TEKEVER Awarded Two More Innovative Projects by EDA

TEKEVER ASDS has just been awarded two more research and development projects by the European Defence Agency (EDA), reinforcing its status as the leading Portuguese company involved with EDA projects. 

The new projects are the Soldier Portable Energy Reserve PACK (SPER-PACK) and the uLtralight weigh bulletproof VESTs (LIVEST), both funded under EDA's Combat Equipment for Dismounted Soldier (CEDS) programme. Led by TEKEVER, SPER-PACK will assess different technologies for energy generation, storage and management considering the operational environment and the user profiles, in order to propose a preliminary design of a flexible, plug 'n' play power supply system for the dismounted soldier. The SPER-PACK design will also anticipate the integration of different technologies at or before mission time, being capable of supporting multiple and unanticipated energy generation, harvesting and storage solutions, supported by a powerful and smart power management subsystem. The SPER-PACK Consortium is comprised of TEKEVER, FOI, CEA and Sagem.

 The LIVEST Project will investigate the feasibility of developing a Smart Wearable Textile & Body Armour System based on a soft body armour, enabled through the use of 3D textile structures, especially conceived to reduce weight and increase comfort, and the combination of 3D fabric with current ballistic woven fabric, aiming to reduce trauma cause by high energy impact of bullets and to improve the armour's ballistic protection performance. The Project will also address the integration of wearable electronics for 3D structure and vest monitoring. The LIVEST Consortium is led by AITEX and composed of CITEVE, Paul Boyé Technologies and TEKEVER.

With SPER-PACK and LIVEST, TEKEVER reinforces its position as the Portuguese company with the largest participation in the European Defence Agency's innovation programmes.

TEKEVER at the 2013 Edition of the Fórum do Mar

TEKEVER is attending the new edition of the Fórum do Mar at Exponor, dedicated to the newest scientific, technological and economic initiatives in marine resources' sustainable exploration.

At the event's opening, the Secretary of State of the Sea, Manuel Pinto de Abreu, visited TEKEVER's booth to know more about the company's investment effort in autonomous unmanned aerial systems and communications systems for the maritime safety and security domains. 

On display, the AR4 Light Ray UAS is a clear example of TEKEVER's unique contribution to the areas of marine environment monitoring, critical offshore infrastructures' inspection and maritime surveillance, from coastal to maritime patrolling to ship traffic control, fishery inspection and search and rescue operations.

At the Fórum do Mar,  TEKEVER benefits from the opportunity to network with numerous Portuguese and international experts in maritime affairs, present to discuss the upcoming EU programming funds and its challenges and opportunities for the development and internationalisation of the economy of the Sea. 

AR1 Blue Ray at SEGUREX 2013 – Technology At The Service Of Security

With the Technology at the Service of Security slogan, the TEKEVER Group presents its unmanned aerial and ground systems portfolio for safety and security operations at the SEGUREX 2013 exhibition, which is taking place at FIL, in Lisbon, from May 7th to 11th. 

"TEKEVER's UAS systems are a real added-value to the Portuguese safety and security forces' current capacity, enabling the integration of an asset that delivers true air superiority to those forces' performance in the field.", explained Ricardo Mendes, the TEKEVER Group COO. Ricardo Mendes spoke at the opening of SEGUREX 2013 during the visit of the Portuguese Minister of Internal Affairs, Dr. Miguel Macedo, to the exhibition area of the Public Safety Police (PSP), where the AR1 Blue Ray is on display.

To signal this event, and in close coordination with the PSP, the AR1 Blue Ray performed a monitoring mission at the Parque das Nações site, accompanying the arrival of Dr. Miguel Macedo and its staff to the site to preside the event's opening. An excerpt of the video footage may be viewed at http://autonomous.tekever.com/ar1.

The AR1 Blue Ray has been at the centre of the strategic partnership between the TEKEVER Group and PSP, namely its Special Unit, with the ambition to provide this Unit with a UAS empowered with the most advanced information and reconnaissance capabilities for safety and security operations, including surveillance and monitoring of wide areas or crowds, as well as search and patrolling of areas and perimeters. Able to deliver high-definition imagery in real time, the AR1 Blue Ray comprises electro-optic and infrared sensors that ensure a broad operational coverage in day and night environments. "TEKEVER has been promoting the training of several police officers with the AR1 Blue Ray, to support PSP's missions and to have state-of-the-art Portuguese technology at the service of citizens' safety in Portugal.", concluded Ricardo Mendes.

The scope of the TEKEVER – PSP strategic partnership also includes the development of autonomous land systems, specifically designed for reconnaissance missions in urban environments. Hence, the LR1 SPYBOT is a small robot extremely robust that collects image and audio information and transmits in real time up to a 250-meter distance (outdoor environment), ensuring the situational awareness of the operational site.  This equipment is also in display at the Ministry of Internal Affairs Pavilion, at SEGUREX.

TEKEVER at the NATO Study on Information Exploitation

TEKEVER ASDS is partnering with thirty NATO industrial experts in the new NATO Industrial Advisory Group (NIAG) study group that aims to explore novel approaches for processing, exploiting and disseminating imagery data.

Following previous work in this domain, TEKEVER ASDS will be addressing the challenges raised by the increasing amount of data being collected by NATO forces via satellites and drone platforms, which is overwhelming the NATO forces' ability to process, exploit and distribute the actionable, analytical results to the Joint Coalition forces. 

 At the NIAG Study Group 178 (NIAG SG178) kick-off meeting, partners agreed to dedicate the next twelve-month effort to the overall goal of identifying state-of-the art technology that is capable of extracting additional information from collected video feeds and make it ready for analysts to evaluate its relevance, so that machines handle data and humans take decisions.

TEKEVER is the New Euromedic IT Partner

TEKEVER has been selected to build and deploy a state-of-the-art renewed Radiology Information System (RIS) solution for Euromedic Portugal, the local branch of one of the largest medical service providers in Europe, specialised in diagnostics investigations, clinical laboratories and cancer treatment services.

The partnership with Euromedic Portugal is a new investment effort by TEKEVER in the Health Care sector, building on previous experience and on the advanced features of its MORE Technology, a unique platform that seamlessly combines a powerful distributed workflow engine with cutting-edge user interfaces. 

With TEKEVER's solid technological experience and Euromedic's specialised know-how, a best-in-class RIS is under construction, with the goal of bringing unprecedented levels of efficiency – focusing on user experience to enable faster, simpler and more effective interaction with the system –, reliability – building on highly robust technologies, resilient to network failures and lightweight in maintenance  –, scalability – capable of accommodating few to thousands of users geographically distributed – and compatibility – by integrating with already existing Euromedic software and information systems.

TEKEVER Participates in EUROCAE Meeting

From March 11th to 14th, TEKEVER ASDS has participated in EUROCAE's Working Group 73 UAV Systems (UAS) meeting dedicated to the ongoing effort to establish command and control considerations for unmanned aircraft.

The EUROCAE's WG-73 UAV Systems (UAS) is responsible for the analysis of key issues related to UAV operations in the context of European ATM, and for determining a UAV terminology and definitions as required. To address the safe integration of unmanned aircraft in the European airspace, WG-73 opted to create three sub-groups: SG1 UAS Operations, SG2 UAS Airworthiness and SG3 Command, Control, Communications, Spectrum and Security, which have already produced a number of relevant publications.

TEKEVER is a member of the EUROCAE (European Organisation for Civil Aviation Equipment) for some years now. EUROCAE is a non-profit organisation aiming to provide a European forum for resolving technical problems with electronic equipment for air transport. EUROCAE deals exclusively with aviation standardisation (Airborne and Ground Systems and Equipment) and related documents as required for use in the regulation of aviation equipment and systems. As a worldwide association, EUROCAE is composed of members who are all specialised in the Aeronautics field, most of them considered to be among world's leaders in their domain.

TEKEVER Conducts Successful Trials of the AR4 Light Ray UAS in Colombia

TEKEVER conducted an intensive one-week set of trials of the AR4 Light Ray UAS to the Colombian Armed Forces, to validate the system's powerful capabilities for intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition and reconnaissance (ISTAR) missions, under the extreme altitude and weather conditions of Colombia.

With very intense military activity against guerrilla forces and narcotraffic groups, the Colombian Armed Forces are everyday faced with the need to carry out ISTAR missions under extreme weather and geographic conditions. The Colombian landscape is poised with high altitude mountains that contribute to a very instable weather, prune to swift changes and speedy winds. These conditions, coupled with very dense vegetation, pose a true ambitious challenge to the use of Unmanned Aerial Systems by the Colombian Armed Forces.

The technical trials carried out by the AR4 Light Ray UAS were performed at high altitudes, around 3000 meters (about 10.000 feet) and right in the heart of the mountainous region surrounding Bogotá, demonstrating the system’s ability to perform in the most challenging scenarios and under the most demanding weather conditions.

"The trials were a complete success," said Ricardo Mendes, TEKEVER Group COO. "We met and exceeded the goals we had planned for, by demonstrating the usage of the system to perform multiple types of missions in one of the most challenging environments in the world."

In partnership with the Aviation Global Group, TEKEVER's AR4 Light Ray demonstration followed a special invitation from the Colombian Armed Forces in November 2012 to see first-hand the outstanding performance of the system, after its global market launch at the 2012 Farnborough International Air Show.

The Colombian Armed Forces retrieved valuable lessons from the demonstrations, which will be instrumental for its ongoing procurement on mini-UASs that are specially designed for surveillance missions and capable of delivering true airborne superiority. 

"After these trials, we are extremely confident that our system will be successful in fulfilling the special requirements of the Colombian Armed Forces.", said Ricardo Mendes. He reinforced that this opportunity to present the AR4 Light Ray UAS to the Colombian Armed Forces represents an important step towards the reinforcement of Portuguese aeronautics in the global aerospace market.