Monthly Archives: July 2014

UAV052 Propellerheads Aerial Photography

Propellerheads Aerial PhotographyGuest Parker Gyokeres owns Propellerheads Aerial Photography and produces professional aerial videos. We talk about that business in general, and in particular about the video of a recent wedding that is getting attention from the press and the FAA.

This story offers UAS regulatory issues, safety of flight issues, and even some good old fashioned politics. These are the facts:

  • Sean Maloney, a Democratic member of Congress from upstate New York was married June 21, 2014.
  • A video of the wedding was produced by Propellerheads Aerial Photography.
  • The FAA is investigating and says shooting the video from a hexacopter was illegal.
  • Mr. Maloney’s Republican challenger Nan Hayworth says, “It is a blatant conflict of interest to be sitting on a committee while being investigated by an agency it oversees.”

Parker explains the steps he took before the event to obtain clearance and permission from the property owner and event security. Parker is an experienced sUAS pilot and the mission was flown safely. He feels that “you can’t break a law that doesn’t exist,” but also that UAS pilots have a responsibility to get proper training and fly safely. Parker also has some very insightful comments on drone journalism.

Parker Gyokeres

In addition to being the owner of Propellerheads Aerial Photography, Parker Gyokeres is an award winning active duty U.S. Air Force Photojournalist and the current Chief of Public Affairs for the 621st Contingency Response Wing, Joint Base Mcguire-Dix-Lakehurst, N.J.

He is a freelance author, a UAV builder/pilot and photographer represented by Legion Photo, and serves as the Secretary of the Professional Society of Drone Journalists.

Parker joined the U.S. Air Force in 1992 as an F-16 and F-15 weapons system technician before cross-training to become a public affairs photojournalist in 2006.  He has 22 years of worldwide expeditionary experience, that include three deployments to Afghanistan and one to Iraq.

As a remote control pilot and builder, Parker has extensive experience with the design, construction, and operation of both multicopters and fixed-wing aircraft. He also advocates and educates about the safe, responsible use of small UAVs for aerial photography at speaking and training events nationwide.

UAV051 Martha Stewart on Drones

Gobble HawkMartha Stewart’s farm via DJI Phantom, UAS competitions, Amazon.com petitions the FAA, and a utility company to start drone testing.

News:

Amazing Aerial Photos Of My Farm

One of Martha Stewart’s security employees took a tour of Martha’s farm with his new DJI Phantom. On her blog, she posted photos taken by the quadcopter, much to the delight of her fans. Is that commercial use by Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Martha’s company?

Shaken or stirred? Drone bartender battles bots in design challenge

The Electrolux Design Lab is a design competition where students submit innovative ideas for households of the future. Among the 35 finalists this year, we see one that carries either hot or cold beverages to thirsty bar patrons, and dispenses the drinks into cups. Control is intended to be by voice or mobile app.

‘Gobble Hawk’ Wins NASA High-Altitude UAV Design Competition

There was another recent contest for students, this one specifically for UAVs that track hurricanes. NASA was looking for a lower cost high endurance UAS, and they chose the twin-fuselage Gobble Hawk design concept from Virginia Tech.

The second place OQ451-5 Trident from Purdue would be powered by hydrogen engines, with an endurance of 7 days. Third place was the University of Virginia Big WAHOO (Worldwide Autonomous Hurricane and Oceanic Observer), also hydrogen-powered..

Amazon asks the FAA for permission to play with its drones outside

Amazon.com has been operating its package delivery drones in an indoor test facility in Seattle. On July 9, they sent a Petition for Exemption to the FAA asking to move outside.

Amazon is serious about package delivery by drone. In part, their petition says:

Amazon Prime Air, a new delivery system that will get packages to customers in 30 minutes or less using aerial vehicles, is one invention we are incredibly passionate about.  We believe customers will love it, and we are committed to making Prime Air available to customers worldwide as soon as we are permitted to do so.

We also see that Amazon has made significant progress:

In the past five months, we have made advancements toward the development of highly-automated aerial vehicles for Prime Air, including:

  • Testing a range of capabilities for our eighth- and ninth-generation aerial vehicles, including agility, flight duration, redundancy, and sense-and-avoid sensors and algorithms;
  • Developing aerial vehicles that travel over 50 miles per hour, and will carry 5-pound payloads, which cover 86% of products sold on Amazon; and
  • Attracting a growing team of world-renowned roboticists, scientists, aeronautical engineers, remote sensing experts, and a former NASA astronaut.

Finally, Amazon summarizes:

One day, seeing Amazon Prime Air will be as normal as seeing mail trucks on the road today, resulting in enormous benefits for consumers across the nation.  We respectfully submit this petition for exemption so that Prime Air can be ready to launch commercial operations as soon as eventually permitted by subsequent FAA action.

Eagle shot wins drone photography competition

A competition for drone photographs recently concluded and the winning photo is a birdseye view of an eagle in flight over Bali Barat National Park in Indonesia. You can see the contest winners at Dronestagram, a website dedicated to aerial photographs. Sponsorship was provided by National Geographic, Go Pro, Picanova, Droneshop and Parrot.

SDG&E Is First (Utility) in Unmanned Flight With Drone Testing

The San Diego Gas & Electric Co. says the FAA has given them permission to conduct test flights of a small camera-equipped quadcopter. Ultimately, the utility wants to use the UAVs for infrastructure inspection. Test flights are limited to rural areas away from houses.

MultiRotorForums Petitions White House to Adopt UK Drone Policy

DroneLive.com reports that MultiRotorForums.com created a petition on WhiteHouse.gov asking that the Obama Administration compel the FAA to adopt the UK’s commercial sUAS standards immediately. 100,000 signatures are needed by August 3, 2014.

 Lifeguard drone to the rescue!

In this concept from RTS, multicopters are fitted with life preservers, a FLIR camera, and the ability to detect swimmers in distress. They fly to the person and drop a life preserver faster than a human lifeguard could arrive.

Video of the Week

Flying Down Low Around Las Vegas Back Alleys with my RC UAV Drone for Aerial Photography

Mentioned

Drone Operators Arrested After Close Call with NYPD Helicopter

Two men were arrested and charged with reckless endangerment after flying a drone within 800 feet of a police helicopter at 2,000 feet near the George Washington Bridge.

Stronger privacy laws needed to protect public from drones, parliamentary committee says

An Australian federal government committee is recommending stronger privacy laws, particularly related to drones. Their report is called Eyes in the Sky: Inquiry into drones and the regulation of air safety & privacy. [PDF]

Eye in the sky keeps close watch on livestock
Kiwi ranchers use a hexacopter and GoPro.

Recommended Books

Amazon.com links to two good books for those just getting started:

The Beginner’s Guide to FPV

Getting Started with Hobby Quadcopters and Drones: Learn about, buy and fly these amazing aerial vehicles

 

UAV050 Manufacturing Drones with a 3D Printer

 

BAE Transformer3D drone printers, continuously airborne UAVs, hacking drones, flying UAS over airports and sports events, a petition to the FAA, and mapping mud a landslide with a hexacopter.

The News

BAE Systems Unveils Concepts of On-Board Aircraft 3D Printers Able to Print Incredible UAVs During a Mission

The BAE Systems 25-year outlook includes technology for “on demand” UAV production, from inside an aircraft! In a possible scenario, the larger aircraft approaches an unknown situation, like a military conflict or a SAR event. It then manufactures a cloud of surveillance drones that go out, gather data, and return to the mother ship. Then, using the collected data, mission-specific UAV’s are manufactured to respond to the situation. (In the case of SAR, maybe a vehicle that could retrieve a person.) Another idea is a “transformer” made of multiple UAVs that could group and ungroup as needed.

New type of drones: Firm looks to create drones with unlimited flight time

A collaboration between Packet Digital LLC, the U.S. Department of Defense, and others hopes to create very long endurance UAV’s. First, to double the current flight time, but eventually unlimited endurance. By developing a “solar soaring power management system,” continuously airborne drones could be created with applications for the military, agriculture, search-and-rescue, and first responders. Flight testing will take place at the Northern Plains UAS Test Site in Grand Forks.

Exclusive: Civilian drones need costly fixes to avoid hacking, study indicates

GPS navigation is a key UAS technology, and we’ve seen examples that suggest that GPS has vulnerabilities. In 2012, the FAA initiated a study by the GNSS Intentional Interference and Spoofing Study Team (GIISST) to look at vulnerabilities in GPS navigation.

The report has not been released publicly, but FAA has given an overview at a conference, saying, “Inexpensive, and readily available, GNSS repeaters and GNSS simulation tools can transmit hazardously misleading information ‘spoofing’ GNSS use.”

In September 2013, the FAA released a Navigation Programs Update [PDF] that gives some information about the GNSS Intentional Interference and Spoofing Study Team.

High-Altitude Drone Flight Prompts FAA Warning At Airport

A pilot flew his DJI Phantom on a video mission thousands of feet above the Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport in Alabama. This triggered an automated warning from the FAA about unauthorized drones near a homing beacon.

DJI: The Spirit of Football Video Contest

A DJI soccer/football video contest is underway to showcase the spirit of football. Submit your YouTube or Vimeo videos in aerial and non-aerial categories through August 20th.

Maine man wants FAA to change UAV regulations

Edward Lyons, the CEO of FPV America, says the FAA ban on UAS has “shut down his business before it was really able to take off.” So he’s started a petition at change.org asking the FAA to “Rescind Your Latest Ruling On Model FPV Flying And The Personal & Commercial Use Of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles.”

From the petition: “We The People have a right to OUR airspace to practice and engage in our hobby. We have a right to commercial purposeful use of this airspace as well.”

UAV Mapping of a Landslide

Czech unmanned aerial vehicle and mapping company Upvision used a hexacopter to perform an aerial mapping of a landslide at a road construction project. The mapping and resulting geological survey will help engineers decide how to remove the debris from the landslide, which occurred at a road construction project.

A hexacopter was used to collect the data to create: an orthophoto map, a digital surface model using point clouds, and a 3D model for visualizing the entire area. All this from one aerial flight over the course of one hour.

Video of the Week

Man flies drone into West Palm Beach fireworks show

Many listeners sent the link to this rather impressive video. We understand the Phantom survived, but also that the FAA is Investigating Drone Flights Into Fireworks.

Feedback

Jon observed the shadow of a quadcopter in the video Road Test: 2014 Porsche 911 Turbo S, confirming how the video was made.

UAV049 UAV Privacy, Subpoenas, and Regulations

SectionalUAVs taking off in China, aerial video and privacy, a map showing UAS regs by State, FAA subpoenas realtors, FAA might not make their 2015 deadline, and drone poetry.

The News

Drone Hobbyists Taking off in China

Twenty-three-year old Jin Xing is representative of the enthusiasm for UAVs that is growing in China.  He’s created the Butterfly Aerial Photography Workshop, a business he operates from his home. Jin and his partner take aerial photographs for client companies using six helicopters.

Aerial Photo Company Gets Cops Called on Them After Drone Startles Naked Woman

Portland, Oregon firm Skyris Imaging was out taking panoramic video for a developer. But when the resident of a 26th floor apartment looked out the window and saw a hovering drone, she assumes she was the victim of a peeping tom. So she called the police. As you would expect, the media went crazy with the story.

Are drones illegal in your state? This map can tell you

This map of the U.S. lets you click on a State and see legislation, proposed legislation, a description of the legislation, and associated websites.

Drone rangers slap Realtors with subpoenas

Real estate is one of the industries that offers an immediate business use for UAVs. But the FAA is watching UAV users that it suspects are operating commercial operations. Now they’re issuing subpoenas to real estate brokerages that use UAVs to take photos of properties.

Clever copters can learn as they fly

University of Sheffield’s Department of Automatic Control and Systems Engineering (ACSE), is researching quadcopters that learn from their environment. These “flying robots” use camera images to build up a 3D map of the environment. Other sensors detect barometric and ultrasonic information. All this is fed to the autopilot software for navigation within the environment.

The use case is for aerial robots that can enter an environment, learn to identify objects and other features of the environment, and make decisions. The research quadcopters can also detect and interact with each other.

FAA will not meet deadline for unmanned aircraft

According to a report from the Department of Transportation’s Office of Inspector General, FAA will not meet the Congressionally mandated September 2015 deadline to integrate unmanned aircraft systems into the national airspace.

The report identifies four areas of concern and makes eleven recommendations.  These recommendations include the need for reports, milestones, timelines, clarification of responsibilities, process standards, more ATC study, definition of the data required from the six test sites, and metrics to measure performance to plan.

Video of the Week

Drone Captures Massive Yacht Fire As $24 Million Boat Is Engulfed In Flames 

Submitted by Paul Siebert: San Diego boat captain Kurt Roll was using a remote-controlled quadcopter drone to shoot aerial footage at a shipyard in Chula Vista, California on Thursday when he spotted a plume of smoke rising in the distance. Roll decided to use his device to get closer to what appeared to be a massive boat fire, and managed to capture some incredible, close-up footage of a yacht going up in flames.

Feedback

From Ben, a Laugh of the Week: “Stop saying ‘uh-oh’ while you’re flying”: Drone crash pilot quotes unveiled. Real recorded quotes from military drone pilots just before they crash.

Christian from Germany sent us two interesting links: SailDrone, for ocean science applications, and the Aerovel Flexrotor, a fixed-wing VTOL tail-sitter that is designed for autonomous operation in sites with restricted access.

DRONE: poems with found sound and video from Harry Giles, a poet and a performer who produces poetry through the eyes of a UAV!

New Sectionals that show UAV’s. This came from Tim Trott’s Southern Helicam website. (See image above.)

Airbus Wants To Take The Cockpit Out Of The Cockpit Of The Future. This Airbus patent applications describes airline pilots who are moved out of the front into an interior area of the airplane. They fly using first person view.

Airbus Cockpit Patent Application

 

UAV048 Evan Ulrich and his RoboSeed UAV

RoboSeed

While at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum’s Become a Pilot Day, David and Max were fortunate to have a conversation with Dr. Evan Ulrich about his “RoboSeed,” a monocopter UAV.

We talked with Evan about the design, how it works, the control method, and future applications. Open up his RoboSeed website or visit the RoboSeed YouTube channel, have a look, then listen to this episode.