ING Engineering opens in Fredericton with technology demonstration that wows audience (News)

By KYLE MULLIN
For The Daily Gleaner


The propellers turn to a blur and then seem to disappear altogether as they climb higher and higher from the ground.

They only make a slight gust and sound no louder than a swarm of wasps as the pilot weaves a path that literally takes the vehicle over his head.

He can look straight up at it because there's no cockpit for him to sit in, he's controlling the tiny propellers with a joystick from below in an effort to showcase the stratospheric heights of unmanned flight.

That pilot's name is Michael Levesque, and his unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) is called a Cybertech Quadrotor. It's the first product ING Engineering demonstrated at its official opening at National Research Council building Wednesday.

The Quadrotor's design seems simplistic enough - four dark skeletal rings, each several inches wide, encase the propellers so that the device looks more like an elaborate ceiling fan than a cutting edge military vehicle.

The rings are all linked by a dark, curved spine at the vehicle's centre, which houses an observation camera and enough hardware to manipulate those propellers meticulously with a nudge from the joystick.

Director of sales Paul Kearney says that makes the UAV small, nimble and silent enough to conduct surveillance on even the most war-torn fronts.

"Their sensors can detect many threats to our soldiers such as enemy movements, activities such as shooting, digging or placing rockets or suspicious vehicles," he said.

"Essentially, they provide a third dimension of visual information to the commanders (on the ground), enabling them to adjust their plans more quickly than without them."

Levesque, who is an engineer for ING, said pilots shouldn't feel threatened by such technological progress. On the contrary, he said, it enhances their duties by helping them ensure the skies are safer before they take flight.

"It's not a replacement, it's a supplement for the work they already do," he said. "This device can do the things that are too dangerous for humans to do, like going near contaminated areas."

CEO Ian Glenn said the company's unmanned vehicles have even more potential outside of the military - from filming a rock concert, to monitoring forest fires or hunting for minerals or dangerous chemicals once a special sensor is developed and mounted on the vehicle.

"It can be used in law enforcement," he said.

"Once it's above 300 feet you can't hear the Quadrotor at all, so with a better camera it could figure out a criminal's location or licence plate without them knowing.

"A proper warrant would be needed for something like that of course, so we shouldn't worry about privacy issues just yet, but there's all kinds of potential to better keep order in the community with this."

Kearney said the global UAV market over the next decade will swell far past the billion dollar mark.

ING hopes to take partake in that growth by developing other air, ground, and sea vehicles for a variety of markets all over the world from locations such as its new Fredericton branch.

And while ING hasn't received any government funding upon moving here, municipal representatives and members of Business New Brunswick networked with the corporation for over a year to convince it to open a branch in Fredericton and contribute to the city's budding IT scene.

"I was an army brat growing up, so I appreciate anything that can make soldiers' lives a little safer," said Mayor Brad Woodside, who was on hand with several provincial government delegates to congratulate ING on its opening.

"The potential for job creation with a company like this here is very exciting."

Levesque agreed, as he steered the Quadrotor toward the ceiling in the National Research Council's lobby, where the propellers' gusts hardly rustled the papers on a nearby desk before he brought the vehicle down to a gentle landing.

"I saw this for the first time on Thursday and I can already fly it without a problem," he said, with a nod at the controls. "It has stabilizers that make it hover in place automatically. It's so simple ... the potential's unreal."

Forward Thinking is a Thursday feature that explores research and development, as well as new technologies in our community. Send your comments and story ideas to news@dailygleaner.com.