The GSM 5000’s enhanced stabilization capabilities ensured that IGI’s EcoMapper-1280 C could operate at full potential, even under poor conditions. To highlight the stabilization improvements, we have included an interactive diagram comparing the GSM 4000 and GSM 5000 during identical flight conditions.

The data of the stabilization platforms GSM 4000 (previous model) and GSM 5000 (new product generation) were recorded during the test flight and evaluated after the flight. The upper left diagram shows a schematic of the test setup: a light aircraft equipped with a camera payload recording the ground. Any tilt or rotation of the aircraft would immediately lead to blurred or distorted imagery. Therefore, precise stabilization is essential – only with a stable platform can sensors such as cameras, LiDAR scanners, or other measurement systems deliver reliable results.

Combat Plane Movements for sharp data

The three diagrams on the right present the attitude angles Roll, Pitch, and Yaw over a period of 60 seconds. The blue curve (Base) illustrates the unstabilized aircraft motion, which is heavily affected by turbulence. Without stabilization, camera images would constantly be subject to motions and vibrations, making accurate surveying impossible. The white curve, representing GSM 4000, reduces the aircraft motion significantly but repeatedly reaches its limits. This is highlighted by the red markers in the diagrams, which indicate situations where the end-stop boundaries are exceeded. In these moments, the system loses its ability to hold the reference position of 0 deg. In practice, this means that captured images would become blurred or distorted, resulting in data quality degradation or unusable results.

In contrast, the yellow curve, representing GSM 5000 demonstrates much more stable performance. Even under strong turbulence, the new platform remains within its working range and keeps the sensors close to the reference position. Movements are reliably compensated, ensuring that the recorded sensor data remains sharp and consistent.

The significance of these differences becomes clear when looking at the RMS (root mean square) values, which we likte to keep as close as possible to 0.00 degree. In Roll, GSM 4000 achieves an RMS of 0.31 deg, while GSM 5000 reduces this to 0.14 deg. In Pitch, the RMS improves from 0.34 deg to 0.06 deg. In practice, this means that even the smallest motion, which would directly appear in sensor imagery, are considerably minimized.

Pin sharp images without exceeding the endstop

The lower left diagram shows the horizontal plane (Roll vs. Pitch) with the endstop boundaries indicated by dashed lines. These boundaries represent the mechanical working limits of the stabilization platform. It is evident that the GSM 4000 data (white points) exceed these limits multiple times – once the system reaches this state, it can no longer stabilize the aircraft effectively. GSM 5000 (yellow points), however, consistently remains within the boundaries, guaranteeing continuous stabilization throughout the flight. This is of critical importance, since any loss of stabilization directly influences image quality and measurement accuracy.