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A Voith-Schneider cyclogyro propulsion concept for UAM, holographic particle detection with a drone, new UAV licensing requirements in Singapore with stiff penalties for non-compliance, Pipistrel plans an autonomous heavy lift UAV, the EU looks to police its southern border with medium-altitude long-endurance drones, maintaining offshore wind farms with autonomous drones, and drone seeding to save the Koala.
UAV News
Cyclotech brings a totally unique propulsion system to the eVTOL world
CycloTech is an Austrian company that is developing a propulsion system based on Voith-Schneider propellers, which the company calls “cyclogyro rotors.” The system combines characteristics of helicopters and conventional propeller blades. CycloTech plans to fly a demonstration model by the end of the year.
Video: Cyclogyro Principle
Video: Cyclocopter Demonstration
Army teams with universities to create miniature drone device that detects aerosols
The “Holographic Aerosol Particle Imager,” or HAPI is small enough to be carried by a commercial drone and can resolve particles larger than ten micrometers in size. It can image free-floating aerosol particles from any direction and doesn’t have to actually contact the particles. HAPI uses digital holography and is built from 3D-printed polymer structures
The paper Imaging atmospheric aerosol particles from a UAV with digital holography published in the journal Nature Scientific Reports tells more.
Drone users must get licensed to fly certain unmanned aircraft or face penalties from February
The Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) announced that starting February 2021, if you are 16 years old or above and want to fly a drone above 1.5kg in weight, you must complete online training and pass an exam to get licensed. If you are under 16 years old, you must be supervised by an older licence holder.
There are two different certificates: An unmanned aircraft basic training certificate for those flying drones between 1.5kg and 7kg for recreational or educational purposes, and an unmanned aircraft pilot license for those flying drones above 7kg or who are flying them for commercial purposes. Penalties for flying drones without the appropriate licenses include jail time and fines up to $100,000 or both.
Honeywell to Provide Pipistrel with Advanced Flight Control Technology for Unmanned Cargo Aircraft
Pipistrel Aircraft is developing the Nuuva V300, a long-range large-capacity heavy-weight autonomous eVTOL UAV designed for aerial cargo delivery of up to 460 kg. Power comes from eight Type Certified battery-powered Pipistrel E-811 electric engines. Entry into service is planned for the second half of 2023. The smaller Nuuva V20 is targeted at last-mile delivery missions.
Pipistrel selected Honeywell’s Compact Fly-By-Wire system for the Nuuva V300 cargo UAV. Honeywell is leveraging air transport fly-by-wire systems into Part 23, eVTOL, and urban air mobility aircraft platforms.
Airbus to Operate Drones to search for migrants crossing the MED
Airbus, and Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) have won an EU contract to operate medium-altitude long-endurance, remotely piloted aircraft systems for “maritime aerial surveillance services.” Airbus and IAI will provide the equipment and human operators and the drones will be based in either Greece, Italy, or Malta. Testing is planned on the Greek island of Crete with Mediterranean drone operations starting in 2021.
Unmanned Boats & Drones could repair offshore wind farms and clean plastic from the ocean.
The University of Bristol and Thales are testing technology for autonomous drones and unmanned boats that could be used for offshore wind farm maintenance, or even cleaning plastics from the ocean.
Army of Drones to restore Koala Trees
Bushfires in Australia have killed or displaced an estimated three billion animals and up to seven billion trees were destroyed or damaged. The Koala habitat has been devastated. The World Wide Fund for Nature Australia is trialing a drone seeding program where the drones shoot Gum tree seeds into the ground. This has been successful in other countries with other types of seeds.
UAV Video of the Week
Archaeology mystery: Ancient carving accidentally uncovered near Nazca Lines – drone video
A previously undiscovered geoglyph of a large cat was discovered on a Peruvian hillside.
Webinar
Thursday, October 29, 2020, 3:00 PM to 4:00 PM (EST) with featured guest Austin Worcester, Senior Program Manager for Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems at the Civil Air Patrol, where he is responsible for leading and administering the largest public safety/emergency services small unmanned aerial system (sUAS) operation in the world. This program encompasses all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the USVI.
The webinar will also feature Fritz Reber, a former Captain of the Chula Vista Police Department, where he served as UAS Commander and developed the agency’s internationally recognized Drone-as-First-Responder (DFR) program in partnership with the FAA’s San Diego Drone Integration Pilot Program (IPP). The webinar will be hosted by Guillaume Delepine, a current Skydio Product Marketing Manager and former Public Safety Lead and Enterprise Strategy Manager.
Registration is free for all attendees.
Mentioned
AvGeekFests.com, a calendar of aviation events.