Crossbow Technology, Inc. (also referred to as XBOW) is a California-based company with two distinct product lines. One is based on MEMS and Fibre optic gyroscope

Fibre optic gyroscope

A fibre optic gyroscope senses changes in orientation, thus performing the function of a mechanical gyroscope. However its principle of operation is instead based on the interference of light which has passed through a coil of optical fibre which can be as long as 5 km.Two beams from a laser...

 inertial sensor systems. This includes inertial measurement unit

Inertial measurement unit

An inertial measurement unit, or IMU, is an electronic device that measures and reports on a craft's velocity, orientation, and gravitational forces, using a combination of accelerometers and gyroscopes. IMUs are typically used to maneuver aircraft, including UAVs, among many others, and...

s, AHRS systems, Digital Inclinometers and INS/GPS GN&C units. The other is based on GPS and GSM/GPRS radios in conjunction with multiple environmental sensors. This includes asset tracking

Asset tracking

Asset tracking refers to tracking the movement of physical assets. Either by scanning barcode tags attached to the assets or using smart tags, like RFID tags, which broadcast their location. An asset tracking system can record the location and usage of the assets and generate various reports...

 products, such as the ILC1500 and ILC2000. Crossbow Technology is a privately-owned company and has taken investment from Cisco

Cisco

Cisco may refer to:Companies:*Cisco Systems, a computer networking company* Certis CISCO, corporatised entity of the former Commercial and Industrial Security Corporation in Singapore...

, Intel and the Paladin Capital Group.

Inertial Systems

Crossbow was founded in 1995 to exploit MEMS inertial sensors. Notable past products include the AHRS500GA, used in the FAA-sponsored Capstone program. The AHRS500GA was the first stand-alone, completely solid-state FAA certified AHRS

Attitude and Heading Reference Systems

An attitude heading reference system consists of sensors on three axes that provide heading, attitude and yaw information for aircraft. They are designed to replace traditional mechanical gyroscopic flight instruments and provide superior reliability and accuracy.AHRS consist of either solid-state...

 system. A follow-on product, the AHRS510GA is designed into the Eclipse Aviation

Eclipse Aviation

Eclipse Aviation Corporation was the Albuquerque, New Mexico-based manufacturer of the Eclipse 500 very light jet and also at one time proposed developing the Eclipse 400 single-engined jet....

 Very Light Jet

Very Light Jet

A very light jet, entry-level jet or personal jet, previously known as a microjet, is a category of small jet aircraft approved for single-pilot operation, seating 4-8 people, with a maximum take-off weight of under...

, the Eclipse 500. Crossbow nolonger provides this product.

Current Crossbow products include the CTXD02 Digital Inclinometer, VG700 Vertical Gyro and GNAV540 INS/GPS GN&Cunit. These products are used on multiple manned and unmanned airborne, marine and ground platforms such as the Hunter RQ-5A Unmanned Aerial Vehicle, ITAS and LRAS targeting systems.

Logistics Products

Crossbow now supplies solutions for shipment visibility and asset tracking. The company provides integrated peel and stick devices, featuring GSM/GPRS radios, GPS and sensors. These environmental sensors provide shippers with asset tracking and shipment environment exposure history and tracking capabilities.

Wireless Sensor Networks

Please note that Crossbow no longer provides any of these offerings:

Crossbow was one of the first suppliers of the Berkeley-style MICA motes. These implement the TinyOS

TinyOS

TinyOS is a free and open source component-based operating system and platform targeting wireless sensor networks . TinyOS is an embedded operating system written in the nesC programming language as a set of cooperating tasks and processes. It is intended to be incorporated into smartdust...

 operating system. Follow on products include the MICA2 (868/916 MHz) and Micaz|MICAz (2.4 GHz) motes, and the Intel-designed IMOTE2. Crossbow also makes a software design platform for its hardware called MoteWorks.

Crossbow has received a number of awards for these products, including a "Best of Sensors Expo Gold 2006" and the BP

BP

BP p.l.c. is a global oil and gas company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the third-largest energy company and fourth-largest company in the world measured by revenues and one of the six oil and gas "supermajors"...

Helios Award.

In 2008, Crossbow released eKo Pro Series System, a cost-effective wireless sensor system that monitors the health and vigor of crops, vineyard, agriculture and the environment. Built upon Crossbow's wireless sensor technology, eKo Pro collects your vital data which can be viewed from anywhere in the world via a simple internet browser. eKo's sensors can monitor soil moisture, ambient temperature, leaf wetness of your vineyard and crop. In the same year, Crossbow Japan released NeoMote System that monitors energy usage in a building and provides an enhanced visual display that allows for easy viewing of data collection enabling quick and intelligent decision making for smart energy saving.

External links

• The official Crossbow Technology Inc. website
• The official Crossbow Japan website. There is no affiliation between Crossbow Japan and Crossbow Technology.
• The official FAA Capstone program website.

• "Bringing MEMS and Motes to Life," BusinessWeek Online, Oct. 19, 2004.