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

HQ-95Q three-axis gimbal camera with 1.5 km LRF

Four optical channels and a quick-release mount on the lightest three-axis head we build. The complete payload weighs 400 g and measures 95 × 97 × 124.7 mm, so it fits small multirotors and man-portable UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles).

Weight 400 g
Three-axis stabilised
EO Dual 8000 × 6000
Thermal 640 × 512
LRF 5 m – 1.5 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-95Q is

Four optical paths in 400 g, and a pixel count that is the reason to pick it. The wide daylight array is 8000 × 6000 at 9.5 mm; a second daylight path zooms continuously from 15.3 mm to 49.7 mm; a 640 × 512 thermal core sits on 19 mm; and a rangefinder covers 5 m – 1.5 km. Three axes carry the lot inside 95 × 97 × 124.7 mm, on 15 W / 30 W. Detection is 0.4 km on a person and 2.4 km on a vehicle by day, 0.53 km and 2.5 km by thermal.

Four paths: two daylight, one thermal, one laser

The daylight side is where this head differs from its neighbours, so it takes two of the four cards.

EO / wide, 8000 × 6000

9.5 mm fixed

A huge array behind a short lens: context and fine detail in one frame.

EO / zoom

Continuous 15.3 – 49.7 mm

The continuous path, apart from the wide array, for closing on what it found.

Thermal / IR

640 × 512, 19 mm fixed

0.53 km person, 2.5 km vehicle, NETD ≤ 40 mK.

Laser rangefinder

5 m – 1.5 km (± 1 m)

Short enough for a wall, long enough for a field.

What 8000 × 6000 is actually for

Not a sharper video feed: a still frame you keep going back into. One 8000 × 6000 capture at 9.5 mm covers a wide area, so when a report needs a plate or a mark on a wall the pixels are already in the file, and the operator crops after landing instead of re-flying. That is why the wide path is fixed: a short lens on a very large array stores context and detail in one exposure.

Daylight EO imagery from a HITS camera payload with vehicles detected and boxed automatically — Daylight frame, vehicles boxed automatically.

The zoom path, and why it is separate

15.3 – 49.7 mm, continuous, on its own path. A zoomed view moves and a stored frame does not. Separate paths let the crew zoom for a live check without disturbing the wide capture, which keeps its fixed geometry sortie after sortie. Thermal and laser align to both.

HITS ground station showing UAV payload video with target coordinates — Station view: imagery, live coordinates, sensor status.

Night, and 1.5 km

After dark the daylight paths go blind and the 640 × 512 core takes over: 0.53 km on a person, 2.5 km on a vehicle. The rangefinder covers 5 m – 1.5 km at ± 1 m, near end short enough to measure across a street.

Thermal imagery from a HITS camera payload with a target held by the onboard tracker — A 640 × 512 heat frame with the lock held.

Stabilisation and mechanical design

Three axes in 400 g

Yaw, pitch and roll are all stabilised, each on a motor fixed direct to its axis, encoding closing the loop, no reduction stage. That is what makes 400 g usable in rotor wash: roll is corrected here. Error stays inside ≤ 100 μrad (1σ) with ≥ 60°/s to the controller.

95 × 97 × 124.7 mm at 15 W / 30 W

95 × 97 × 124.7 mm rather than a cylinder, because four optical paths do not pack into a round turret. 400 g, on 15 W / 30 W at 11–28 VDC. All three are catalogue figures, so a small multirotor is sized before a prototype ships.

Detection and tracking at the edge

Classification on the payload

The detector runs inside the head and separates people, vehicles, vessels and aircraft without a ground processor. Up to 20 tracks at once, one of them actively locked. On a 400 g aircraft that matters: the airframe carries sensors, not computers.

For the record

The lock survives rotation and scale change, and comes back after an occlusion. Because recording happens on board and the wide path is a high-pixel still, the evidence pack after a sortie holds both a tracked clip and a frame with resolution to spare.

Airframe integration

A compact three-axis head with four paths: what the mount, the bus and the paperwork involve.

Mount and footprint

It hangs from a quick-release face on a vibration-isolated base, with adapter plates for a bolt circle that does not match. A small multirotor or a man-portable airframe has to find room for a 95 × 97 × 124.7 mm box and absorb 400 g, and both are catalogue limits rather than estimates.

Signal path

Feed it anywhere from 11 to 28 VDC. Commands take RS-422, RS-232 or TTL, plus SBUS and MAVLink at the autopilot. Video is H.264 or H.265 over 100 Mbps Ethernet, written to 128 GB inside the head, and the housing is sealed for dust and rotor wash. It runs between −20 °C and +60 °C and stores down to −40 °C and up to +70 °C. All of it belongs to the range; the technology pages carry the detail.

Onboard imagery from a HITS payload with automatic target tracking

What the operator sees

Boxes applied on the aircraft, coordinates from the rangefinder, and a wide frame that will still hold detail once it reaches an analyst’s desk.

Paperwork for the first head: protocol, pipeline note, outline with pinout, calibration record, test report. Paper faces the same export screening the unit does.

Where the HQ-95Q is used

Three jobs where the pixel count, not the zoom range, is the deciding feature.

Evidence capture
An incident is recorded once and argued over for months. The 8000 × 6000 wide path stores a frame an investigator can crop into long after the aircraft has landed, and the on-board recording keeps the moving picture beside it. The zoom path is there for the live decision; the still is there for the file. A 400 g head means the aircraft that carries the evidence camera is small enough to launch where the incident is.
UAV surveillance →
Rapid façade and roof capture
A building survey wants coverage per flight, and coverage is a pixel-budget question. One wide pass at 8000 × 6000 records more usable detail than several narrow ones, and the 15.3 – 49.7 mm zoom checks a suspect area in the same sortie. At 400 g the head goes on a multirotor that can work close to a structure without a permit for a larger aircraft.
UAV inspection →
Close reconnaissance on a small airframe
Detection at 0.4 km on a person and 2.4 km on a vehicle by day, 0.53 km and 2.5 km by thermal, with the rangefinder at 5 m – 1.5 km. That is a working radius for a team watching a building or a track rather than a border, and it fits a 400 g three-axis head, so the aircraft stays small enough to carry in and launch by hand.
Military UAV →

Full specifications

Model	HQ-95Q
Series	Gimbal Camera Series (HQ series)
Stabilisation	Three-axis gyro-stabilised, ≤ 100 μrad
Sensor configuration	EO + IR + LRF
Visible channel	Dual 8000 × 6000, 9.5 mm + continuous zoom 15.3 – 49.7 mm
Thermal channel	640 × 512, 19 mm fixed
Laser rangefinder	5 m – 1.5 km (± 1 m)
Weight	≤400 g
Dimensions	≤95 × 97 × 124.7 mm
Power consumption	15 W / 30 W
Detection (EO)	0.4 km person / 2.4 km vehicle
Detection (IR)	0.53 km person / 2.5 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
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-95Q

How far can the HQ-95Q see a person or a vehicle?

The daylight paths reach 0.4 km to a person and 2.4 km to a vehicle; the thermal core reaches 0.53 km and 2.5 km. Both sets are measured on the standard 1.7 m person and 2.3 m vehicle, and both are detection only. Identification needs the aircraft closer, and the datasheet carries those figures.

What are the order terms and the delivery time?

A stock build is available from one piece; a custom build is a 100-piece minimum. What is on the shelf leaves immediately, so only freight sits between order and arrival, whereas a bespoke or volume run has its date set in the quotation. Terms are T/T and the guarantee covers twelve months from delivery.

What does 8000 × 6000 give that 1920 × 1080 does not?

Room to crop. A single wide capture from the 9.5 mm path holds enough pixels that a detail can be extracted afterwards instead of being flown again, which is the difference between one sortie and two. The zoom path covers the live look; the wide array covers the archive.

Is 1.5 km of ranging enough?

For work at street, structure or compound scale, yes: the rangefinder starts at 5 m, so a wall, a door or a mast base is a valid target, and 1.5 km covers a field or a site boundary. Beyond that the geometry becomes a task for a head with a longer laser.

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-95Q

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

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