Israel’s defense electronics company Star Defense Systems (SDS) is presenting at Aero-India 2011 the HeliEye – a smart helmet mounted display and tracking system, promising to revolutionize pilot performance. “HeliEye introduces several breakthroughs in pilot display” Tomer Ganelevin Chief Executive Officer (CEO) at SDS explains. Unlike current systems that are limited to monochromatic, stroke displays, HeliEye provides full resolution 600×800 color display.
One HeliEye module is used for  day and night operation, offering pilots to see clear, crisp symbology under all visibility conditions and, in addition, view video, maps or images. Ganelevin highlights another unique capability provided by HeliEye is the rapid set-up and line-of-sight tracking calibration, “Our system uses self calibration, performed instantly, enabling pilots to prepare for flight immediately as they enter the cockpit”. He explained.
HeliEye is connected to the pilot helmet via standard ANVIS bracket to allow helicopter pilots to fly ‘head out of the cockpit’. The systems’ display is a single, thin transparent eye-piece designed for night and day operation. It enables dual, high resolution, true color flight data symbology together with real-time video display, showing FLIR, TV or maps.
The passive tracking system developed by SDS uses image processing to measure the pilot line of sight, relative to the aircraft. The information can be used to manage the  display in reference to the pilot’s area of interest, directing gimbaled payloads or weapon systems to point to a specific target or efficiently handle two pilot activity or multi-ship formation, air/ground joint operations.
HeliEye incorporates a flight qualified single board computer conformed to 1553/ARC429 advanced buses as well as analog and digital IOs. The helmet unit itself weighs 290 gram, while the whole system weighs only eight kilograms, including the ultra-light helmet mounted segment, cable harnesses, tracking units and cockpit mounted processing unit.
