Max-Viz EVS, Lighter, Higher Performance

Gulfstream certified the first "see in the dark" infrared Enhanced Vision System (EVS) for the GV last September, and already a second generation competitor is hitting the streets.

The Max-Viz EVS-1000 and EVS-2000 systems are smaller, lighter, more reliable, have higher performance and cost far less, according to Gregg Fawkes, president and CEO of the startup company, based in Portland, Oregon. The products have been renamed after their initial introduction as Taxi-Max and RVR-Max, respectively.

Max-Viz has received a major boost in credibility since FLIR Systems bought into the company earlier this year and Boeing chose its first product, the EVS-1000, for the Boeing Technology Demonstrator of the flight deck of the future. Plans call to certify the EVS-1000 in July and begin deliveries in September.

"We already have multiple orders from individual owner-operators," Fawkes told Show News. "The first installations are being designed now, all for high end business jets," and at least one airframe manufacturer is discussing offering it as an option.

While Fawkes praised Gulfstream and Kollsman for pioneering the $500,000 EVS for the GV's Honeywell/BAE Systems HUD-2020 heads-up display, he explained that Max-Viz has taken a different technological approach, and doesn't require a HUD.

The Kollsman sensor in the Gulfstream operates in the middle of the IR spectrum and filters the terrain and runway lighting images it receives. In contrast, the Max-Viz EVS-1000 operates in the long wave end of the spectrum (it can see terrain but not lights) while the EVS-2000 uses two sensors, in the long and short ends of the spectrum, and fuses the images with sensor-fusion technology patented by Max-Viz. "It has a much clearer sense of what it is trying to see instead of filtering everything through one sensor," Fawkes said.

One major difference is that the Gulfstream unit is cyrogenically cooled, whereas the Max-Viz sensors run "uncooled."

Another, according to Fawkes, is that numerous pilots have said they are as happy with a head-down as a head-up display, so the Max-Viz images can be displayed on existing MFDs.

The EVS-1000, which weighs 2.5 lbs., costs $100,000-120,000 installed depending on whether the aircraft has a video-capable display. The EVS-2000 (which compares in functionality with the Gulfstream unit) will list for about $350,000.

Max-Viz is here at Booth 7684.