HQ series · Three-axis · EO + IR + LRF

HQ-135TA three-axis gimbal camera with 3 km LRF

A three-axis gimbal camera that packages EO (electro-optical), IR, LRF into a 1.5 kg head measuring Φ135 × 194 mm. A 50 mm thermal lens gives the longest thermal reach in the compact range.

Weight 1.5 kg
Three-axis stabilised
EO 1920 × 1080
Thermal 640 × 512
LRF 15 m – 3 km (± 1 m)
AI detection & tracking

CE / RoHS documentation available on request
Export compliance statement available on request
Calibration and test report supplied with every unit

What the HQ-135TA is

The HQ-135TA is the thermal-leaning half of the 1.4 to 1.5 kg three-axis pair. Its long-wave core sits behind a 50 mm barrel, and that barrel is what returns 1.4 km on a person and 6 km on a vehicle after dark. The daylight optic stops at 30x across 4.3 to 129 mm, so the visible path is the shorter one here. Three axes carry the assembly inside Φ135 × 194 mm for 1.5 kg on a 15 W / 30 W draw, with a laser measuring 15 m to 3 km.

Three channels, weighted toward the night

The specification lists three sensors. Which one a mission leans on depends on the hour it flies.

EO / visible

1920 × 1080, 30x zoom 4.3 – 129 mm

Widest frame on the head. Person 6 km, vehicle 15 km.

Thermal / IR

640 × 512, 50 mm fixed

Uncooled, NETD ≤ 40 mK, aligned to daylight. Person 1.4 km, vehicle 6 km.

Laser rangefinder

15 m – 3 km (± 1 m)

1535 nm and eye-safe. The reading enters the coordinate solution.

129 mm is a compromise, and a real one

At 129 mm the daylight optic here is shorter than the 170 mm group on its 1.4 kg sister, and that sister is the head to specify when the visible picture is the deliverable. Effort went into the night path instead: a fixed 50 mm group where the other carries 35 mm. That one swap lifts thermal detection to 1.4 km on a person and puts a vehicle at 6 km, from the same 640 × 512 array. The lens sets those numbers, not the detector.

Daylight EO imagery from a HITS camera payload with vehicles detected and boxed automatically — EO / visible channel: vehicles detected and boxed automatically in the live feed.

A night group with nothing that moves

At 50 mm the field resolves a body at 1.4 km and holds a vehicle at 6 km through an orbit. With no zoom cell there is no travel to sit through and no element to lose alignment over a hard landing. The core runs uncooled at NETD ≤ 40 mK, its axis set to daylight, so a contact found after dark sits where the morning frame will hold it.

Thermal imagery from a HITS camera payload with a target held by the onboard tracker — Thermal channel: white-hot imagery with the tracker holding a moving target.

The laser closes the loop on either channel

Detection without a measurement leaves a crew judging distance from the size of a box. The rangefinder returns 15 m to 3 km at ± 1 m, eye-safe at 1535 nm, and the figure feeds the coordinate solution rather than sitting in a corner of the video. The near end matters on a head this size: a mast base a few tens of metres from the aircraft is a valid measurement.

HITS ground station showing UAV payload video with target coordinates — Ground station: payload video with live target coordinates and sensor status.

Split by hour rather than by range: the 129 mm optic owns daylight, the 50 mm core owns the dark, and the laser serves whichever one found the target.

Stabilisation and mechanical design

Roll is the axis that matters here

Three axes, each on a brushless motor bolted straight to the frame it turns, an encoder closing the loop with no reduction stage to add lash. Roll matters more here than on a wide-angle head: a 50 mm thermal frame magnifies airframe motion. Boresight holds ≤ 100 μrad (1σ) with ≥ 60°/s to draw on.

1.5 kg inside Φ135 × 194 mm

The turret weighs 1.5 kg in Φ135 × 194 mm and draws 15 W cruising, 30 W at peak, on 11–28 VDC. Mass sits forward in the 50 mm barrel, so the yoke carries more structure than the bay behind it. Catalogue limits, all three, so a mount and a budget close early.

Detection and tracking at the edge

Classification happens inside the turret

People, vehicles, vessels and aircraft are separated by a module carried on the payload. No frame leaves the aircraft for a ground processor, so boxes stay up when the downlink thins and the airframe needs no second computer.

Twenty tracks, one under lock

Twenty targets can be held together with one selected for the tracker. A 50 mm frame is tight, so a contact walking behind a mast leaves it quickly; the anti-occlusion logic re-acquires rather than dropping, and the recorder inside the head keeps the pass whether or not anyone watched it live.

Fitting the head to an airframe

Three figures decide the installation: 1.5 kg, 30 W and an 11–28 VDC rail.

Mount and envelope

Φ135 × 194 mm and 1.5 kg are the numbers the bracket is stress-cased against, both catalogue limits rather than bench samples. The face releases quickly off an isolated base, and adapter plates bridge a bolt circle that is not ours.

Harness, data and environment

Feed it anywhere from 11 to 28 VDC. Command traffic goes over RS-422, RS-232 or TTL, and SBUS or MAVLink is there for autopilots that use them. The video pipe is Ethernet at 100 Mbps in H.264 or H.265, and 128 GB of internal storage keeps a sortie on file after the link dies. Temperature runs −20 °C to +60 °C in service and −40 °C to +70 °C in store, with dust and rotor-wash sealing. None of that is specific to this model; the technology pages cover the range-wide layer.

HQ-135TA gimbal camera payload integrated on a fixed-wing UAV with ground control station

On the aircraft

One harness carries all three services. Isolation sits in the mount; the third axis handles what is left.

Bench work comes first: protocol, video path and gimbal limits are checked with the harness that will fly, so an addressing mistake costs a morning rather than a sortie.

Five documents ride in the crate: protocol, pipeline note, outline with pinout, calibration record and test report. Paperwork faces the same export screening as the unit.

Where the HQ-135TA is used

Three jobs where a long thermal lens earns its place on a 1.5 kg mount.

Night watch on a fence line
A perimeter after dark is a thermal problem first. The 50 mm core finds a person at 1.4 km and a vehicle at 6 km with no help from light, dust or the gaps in a hedge, and the detector marks the contact so the operator watches a box on a dark field rather than the field. At 1.5 kg a small multirotor holds the pattern all shift.
UAV security →
Anti-poaching sweep before first light
Scrub and tree line hide people from a daylight optic long before sunrise. The thermal path picks warm bodies out at 1.4 km, the 30x channel identifies who they are once there is light, and the laser fixes the spot at up to 3 km for a ground team. One airframe covers detection, identification and handover in a sortie.
UAV surveillance →
Rotorcraft patrol after dark
Rotor vibration is what a three-axis mount is for, and roll correction is the axis that keeps a narrow thermal frame level through a turn. Fifteen watts in cruise leaves electrical margin for a long orbit, and 6 km of thermal vehicle detection gives a helicopter crew a contact well before the aircraft is overhead.
Helicopter cameras →

Full specifications

Model	HQ-135TA
Series	Gimbal Camera Series (HQ series)
Stabilisation	Three-axis gyro-stabilised, ≤ 100 μrad
Sensor configuration	EO + IR + LRF
Visible channel	1920 × 1080, 30x zoom 4.3 – 129 mm
Thermal channel	640 × 512, 50 mm fixed
Laser rangefinder	15 m – 3 km (± 1 m)
Weight	≤1.5 kg
Dimensions	≤Φ135 × 194 mm
Power consumption	15 W / 30 W
Detection (EO)	6 km person / 15 km vehicle
Detection (IR)	1.4 km person / 6 km vehicle

Detection distances follow the standard 1.7 m person / 2.3 m vehicle convention. Rows marked as shared are common across the HQ series.

Control software: Windows as standard. An Android version can be customised for OEM/ODM projects.

Shared across the HQ series

Video output: Ethernet, H.264 / H.265
Gimbal control: RS-422 / RS-232 / TTL, SBUS, MAVLink
Input voltage: 11–28 VDC
Operating temperature: −20 °C to +60 °C
Sealing: Sealed housing for dust, wind and rotor wash
Recording: On-board recording, imagery retained if the link drops
AI module: Onboard detection, classification and multi-target tracking. How AI detection and tracking works.
Mounting: Quick-release interface, adapters available for OEM (original equipment manufacturer) airframes

Three-view outline drawing with connector pinout, available on request.

Outline and interface drawingThree-view outline with dimensions and the connector pinout for this head. The drawing set is released with the datasheet — ask for it with your quotation and we will send the PDF for your airframe review.

Questions engineers ask about the HQ-135TA

How far does the HQ-135TA detect a person or a vehicle?

Daylight: 6 km to a person, 15 km to a vehicle. Thermal: 1.4 km and 6 km on the same pair. Those assume 1.7 m and 2.3 m targets and describe detection alone; recognition and identification come at shorter range, listed in the datasheet.

What are the order terms and the delivery time?

Order one unit, or a hundred for a custom build. Stock heads leave the shelf as they sit, so the calendar measures freight; a custom batch is dated in the quotation. T/T, twelve months of warranty.

Why does this head weigh 1.5 kg when its sister is 1.4 kg with a longer daylight optic?

The glass went somewhere else. A 50 mm thermal barrel is longer and heavier than a 35 mm group, and it is what lifts thermal detection to 1.4 km on a person. The sister spends its mass on a 40x daylight group, so the two answer different questions.

Is a 15 W / 30 W draw low enough for a small airframe?

Cruise sits at 15 W, peak at 30 W, off an 11–28 VDC rail, so a small multirotor with a modest payload bus carries the head without a dedicated supply. Size the harness on the peak, which arrives during sustained slewing.

Designed and manufactured by HITS

Optics, servo hardware, stabilisation firmware and the AI tracking module are developed in house, and every unit is assembled, calibrated and environmentally tested on our own line before it ships.

HITS engineer testing a stabilised gimbal camera payload on the test bench before dispatch

Production line assembling stabilised gimbal camera payloads at the HITS factory

Engineer assembling the internal components of a HITS stabilised gimbal camera payload

Gimbal payloads on the calibration and environmental test rack at the HITS factory

Next steps for this payload: how it is inspected and tested · export licensing and documentation · ordering and integration FAQ

Request a quotation for the HQ-135TA

Tell us the platform, the range you need to identify and how many units you are planning. Every configuration is quoted individually, so you get a written price against your own requirement rather than a list figure that does not fit it. We answer within one working day.

MOQFrom 1 unit

Small ordersUsually held in stock, shipped straight away

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