Air Force Research Laboratory Project – HATS

Appareo developed the Head Attitude Tracking System (HATS) under a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant from the US Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) as part of an urgent Air Force request for the F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter program.

The Air Force required a specialized head orientation tracking system to measure the head position of dismounted warfighters to allow increased situational awareness by supplying them with information based not only on where the soldier is, but in what direction they are looking. Future applications of this technology could include audio and visual cues to the wearer warning them of potential danger, aiding in navigation and improving communication between troops.

HATS comprises an ultra-short-baseline (USBL) Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver, a miniaturized Inertial Navigation System (INS) and a tightly coupled GPS/INS combination providing reliable heading reference in any outdoor environment, all while meeting rigorous weight and size constraints.

In addition to proving HATS as a viable technology for the AFRL, Appareo has successfully utilized HATS components in the development of several of their commercial products, including the Appareo Vision 1000 and the NaviCube® INS/GPS device.