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Picking up objects with a folding arm drone, a drone that protects dropped objects with an airbag, a large air freight drone, training drone photographers and videographers, a first night flight for the NTSB, a general aviation company partners with an unmanned company, and an autonomous vehicle accident.
A folding arm drone developed by South Korean researchers.
UAV News
This Drone Has Retracting Arms that Allow it to Pick Up Objects
South Korean scientists have created a drone with folding arms that can pick up objects. They are calling it an “origami-robot” because it uses the origami principle of perpendicular folding. A collection of rigid rectangular boxes and elastic bands allows the arm with a gripper to extend from 40 millimeters collapsed to 70 centimeters fully extended. This is described in the in the Science Robotics journal article, An origami-inspired, self-locking robotic arm that can be folded flat.
Amazon receives patent to literally ‘drop’ packages from a drone on your doorstep or patio
Amazon received U.S. Patent 9,914,539 for an “Airlift package protection airbag,” or APP. The concept is for a drone to drop an airbag-protected package from some height. The Amazon drone would have cameras to verify that the drop-zone is clear. The patent also describes a package that travels “partially horizontally” to land on “an elevated balcony of a tall building.”
This Leviathan Could Disrupt Unmanned Global Air Freight: Natilus CEO Aleksey Matyushev
Natilus is the California company that wants to reduce global air freight costs by 50% through the use of large autonomous drones. Company CEO Aleksey Matyushev says the prototype was completed in December 2017 and low-speed taxi tests were conducted in February 2018. Modifications to the prototype are now being made and medium speed taxi testing should begin at the end of March 2018.
3rd Rock Air Announces Drone Training in Tampa, Fl
Tampa, Florida-based 3rd Rock Air announced a new drone photography/videography course to address a basic lack of understanding of camera controls. Students can bring their personal drone to the class and be taught how to use the camera controls on their specific model. The company provides drone training for both commercial users and hobbyists.
NTSB Deploys Drone at Night
Bill English is the senior NTSB investigator who developed the agency’s drone procedures for accident investigations. Contemplating the use of drones in investigations of aircraft crashes, the NTSB received a waiver from the FAA to fly night. However, the first night opportunity presented itself when a bus carrying a high school band veered off the road into a ravine at night. In that accident, the bus driver was killed. The NTSB used a DJI Phantom 4 Pro at night to try and capture what the bus driver would have seen.
Aspen Teams with Drone Company
Aspen Avionics and drone maker Sensurion Aerospace are partnering to develop avionics for autonomous air taxis and other unmanned aircraft. Aspen offers glass panels that fit in general aviation airplanes. Sensurion provides drone-based data collection services and has developed their own unmanned platforms.
Uber self-driving car kills pedestrian in first fatal autonomous crash
A woman walking her bicycle across a street in Arizona was struck and killed by a self-driving Uber Volvo being operated by an Uber test driver. Uber said it has stopped testing the vehicles throughout the United States and Canada.