SDT’s Global Growth in Image Processing Expertise
SDT’s participation in an EU project market meeting in Brussels in 2007 and then EU project adventure start resulted in the company’s entry into the civil aviation field. The avionic products namely remote sensing and image processing applications that are still being developed for air platforms by SDT were being studied in laboratories back in those days. EU evaluated SMEs with added values and exciting ideas at the aforementioned project market in which various suggestions concerning civil aviation R&D projects were displayed. Within this framework, SDT participated in the technological solution contest of the R&D project called ALICIA. Among many SMEs from European countries, 6 SMEs were selected for the EU 7th Framework Program for Aviation R&D Program ALICIA consortium composed of 42 partners and SDT was selected along with the 6 selected European SMEs. SDT found itself within the same consortium with giant European aviation companies when the ALICIA R&D project proposal offered by this consortium was rated high in 2009 and evaluated as a worthy of EU funding for 5 years.
SDT contributes greatly to the development of technologies that would support the instant decisions that are to be made during landings and that would create situational awareness for the pilots through processing of the images captured with video detectors over aircrafts for the future modern passenger aircraft’s cockpit by standing in this team selected in Europe. By means of utilizing the technology, the civil aircrafts’ timely and safe landing will be enabled without ground support and independent from weather conditions. This study was considered to mark an era in both economic aspect and providing maximum safety to passengers and SDT was among the architects of the project. Some of SDT’s partners in the aforesaid consortium are Agusta Westland, Thales, Airbus Group, Dassault Aviation, Diehl Aerospace, BAE Systems, Alenia Aermacchi and SAAB.
With the final sitting that took place in Rome, Italy between July 29 and August 1, 2014; the 5 year long project was concluded. The algorithms and software developed by SDT received quite positive reactions of the committee members during the presentations at this final meeting. Moreover, all the work package leaders conveyed their appreciation to SDT team concerning their diligent studies and success in integration. In the tests conducted at test platforms, one of Projects’ executive partners Thales evaluated the feedbacks of the end-users (pilots) regarding fixed winged aircraft of France while Augusta Westland did the same in England’s rotating winged test platforms. The final version of the software has been developed as a result of these evaluations. At the final point reached through the feedbacks and taking SDT’s avionic product range and capabilities into consideration, it is planned to conduct the marketing of the system that includes the aforementioned algorithms and software embedded into a signal processing box to be installed on an airborne platform.
