Gidel SkyBoost-RT Recognized by VSD for Aerial Imaging, ISR, and Inspection Workflows

Jul 13, 2026 3 min read

Gidel SkyBoost-RT Wins VSD 2026 Innovators Award

SkyBoost-RT Award Recognition for Real-Time Airborne Image Processing

Gidel SkyBoost-RT received the SkyBoost-RT award recognition as a Silver Honoree in the Vision Systems Design 2026 Innovators Awards. The award highlights SkyBoost-RT’s value for real-time aerial imaging, ISR, and inspection workflows. It also recognizes Gidel’s FPGA-based approach to airborne Image Signal Processing, ISP, and compression.

SkyBoost-RT supports applications where high-resolution sensors create massive RAW data streams. These streams must often be processed, recorded, or streamed during the mission. Therefore, SkyBoost-RT combines deterministic FPGA processing, low latency, and high-ratio compression to reduce airborne storage, bandwidth, and processing bottlenecks.

Real-Time ISP for Aerial Imaging and ISR Recognized by the SkyBoost-RT Award

SkyBoost-RT processes High-Resolution RAW Bayer image data while the camera is actively capturing. Instead of waiting for intensive post-processing after the mission, the system performs ISP directly during acquisition, enabling high-quality imagery to be generated, compressed, recorded, or streamed in real time.

The FPGA-based pipeline can include demosaicing, HDR correction, chromatic aberration correction, Non-Uniformity Correction, NUC, Bad Pixel Replacement, BPR, Dynamic Luminance Balance, White Balance, and additional mission-specific ISP stages.

Reducing Storage and Downlink Bandwidth Bottlenecks

In airborne imaging systems, storing or transmitting uncompressed RAW data is often impractical. High-Resolution Sensors, HRS, can quickly generate terabytes of data, creating major challenges for onboard storage, downlink bandwidth, and real-time usability.

SkyBoost-RT addresses this challenge by compressing image data directly on the FPGA during acquisition. JPG compression can often exceed a 10:1 compression ratio, significantly reducing data volume while maintaining high image quality. Optional H.264 / H.265 and RTSP output options can also support efficient video streaming and recording workflows.

SkyBoost-RT Award for High-Resolution Airborne Sensor Workflows

SkyBoost-RT supports large-format aerial imaging applications, including image widths up to 32K pixels and sensor classes up to approximately 500MP per image, depending on camera model and configuration.

In real-time pipelines, the system can process over 7 images per second, depending on configuration and input format. This enables continuous acquisition, ISP, compression, recording, and streaming without interrupting the image stream.

Aerial Imaging and Inspection Workflows Supported by SkyBoost-RT

Beyond defense ISR, SkyBoost-RT can support aerial inspection, mapping, search and rescue, and situational awareness applications where high-resolution image capture must be combined with immediate processing, compression, recording, or streaming.

This helps airborne platforms convert massive RAW sensor data into usable visual information during the mission, not only after landing.

Deployment Across UAVs, Aircraft, and Embedded Payloads

SkyBoost-RT is available across Gidel’s FPGA accelerator hardware platforms, including Mini Jetson Frame Grabber systems, FPGA frame grabbers installed in PCs or servers, and compact FPGA modules for embedded and low-SWaP deployments.

The solution supports high-end GigE Vision, CoaXPress-12 / CoaXPress-6, Camera Link, and custom sensor interfaces. It also integrates with Gidel’s Grabber SDK suite and supports camera control through GEN<i>CAM GenTL.

Custom ISP Pipelines for Mission-Specific Imaging Requirements

For advanced users, the ProcVision Suite enables full ISP pipeline customization at the FPGA level. This allows the processing flow to be optimized for image quality, compression ratio, throughput, latency, and system resource utilization.

The SkyBoost-RT award reinforces the value of real-time FPGA processing for airborne imaging teams that need to process, compress, record, and stream massive RAW data directly at the point of acquisition.

👉 Explore Gidel SkyBoost-RT

👉 Read the Full Vision Systems Design Announcement

Written by

Gidon Weintraub

Gidon Weintraub is a leading expert in machine vision and high-speed imaging systems, serving as VP of Sales and Marketing at Gidel. Having built his entire career at Gidel, he combines deep technical understanding with strategic market insight. Gidon has been directly involved in the detailed architecture, challenges, and bottlenecks of dozens of advanced imaging projects across sorting and inspection machines, defense and military systems, autonomous platforms, high-speed AI vision workflows, electron microscopy, and industrial automation. His unique ability to bridge technical depth with real-world application needs makes him a recognized figure in the global imaging and vision community.