can make a meaningful difference,” he said. “We use it in things like automatic license plate recognition, where you may have a paper license plate that will only flap in a position to be readable for too short a period of time for a human, but the AI can read it very quickly and identify it.”
By Oliver Johnson