UAV Used for Movies Wins Oscar

Photo courtesy Flying-Cam.

By Priya Potapragada



The Flying-Cam 3.0 SARAH, powered by QNX Software Systems Ltd., has won a Scientific and Technical Award from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.



Flying-Cam 3.0 SARAH has been used in movies like “Skyfall,” “Oblivion,” “Prisoners,” “Smurfs II” and “Mr.Go.”



“For motion pictures, there is no greater honor than the Academy Awards, and we are thrilled that the Flying-Cam SARAH system, which features QNX technology, has received a 2014 Scientific and Technical Award in recognition of its significant contribution to the movie industry," says Derek Kuhn, vice president of sales and marketing, at QNX Software Systems.  



The unmanned aircraft system is a 25-kilogram, fully electric platform with precision autopilot, a gyrostabilized camera head, and a ground control station that has a graphical user interface for programming and monitoring.



Belgium-based Flying-Cam chose the QNX for its computer assisted piloting (CAP) system and real-time tracking, which makes it possible for the CAP software to get fast response times.



"We have been thoroughly impressed with the QNX OS, It works extremely well on our hardware and uses system resources efficiently, leaving most of the hardware processing power available to our application — a crucial attribute that we looked for,” says Tony Postiau, head of aerial robotics engineering at Flying-Cam.



Flying-Cam SARAH UAS has been in service since 2012.  The earlier version of the Flying-Cam has been used in more than 75 countries in more than 1,000 projects including “Harry Potter” movies, “Mission Impossible,” “James Bond” and “Transformers,” among others.