Photo Credit: Mitacs
A Kelowna entrepreneur is working to fill a void in the aviation market with the launch of a lightweight cockpit video recorder that will provide monitoring solutions for small aircraft.
Ephraim Nowak, 26, received a prestigious award from Mitacs, a not-for-profit organization that fosters growth and innovation in Canada for business and academia, for his highly effective, cost-efficient flight data monitoring system.
Nowak’s device, SkyVu, is an easy to install flight video recorder that improves safety, enhances training, and helps to reduce maintenance costs. The custom computer vision system combines high-definition 4K cameras and cutting edge frames per-second recording capabilities with the latest embedded machine vision technologies.
The SkyVu is mounted behind a plot, facing forward, and captures and digitizes aircraft gauge values as well as pilot audio and the view outside the windshield. Once the flight is completed, the recorded footage is downloaded and analyzed using custom software developed by Percept Systems, Nowak’s Kelowna-based startup, to extract aircraft parameters.
“This feat has never been accomplished before,” said Nowak, who came up with the idea for SkyVU as a search-and-rescue volunteer after visiting the site of the small plane crash that took the life of former Alberta premier Jim Prentice in 2016. “When that investigation report came back inconclusive because there was no data recorder on board, it opened my eyes to the fact that here’s where I can apply my skills to make a difference.”
Unlike other cockpit recorders that require connection to the gauges themselves to obtain numeric values, SkyVU operates on video only, making it simple to install and keeping the cost down. All that’s required is a connection to aircraft power, which means it’s an attractive solution for private airplanes, helicopters and small commercial aircraft that currently aren’t required to have a black box recorder.
“In addition to assisting when something goes wrong, we find it’s quite useful to have video from a troubleshooting and training perspective as well,” said Nowak, explaining that a pilot might notice a gauge is acting up. “Once they land, they can review the footage with their maintenance team instead of trying to reproduce what happened in the air.”
Percept Systems’ SkyVU prototype will be deployed on two Rapattack wildfire helicopters, specialized aircraft used to rappel firefighters into remote areas. Working with its industry partner, Wildcat Helicopters, the company is currently refining its prototype and expects to move into production by third quarter 2019 with the aim of going to market by the end of this year.
Founded by Nowak in 2018, the company is also partnering with the B.C. Wildfire Service to develop an aerial mapping system.
The 26-year-old is one of five winners of the Change Agent Entrepreneur Award, presented by Mitacs.
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