Monthly Archives: December 2016

UAV176 The Ion Tiger Fuel Cell-Powered Drone

The Naval Research Laboratory powers a drone with a new fuel cell design, an Amazon patent to identify threats to drones, PrecisionHawk reports on BVLOS technology needs, and the FAA drone registration system reaches its one-year anniversary.

NRL Ion Tiger

Members of the chemistry and tactical electronic warfare divisions from the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory with the Ion Tiger unmanned air vehicle. Photo courtesy U.S. Naval Research Laboratory.

News

NRL completes first flight of UAV with custom hydrogen fuel cell

Fuel Cell

Scheme of a proton-conducting fuel cell, courtesy Wikipedia.

 

A team from the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) has developed and flown the Ion Tiger powered by a new hydrogen fuel cell developed at NRL. The program manager at the Office of Naval Research said, “NRL having the know how to build their own fuel cells in-house gives ONR and the U.S. Navy the understanding and tools needed for transitioning fuel cells to the fleet.”

 

Amazon gets US patent for ‘countermeasures’ to protect drone delivery

Amazon was awarded a technology patent for a system of “countermeasures of threats to an uncrewed autonomous vehicle.”  The system is based on a mesh network and communication between multiple drones that detect possible signs of a compromise.

Precisionhawk Research Outlines Operations Risk for Drones Flying Beyond Line of Sight

Under the FAA Pathfinder Program, PrecisionHawk’s Phase 2 research indicates technology assist is critical for beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) operations. PrecisionHawk found that human control is subject to variability and cannot be relied upon exclusively for safe BVLOS flight. Good situational awareness technology is also needed.

Drone Registration Marks First Anniversary

December 21, 2016, marked the one-year anniversary of the FAA web-based drone registration system. More than 600,000 owners have registered and the FAA calls the system “an unqualified success.” Also, “The rule and the registration system were primarily aimed at the thousands of drone hobbyists who had little or no experience with the U.S. aviation system. The agency saw registration as an excellent way to give them a sense of responsibility and accountability for their actions. The agency wanted them to feel they are part of the aviation community, to see themselves as pilots.”

One-Year Anniversary of the FAA’s Drone Registry

Videos of the Week

Watch the 6 Most Innovative Drone Videos of 2016

Time selected six drone videos they considered to be those that most challenged our perspectives:

  1. The Nature Video Perfected
  2. The Destruction of Aleppo
  3. The Construction of Apple Campus 2
  4. The Tight Squeeze Approach
  5. The Single Shot Approach
  6. The Top Down Approach

Human Flying Drone

This super heavy lift multirotor has enough power to lift a man. Filmed in Finland. Be sure to also watch the “behind the scenes” video.

 

UAV175 Amazon Prime Air Delivers

Amazon Prime Air begins a package delivery beta test, a DOT audit finds some FAA deficiencies, Defiant Labs shows a new VTOL long endurance drone, three models of aerodynamic lift are called into question, some drone tips for growers, and a wild video of the week.

Amazon Prime Air beta test drone

Package delivery drone, courtesy Amazon Prime Air

News

Amazon Claims First Successful Prime Air Drone Delivery

Amazon Prime Air delivered a TV streaming stick and a bag of popcorn to a Cambridge, UK customer in a private beta test. The process from order to receipt lasted 13 minutes and included a fully autonomous flight with no human pilot involved in the process. Amazon plans to expand the test, add more customers to the program, and collect operational data for further development of package delivery concepts. See the Amazon promotional video: Amazon Prime Air’s First Customer Delivery.

FAA Lacks Risk-Based Oversight Process for Civil UAS

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Office of the Inspector General (OIG) released a 20-page audit report titled, FAA Lacks Risk-Based Oversight Process for Civil Unmanned Aircraft Systems [PDF]. The report notes that “FAA does not have a fully developed risk-based process to oversee UAS operations, a key tool for focusing resources on a range of emerging risks, such as increased reports of UAS operating near airports.” The OIG offers six recommendations, four of which the FAA says are already accomplished.

New 24-Hour Endurance Hybrid Drone Developed for Monitoring & Inspection

Canadian company Defiant Labs has announced their new DX-3, a vertical take-off and landing drone with a fixed wing for flight. Applications for the long endurance, hydrogen fuel cell-powered drone include monitoring and inspecting remote infrastructure such as pipelines and power transmission lines. The DX-3 will be designed, manufactured, and produced in Canada.

Listener Ken captured some photographs of the DX-3 at the International UAS Show in Toronto:

Defiant Labs DX-3

Defiant Labs DX-3

Birds flying through laser light reveal faults in flight research, Stanford study shows

Stanford researchers wanted to test three predictive models of airflow that are based on flying animals. These models are sometimes used in the design of flying robots and drones. Using a trained bird flying through a laser sheet that illuminated micron-sized aerosol particles, the study found that all three models failed to predict the actual lift generated by the bird.

Stanford researchers debunk popular flight models by flying birds through lasers

UAVs: 10 tips from users

Two Iowa State University agricultural biosystems engineers provide Corn & Soybean Digest readers with tips learned first-hand.

Video of the Week

The Pilots Arrive | FlightLab: Mojave Boneyard | Intel

Take a wild quadcopter ride through a Mojave boneyard of retired jumbo jets, and watch the obstacle avoidance of Intel’s Yuneec drone.

 

 

UAV174 Drone Industry Consolidation

UAS industry consolidation, open source drone projects, and the Dutch Drone Awards.

 C4D Intel

C4D Intel

News

Flir buys UAS firm Prox Dynamics following Point Grey acquisition

Flir Systems has acquired Oslo Norway-based Prox Dynamics for $134 million in cash. Prox Dynamics is a developer of nano-class unmanned aerial systems, with a “core mission to develop, produce and sell the world’s smallest and most advanced Personal Reconnaissance System (PRS)” for “the modern warfighter.”

Australian UAV Mapping Consolidation

C4D Intel has acquired Airbotix. Both are Perth-based. Privately-owned C4D Intel specializes in asset inspection, mapping, and data analysis. Airbotix provides autonomous systems to clients applications such as inspection and testing, geospatial survey, scientific research and situational awareness.

4 open source drone projects

Most consumer drones use proprietary software and hardware. But there are open source options:

  • Paparazzi UAV is an open-source drone hardware and software project. It includes autopilot systems and ground station software for multicopters/multirotors, fixed-wing, helicopters, and hybrid aircraft. The system was designed with autonomous flight as the primary focus.
  • The Linux Foundation-sponsored Dronecode project is building a common open source platform for UAV development. The project recently split with several Dronecode companies with developers forming a new project called PX4. an independent, open-source, open-hardware project providing the standard high-end autopilot to the industrial, academic and enthusiast communities.
  • OpenDroneMap processes aerial imagery into point clouds, digital surface, and elevation models. It can also orthorectify imagery for further analysis. See the project wiki for more information.
  • The University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s College of Journalism and Mass Communications has a Drone Journalism Lab that seeks to educate journalists about the legal and ethical use of drones. Their 23-page operations manual is open sourced and free to download. Sections in the manual include Ethics and Privacy, General Operating Procedures, Pre-Flight, Flight, Post-Flight, and Logging. It also contains a number of Normal Operating Checklists and Emergency Procedures.

Videos of the Week

The winners of the Dutch Drone Awards 2016 have been announced. Coen Swijnenberg earned a Drone Award for his video of Sri Lanka. As the winner of the Aerial Photography category, he also gets to enjoy a 250 euro gift card from Droneshop.nl, and a permanent place in the Dutch aerial movie makers hall of fame.

Sri Lanka 2016

Tim van Vliet won the award in the Racing category with a high-speed drone video shot above the colorful Dutch tulip fields.

Tulipe Colormadness

Find more at the annual Dutch Drone Awards website.

 

 

 

UAV173 Counter-UAS Technology

Aerial Information Systems describes counter-UAS technology, the Karma drone recall exposes a larger issue, and some areas to watch in the UAS space in 2017.

GoPro Karma

Karma drone, courtesy GoPro

Interview

Tim Trott from Southern Helicam interviews Larry Friese, Jr., president of Aerial Information Systems Corporation (AIS) at the inaugural Emerald Coast Unmanned Systems Business Expo in Pensacola, November 19, 2016. Larry’s session was Preparing for Counter-UAS Technology and he talks with Tim about playing the aggressor from the Red Team perspective.

Aerial Information Systems Corporation is a minority-woman-owned, full-service Geographic Information Systems (GIS) production and environmental small business. They provide multidisciplinary databases for use in GIS, environmental and urban planning, and facilities management.

Southern Helicam provides aerial photography and video services. Tim is active in the industry and offers commentary on unmanned aircraft issues.

News

GoPro Drone ‘Recall’ Raises Oversight Questions

GoPro pulled all its Karma drones off the market in November because some of them were losing power and falling. GoPro did the right thing and asked consumers to return purchased drones for a full refund. However, it became clear that neither the FAA nor the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) holds jurisdiction to recall drones, leaving a hole in the system.

UAS Crystal Ball 2017 – Four things to watch for in the UAS space next year

xyHt Magazine says the four areas bearing watching in 2017 are regulation, direct georeferencing, UAS-borne lidar, and hybrid fixed-wing/multirotor platforms.

Man Who Flew Weaponized Drones Loses Bid to Return to School

A Superior Court judge dismissed the lawsuit by Austin Haughwout who sued Central Connecticut State University for wrongful expulsion. His lawyer plans to appeal.

Videos of the Week

Intel’s 500 Drone Light Show | Intel

#BreakTheNet Task 4 – My Cape Town Selfie