Solutions · Unmanned rotary

Helicopter Drone Camera: Shared Payload Architecture

One payload architecture for unmanned and manned rotary aircraft

Unmanned helicopters combine the endurance of a rotary aircraft with the logistics of a UAV: no pilot, longer sorties than a multirotor, and a payload bay that can carry more than a quadcopter.

1.6 – 10 kg
28 VDC
Same control protocol
Same video pipeline

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A drone helicopter camera is specified in much the same way as a manned installation: vibration environment, available payload mass, power bus and what the imagery has to show. The difference is that an unmanned rotary aircraft usually has less payload margin, so the choice tends to land at the lighter end of the pod class, between 1.6 kg and 5 kg.

For integrators, the useful property of a helicopter drone camera class that shares an architecture is reuse: the control protocol, the video pipeline and the tracking module are identical across the range, so a payload selected for trials can be replaced by a heavier one for service without rewriting the ground station or retraining the operator.

Why a shared architecture matters

One integration, several payloads
Ethernet video and RS-422, RS-232, TTL, SBUS or MAVLink control are common to the whole range, so a change of payload is a change of hardware rather than a change of system.
Payload classes from 1.6 kg
The XQ series starts at a 1.6 kg two-axis turret and runs to 10 kg, which covers the payload margin of most unmanned rotary aircraft.
Vibration tolerance
Direct-drive brushless axes with high-resolution encoding hold the line of sight without gear backlash, which matters more on a rotary aircraft than on a fixed-wing one.
Thermal and visible together
Boresighted EO and IR channels mean the same turret covers day and night without a second flight or a second aircraft.
Ranging for reporting
Rangefinders from 3 km to 15 km turn the tracked object into a coordinate, which is what an unmanned sortie has to deliver when nobody is looking out of a window.
Onboard recording
An unmanned aircraft has no crew to notice a degraded link. Onboard recording preserves the sortie record regardless.

HITS stabilised gimbal camera payload integrated under a multirotor UAV airframe — A payload on a multirotor airframe: same head, same interface and same control software as the pod-class units.

White HITS gimbal camera pod on a display stand showing the front sensor windows — The same family in a different housing, which is what lets one integration carry across two airframe classes.

Payloads for unmanned rotary aircraft

Two-axis turrets matched to the payload margin of a rotary UAV.

Model	Visible	Thermal	Ranging	Weight	Typical airframe
XQ-125T	1920 x 1080, 30x zoom	640 x 512, 35 mm	3 km	≤ 1.6 kg	Small rotary UAV, VTOL hybrid
XQ-155T	1920 x 1080, 30x zoom	640 x 512, 55 mm	5 km	≤ 2.2 kg	Rotary UAV, light manned helicopter
XQ-170TC	1920 x 1080, 30x zoom	1280 x 1024, 75 mm	5 km	≤ 2.8 kg	Rotary UAV with thermal priority
XQ-180T	3840 x 2160, 17.5x zoom	1280 x 1024, 75 mm	6 km	≤ 4.1 kg	Larger rotary UAV, imaging priority
XQ-200T	1920 x 1080, 30x zoom	640 x 512, 40 – 220 mm	9.5 km	≤ 5 kg	Long-endurance rotary UAV
HQ-135T	1920 x 1080, 40x zoom	640 x 512, 35 mm	3 km	≤ 1.4 kg	Small rotary UAV with a 40x lens

Four unmanned rotary payloads

From a 1.6 kg turret to a 4.1 kg unit with 4K visible imaging and a 1280 x 1024 thermal channel.

Drone helicopter camera with shared payload architecture

XQ · 2-axis · EO + IR + LRF

XQ-125T

The smallest pod in the XQ range: 30x zoom, a 35 mm thermal channel and 3 km ranging at 1.6 kg.

Visible: 1920 × 1080, 30x zoom 4.3 – 129 mm
Thermal: 640 × 512, 35 mm fixed
Laser: 30 m – 3 km (± 1 m)
Weight: ≤1.6 kg

XQ · 2-axis · EO + IR + LRF

XQ-155T

A 55 mm thermal lens and 5 km ranging for platforms that can carry 2.2 kg on the hardpoint.

Visible: 1920 × 1080, 30x zoom 4.3 – 129 mm
Thermal: 640 × 512, 55 mm fixed
Laser: 50 m – 5 km (± 1 m)
Weight: ≤2.2 kg

XQ · 2-axis · EO + IR + LRF

XQ-170TC

1280 × 1024 thermal on a 75 mm lens — the long-range imaging workhorse of the pod range.

Visible: 1920 × 1080, 30x zoom 4.3 – 129 mm
Thermal: 1280 × 1024, 75 mm fixed
Laser: 50 m – 5 km (± 1 m)
Weight: ≤2.8 kg

XQ · 2-axis · EO + IR + LRF

XQ-180T

4K daylight imaging at 3840 × 2160 with 17.5x zoom and 6 km ranging.

Visible: 3840 × 2160, 17.5x zoom 6.8 – 120 mm
Thermal: 1280 × 1024, 75 mm fixed
Laser: 50 m – 6 km (± 1 m)
Weight: ≤4.1 kg

Compare the range

Model	Series	Axes	Configuration	Visible camera	Thermal imager	Laser rangefinder	Weight
XQ-125T	XQ series	2-axis	EO + IR + LRF	1920 × 1080, 30x zoom 4.3 – 129 mm	640 × 512, 35 mm fixed	30 m – 3 km (± 1 m)	≤1.6 kg
XQ-155T	XQ series	2-axis	EO + IR + LRF	1920 × 1080, 30x zoom 4.3 – 129 mm	640 × 512, 55 mm fixed	50 m – 5 km (± 1 m)	≤2.2 kg
XQ-170TC	XQ series	2-axis	EO + IR + LRF	1920 × 1080, 30x zoom 4.3 – 129 mm	1280 × 1024, 75 mm fixed	50 m – 5 km (± 1 m)	≤2.8 kg
XQ-180T	XQ series	2-axis	EO + IR + LRF	3840 × 2160, 17.5x zoom 6.8 – 120 mm	1280 × 1024, 75 mm fixed	50 m – 6 km (± 1 m)	≤4.1 kg

Choosing between the light and pod classes

Payload margin decides more than optics

An unmanned helicopter with a 3 kg payload allowance cannot carry a 5 kg turret, however good the specification looks on paper. Start with the margin, then choose the longest lens and the largest detector that fits inside it.

What changes when nobody is aboard

Recording has to be automatic, because no crew will notice a dropped stream.
Tracking has to survive link loss and resume the same lock when the link returns.
The control interface has to be driven by the ground station rather than by an operator looking out of a window.
Presets and automated scan patterns do more of the work than they do on a manned aircraft.

Moving between aircraft

The same turret can be moved between an unmanned rotary aircraft and a light manned helicopter and will behave identically, because the mount, the control protocol and the video pipeline are the same.

Unmanned rotary payloads sit between the UAV and helicopter classes.

Helicopter camerasThe manned rotary side of the same architecture.Read more →
UAV surveillanceThe mission the endurance is bought for.Read more →
EO/IR pod systemsThe full XQ series from 1.6 kg to 10 kg.Read more →
Night visionThermal and low-light channels explained.Read more →

Engineering detail

Why rotary UAVs use two-axis turrets

A rotary aircraft rarely needs the third axis that a fixed-wing or multirotor uses to hold a horizon through a bank. Two-axis turrets trade that axis for aperture and reach, which is why the pod class is two-axis and why it can carry a 220 mm thermal zoom at 5 kg.

Endurance is the reason to choose rotary

A multirotor gives twenty to forty minutes; a rotary UAV gives hours. For surveillance, maritime and pipeline work that difference matters more than the ability to hover in a confined space, and it is why the payloads on this page are the ones with continuous thermal zoom and long rangefinders.

Integration without a rebuild

Because the protocol is shared, an integrator can trial a 1.6 kg turret on a small aircraft and then fit a 5 kg unit for service, keeping the ground station, the operator workflow and the recording chain unchanged.

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.