Tag Archives: BAE Systems

424 Personal eVTOL

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Another personal eVTOL, cops flying BVLOS, military drones with facial recognition, a lethal drone designed in Australia, the Lilium Jet eVTOL, and moving air quietly.

UAV News

Is this one-seat flying saucer the future of flight?

ZEVA Aero designs and builds electric Vertical Takeoff and Landing (eVTOL) vehicles. The company’s flagship product is the Argon, based on a pre-existing airframe. But their Zero is a personal eVTOL for one person. It launches with the pilot standing, but the position is prone in horizontal flight. The 8-foot-wide flying saucer-shaped aircraft uses 8 propellers and is expected to cost $250,000.

Line drawing of the Zeva Zero personal eVTOL. — Zeva Zero personal eVTOL

A one-eighth-scale model has been flight-tested and tethered tests are underway with a full-sized prototype. Zeva says the prototype should be ready for remote-controlled flights within a month, and tests with a pilot could take place in three to six months.

Video: ZEVA 1/8 Scale Model flying

Welcome to Chula Vista, where police drones respond to 911 calls

The Chula Vista, California police department operates 29 drones. The program runs 10 hours a day, seven days a week using four launch sites. Officers routinely request aerial reconnaissance. More than 1,500 U.S. police departments use drones, mostly for search and rescue, to document crime scenes, and to chase suspects. About 225 police departments have FAA waivers to fly BVLOS. Privacy and civil liberty groups are taking notice.

US Military Signs Contract to Put Facial Recognition on Drones

The Air Force’s Drones Can Now Recognize Faces. Uh-Oh.

The U.S. Air Force plans to deploy facial recognition technology on drones. RealNetworks LLC has the contract to supply its SAFR technology on small drones used for special operations missions. RealNetworks says SAFR Scan is “the first full-featured intelligent biometric access controlled edge solution.”

Australian-designed lethal drone to be unveiled at Avalon Airshow

BAE STRIX

BAE Systems Australia unveiled the armed STRIX VTOL at Avalon 2023. It’s a hybrid, tandem wing, multi-domain and multi-role UAS that could be used for air-to-ground strike, persistent ISR, and as a loyal wingman for military helicopters. It can carry up to a 160kg payload over 800km with a variety of munitions. The collapsed footprint is only 2.6m x 4.5m (roughly 8.5 x 15 feet).

Lilium sees premium service entry for Lilium Jet eVTOL

Vertical flight takes a lot of energy and most eVTOL designs have significant aerodynamic drag. These limit, l eVTOL range. The Lilium Jet is designed to overcome those obstacles. The wing and canard aircraft have a good lift-to-drag ratio, and power requirements are low at cruise speed. Power for both vertical and horizontal flight comes from many small electric motors pushing air through variable nozzle ducts. Electric power comes from 330 Wh/kg density batteries. Service entry will be in the premium sector.

Whisper Aero Set to Reveal Details About Its Ultra-Quiet Propulsion System

Whisper Aero has been working on quiet propulsion technology for two years, looking for a noise reduction of about 20 dB for drones and electric fixed-wing aircraft. The company has provided no specifics but is expected to reveal details about its propulsors “toward the end of March or early April.” They’ve built a 55-pound demonstrator drone to test the concept. Reportedly, the company plans to offer different propulsion system models with different power outputs.

383 Heavy-Lift UAS

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A heavy-lift UAS from BAE Systems, NOAA collects data from drones, drones cover motorsports events, bad weather affects delivery drones, Drone Racing League scores a sponsorship deal, Leonardo and Northrop Grumman working together, smuggling contraband, Volocopter eyes the U.S., building better batteries, Drone Safety Awareness Week, and the attack of the magpie.

UAV News

BAE Systems to build T-650 cargo quadrocopter with 300kg capacity

BAE Systems and Malloy Aeronautics want to develop an all-electric heavy-lift UAS targeted to missions for military, security, and civilian customers. The T-650 Heavy-Lift Electric UAS concept vehicle would accommodate payloads of over 300 kg with a range of 30 km on one charge of its batteries. The aircraft could fly autonomously or by remote control at a top speed of 140 km/h.

T-650 Heavy-Lift Electric UAS — T-650 Heavy-Lift UAS, courtesy BAE Systems.

NOAA Data Storage Needs May Grow as Drones Become Smarter

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration captures data with tube-launched fixed-wing drones, vertical-launch hexacopters, and even NASA’s Global Hawk aircraft. For many applications, the data is collected on-board, onto an SD card. But the amount of data is increasing as a result of AI-directed data collection and higher resolution sensors. Capt. Phil Hall, director of the NOAA Uncrewed Systems Operations Center in the Office of Marine and Aviation Operations:

The amount of data and data services is just the absolute key to all these uncrewed systems, whether they are marine systems or aviation systems. “Data archiving, data analysis, cloud storage networking — all those areas are priorities for NOAA.
Capt. Phil Hall

Video: Drones Aid NOAA Scientists with Hurricane Tracking and Animal Monitoring

The Best Way To Watch Rallycross Is From A Drone

Video coverage of a recent World Rallycross event in France was partly provided by a drone. The drone closely followed the action, just above the racers.

Video: FPV Drone Vs Rallycross Racing

Drones Fly Into Weather Data Deserts. Can They Be Stopped?

University of Calgary researchers recently published a paper that examined the impact weather had on flying commercial drones. The authors looked at historical data – temperature, wind, rain. The conclusion: weather restricts the average hours a drone can fly during the day.

Drone Racing League lands $100 million deal with crypto platform Algorand

The sponsorship deal with Boston-based Algorand is worth $100 million over five years, according to those with knowledge of the agreement. Algorand gets title rights to the League. DRL starts its sixth season on Sept. 29, 2021.

Leonardo and Northrop Grumman join forces on future rotorcraft UAS opportunities

Leonardo and Northrop Grumman plan to collaborate on VTOL air vehicle design, system architectures, payload optimization, and integration within next-generation battlespace architectures.

Man Sentenced To 3.5+ Years In Prison In Scheme Using Drones To Smuggle Contraband Into Federal Prison at Fort Dix

A New Jersey man was sentenced for conspiring to use drones to smuggle cell phones, tobacco, and other items into a federal correctional facility. The former inmate participated in multiple deliveries of contraband by drone.

Volocopter shares plan to bring eVTOL urban air mobility to US starting with Los Angeles

Volocopter announced a partnership with Urban Movement Labs (UML) to bring UAM solutions to the Los Angeles area. If successful, this would introduce Volocopter eVTOLs to the US market. Volocopter CCO Christian Bauer:

Our partnership with Urban Movement Labs is a great entryway into the US with our innovative UAM services. By leading the conversation about urban air mobility with broad stakeholders in Los Angeles, Volocopter can strategically identify and address how our services can benefit cities in the country. More importantly, we are also gaining real insights into living transportation ecosystems in the US to build the best complimentary service to other modes of transportation for our future passengers.
Christian Bauer

Volocopter plans to launch its UAM services in the next 2-3 years, pending certification from the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA). Certification from the FAA would be necessary for Volocopter to bring its eVTOL services to the US.

Batteries of the future set to be cheaper and better — just by adding sugar

Lithium-Ion batteries are made from toxic chemicals that are increasingly difficult to obtain. On the other hand, Lithium-Sulfur batteries are made with cheaper, safer, and easier-to-obtain materials that can store two to five times more energy per kilogram than lithium-ion batteries.

National Drone Safety Awareness Week: We’re All In

National Drone Safety Awareness Week was hosted by the FAA Safety Team (FAAST). Short daily videos were published during the week featuring important safety topics. This was a collaboration between DRONELIFE, P3Tech C o nsulting, and a volunteer FAAST member and co-founder of Influential Drones.

Find the videos in the article and on the DRONELIFE TV YouTube channel.

UAV Video of the Week

FPV drone video films sudden, determined magpie attack

“Everything in Australia wants to kill you, even birds!”

UAV213 DJI Matrice 200 Series

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The DJI Matrice 200 Series for enterprise commercial solutions, drone package delivery to your fingertips, new drone flight restrictions, a hybrid drone that spins around a pole, and Boeing’s acquisition of Aurora Flight Sciences Corporation.

DJI Matrice 200 Series. Courtesy DJI.

UAV News

The future of drone delivery

Cambridge Consultants has a drone delivery concept where packages are delivered directly into your hands, no matter where you are. It’s called DelivAir and it uses a patent-pending two-stage routing process. First, the drone navigates toward your smartphone using GPS and location updates transmitted during flight. Then, when the drone arrives within visual range, it switches to precision optical tracking and a 3D imaging and ranging system. The recipient is located, authenticated, and the package is lowered into the recipient’s hands using a 30-meter cable and a stabilizing winch.

FAA Restricts Drones over Statue of Liberty, Other Landmarks

At the request of U.S. national security and law enforcement agencies, the FAA has banned drone flights below 400 feet over ten Department of the Interior sites:

Statue of Liberty National Monument, New York, NY
Boston National Historical Park (U.S.S. Constitution), Boston, MA
Independence National Historical Park, Philadelphia, PA
Folsom Dam; Folsom, CA
Glen Canyon Dam; Lake Powell, AZ
Grand Coulee Dam; Grand Coulee, WA
Hoover Dam; Boulder City, NV
Jefferson National Expansion Memorial; St. Louis, MO
Mount Rushmore National Memorial; Keystone, SD
Shasta Dam; Shasta Lake, CA

Futuristic “Spinning Drone” May One Day Fight Our Battles for Us

BAE Systems and Cranfield University students are designing a UAV that provides both fixed-wing and rotary-wing flight. The body of the “Adaptable UAV” has a central hole which accommodates a special pole used for launching and landing.

Video: Engineers unveil futuristic unmanned aircraft concept that uses both fixed and rotary wing flight.

More at: Engineers unveil futuristic unmanned aircraft concept that uses both fixed and rotary wing flight.

Boeing to Acquire Aurora Flight Sciences to Advance Autonomous Technology Capabilities

Boeing announced that it plans to acquire Aurora Flight Sciences Corporation. Greg Hyslop, chief technology officer and senior vice president of Boeing Engineering, Test & Technology said, “The combined strength and innovation of our teams will advance the development of autonomy for our commercial and military systems. Together, these talented teams will open new markets with transformational technologies.” Aurora will be a subsidiary of Boeing Engineering, Test & Technology known as Aurora Flight Sciences, A Boeing Company. It will retain an independent operating model.

The Big Drone Show

David speaks with Francisco Toro, Technical Marketing Manager, DJI at the Big Drone Show held September 27-28, 2017 at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre. They talk about the Matrice 200 Series for enterprise commercial solutions.

Mentioned

Unmanned Systems Technology Supplier Directory

UAV050 Manufacturing Drones with a 3D Printer

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BAE Transformer 3D 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.