Monthly Archives: June 2018

UAV249 Aquila Project Shut Down

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Facebook cancels the high altitude, solar powered Aquila project. Matternet and DroneDeploy attract VC capital, Amazon patents drone hacking defense, lawmakers seek to make wildfire overflights a felony, China develops surveillance drones that look like birds, and Transcend Air proposes a VTOL transportation service.

UAV News

Facebook’s quest for fleet of solar-powered Internet drones grounded forever

Facebook has shut down their Aquila project. The high altitude, solar-powered drones (or “atmospheric satellites”) were to provide Internet access to areas that lack connectivity. Facebook said other companies with more experience and resources were working on this problem. Two Aquila test flights were conducted – the first resulted in a structural failure that caused a hard landing and the second didn’t meet Facebook’s goals.

Drone Deliveries Advance With $16M Boeing-Led Investment

Matternet has raised $16 million in a Series A funding round led by Boeing Horizon X Ventures. Matternet founder and CEO Andreas Raptopoulos said, “As we expand Matternet’s U.S. and global operations, we will work with Boeing to make next-generation aerial logistics networks a reality and transform our everyday lives.” Investments also came from Swiss Post, the Sony Innovation Fund, and Levitate Capital. Matternet works with Mercedes-Benz Vans in its drone integration program, and it also participates in two projects under the FAA’s UAS Integration Pilot Program.

DroneDeploy Raises $25M of Series C Funding to Bring Drones to Every Job Site

DroneDeploy is the large cloud-based drone data platform with 30,000 users having mapped 30 million acres in 180 countries on 400,000 job sites. The funding round is led by the Invenergy Future Fund and backed by Australian VC AirTree with investors Scale Venture Partners, Uncork Capital, Emergence Capital, and AngelPad.

Amazon eyes defense against hijacking of delivery drones by ‘nefarious individuals’

Yet another Amazon drone patent! Patent number 10007265 is titled “Hostile takeover avoidance of unmanned vehicles” and attempts to counter attackers who would steal the drones or their packages or even to take out the drones by hacking the communications signals. The patent proposes a “heartbeat” signal between the UAV and controller in normal “mission mode.” If the signal is lost, the UAV is assumed compromised and it shifts to “safety mode.” According to the patent, “In the safety mode, the UAV performs one or more pre-programmed actions designed to re-establish communication with the controller, regain control over the UAV in the event of a hostile takeover, and/or land the UAV at a safe location.”

Colorado lawmakers want to make it a felony to fly a drone over a wildfire

U.S. Senator Cory Gardner (R-Colorado), Senator Michael Bennet (D-Colorado), and Rep. Scott Tipton (R-Cortez) introduced S.3132, the Securing Airspace For Emergency Responders Act. Under this bill, flying an unauthorized drone over a wildfire could land you a fine, and maybe a year in jail.

China is testing creepy drones that look and fly like real birds to monitor citizens

China has been testing drones that look and fly like birds. The “robo-doves” have been flown in “at least five provinces by some 30 government and military agencies in the country.” Reportedly, they have gone undetected in these tests by people and other birds. The wings flap, the drones can soar and dive like a bird, and they are very quiet. The perfect surveillance device.

Transcend Air announces “affordable” city-to-city VTOL aircraft

A vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft providing door-to-door service was announced by Transcend Air Corporation. The tilt-wing Vy 400 six-seat aircraft would utilize VTOL-ready landing pads, 405 miles per hour, and have a range of 450 miles. Transcend plans to launch commuter airline service in early 2024.

It’s Finally Here – Fishing With a Drone: Introducing the RoboRod®

RoboRod LLC has developed a fishing rod with a “drone.” Chief development officer Paul Leslie calls it, “probably the biggest development in the fishing rod since the addition of the reel.” If you can’t cast where you want, RoboRod’s “drone” will swim your line to that perfect spot, and drop your bait on command, to the desired depth.

RoboRod video

Video of the Week

Posted by the New York City Drone Film Festival.

UAV248 Black Swift Technologies Eyes Venus

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A UAS for Venus from Black Swift Technologies, DJI building a new headquarters complex, MIT develops the Navion chip, DroneDeploy spells out commercial drone predictions for 2018 and beyond, and LiquidPiston is developing a rotary drone engine.

Black Swift Technologies awarded contract to develop UAS for atmospheric observations of Venus. Image courtesy Black Swift Technologies.

UAV News

Black Swift Technologies Awarded NASA Contract to Develop UAS for Atmospheric Observations of Venus

Black Swift Technologies announced it has been awarded a NASA contract to perform upper atmospheric observations of the planet Venus. They will develop an unmanned aircraft system based on the concept of dynamic soaring. Jack Elston, CEO of Black Swift Technologies said, “While there have been a variety of systems proposed for upper atmospheric observations of Venus, the planet’s high wind speeds pose a significant design challenge. Our solution will be designed to not only survive in the harsh wind environment, but also simultaneously perform targeted sampling of the atmosphere while continuously extracting energy, even on the dark side of the planet.”

DJI’s Shiny New HQ Has a Sky Bridge for Showing Off Drones

DJI is constructing new company headquarters in China. The 1.7 million square foot complex includes twin towers connected with a sky bridge. This sky bridge includes a giant indoor space for demonstrating and testing drones.

Video: Foster + Partners’ Shenzhen ‘drone’ towers

Chip upgrade helps miniature drones navigate

A team at MIT has developed a custom chip called Navion that is smaller, has lower power consumption, and increased processing speed. Applications for Navion include tiny “nanodrones.” The chip can process real-time camera images up to 171 frames per second as well as inertial measurements. Researchers say the chip can help vehicles navigate, “particularly in remote or inaccessible places where global positioning satellite data is unavailable.”

2018 Commercial Drone Industry Predictions: DroneDeploy weighs in on the future of drones in 2018 and beyond [PDF]

Drone data company DroneDeploy has eight predictions for the commercial drone industry in 2018. These are continued consumerization of drone hardware, more outside players entering the Industry, in-house drone programs replacing service providers, deployments of large-scale fleets, a new era of automation, acquisition of large data sets, use of machine learning and artificial intelligence, and real-time data collection and analysis.

US military wants quieter drones

LiquidPiston Inc. is developing the X4 engine that offers the possibility of quieter drones, greater flight time, and reduced thermal signature. With some similarity to the Wankel engine, the X4 has an oval rotor inside a triangular chamber. DARPA is interested in the X4 enough to invest $2.5 million in LiquidPiston to continue research and development of the engine.

LiquidPiston X Engine from LiquidPiston on Vimeo.

UAV247 FAA Culture Limits Advancement of Drones

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A report says FAA risk adversity limits use of drones, SenSat breaks U.K. BVLOS record, Japan set to loosen BVLOS rules, and FCC sends a strong message to drone makers, marketers, and operators.

UAV News

Risk-Averse Culture At FAA Stifles Progress On Drones, Scientists Say

A study by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine was mandated by Congress and sponsored by the FAA. It concludes that the FAA views drones the way they view aircraft: under a strong safety culture that is adverse to risk. George Ligler chaired the committee that wrote the report and said, “FAA needs to accelerate its move away from the ‘one size fits all’ philosophy for UAS operations. The FAA’s current methods for safety and risk management certainly ensure safety within the manned aircraft sector, but UASs present new and unique challenges and opportunities, which make it important for the agency to take a broader view on risk analysis.”

The committee wants the FAA to establish and publish guidelines to measure risks in a consistent and reliable manner within 12 months and include considerations of the safety benefits of drone use. The 66-page report is titled: Assessing the Risks of Integrating Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) into the National Airspace System

SenSat, U.K.’s Largest Drone Data Provider, Breaks BVLOS Record

SenSat broke the beyond visual line-of-sight (BVLOS) record for the U.K. after completing a 7.5-mile (12 kilometers) BVLOS flight with a fixed-wing “Sparrow” drone. SenSat has Pathfinder status from the U.K. government which allows them to fly BVLOS. This record flight utilized multiple communication channels to ensure safety. SenSat uses Structure from Motion (SfM) photogrammetry that uses GPS to combine digital aerial photographs with computer vision to recreate areas in high detail. A live webcast of the event is available as LIVE Webcast: 12km Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) drone flight ops.

Japan Moves Closer to Drone Delivery with New BVLOS Regulations

Commercial drone regulations in Japan require an observer who can keep the drone in sight, thus, BVLOS is not allowed. That is about to change. According to the Japan Times, “A law requiring that a safety assistant be present during long-distance commercial drone operations will be scrapped, according to new rules announced… by the transport and industry ministries.” And “a safety assistant will no longer be required to keep the aircraft in view if flight safety can be fully ensured remotely through devices such as cameras and sensors.” The change is to be implemented by the end of 2018.

No fly zone: FCC proposes US$2.8 million penalty for marketing non-compliant drone AV accessories [PDF]

In this article, Hogan Lovells says, “The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is proposing to bring a US$2.8 million penalty against HobbyKing for marketing drone-attachable audio/video (AV) transmitters that operate on unauthorized frequencies.” The FCC is cracking down on those who make and market noncompliant UAS and UAS-attachable devices. FCC says HobbyKing offered UAS attachable audio/video devices that operate on amateur radio frequencies (which do not require FCC certification), but twelve devices operated on restricted FAA frequencies and three of the devices exceeded the allowable power levels. FCC found repeated violations, intentional marketing of unauthorized devices, untimely and incomplete responses.

The FCC’s Enforcement Bureau issued an enforcement advisory for marketers and operators of AV transmitters:

Only manufacture or market devices that operate on amateur frequencies, unless you receive FCC certification for operating on other bands.
Keep transmitter power within the levels of the commission’s rules.
If the FCC contacts you regarding devices you’re marketing, seek legal counsel.
If you receive a letter of inquiry, respond in a timely, complete, and accurate manner.
Both commercial and amateur drone operators have a responsibility to ensure that the equipment they are using complies with applicable FCC regulations, because they could also be subject to FCC civil penalties for operating drones with noncomplying radio frequency devices.

UAV246 AiRXOS UAS Partnerships

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AiRXOS creates partnerships to create an “air operating system,” a five-month Canadian UAS BVLOS proof-of-concept trial, using drones to identify violent crowd behavior, and a chain of custody drone program for law enforcement.

AirXOS, a digital UAS ecosystem designed for the next generation of air traffic management. Courtesy AiRXOS.

UAV News

Waze for the Sky: GE Drone Venture AiRXOS Takes Flight

AiRXOS is working with government agencies and others to help develop standard criteria for commercial drone operations. The company is a venture between GE Business Innovations (the corporate venture capital arm) and GE Aviation and is a wholly-owned subsidiary of GE.

AiRXOS (the “X” is silent) says they are “currently partnering with the FAA, FCC, NASA, ICAO, GUTMA and other industry stakeholders, to help define the architecture, standards, and implementation requirements necessary for the next generation of manned and unmanned potential.”

The Northeast UAS Airspace Integration Research Alliance (NUAIR) and AiRXOS previously announced a strategic initiative, and of the ten pilot programs under the Unmanned Aircraft Systems Integration Pilot Program (UAS IPP), AiRXOS was selected as a partner for three: the City of San Diego, the City of Memphis, and the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma. Additionally, AiRXOS has been selected as a partner with DriveOhio’s UAS Center for UTM research, and AiRXOS is a partner with NASA’s Technical Capability Level (TCL) testing and the expansion of the LAANC service program (Low Altitude Authorization and Notification Capability).

For more see:

IN-FLIGHT Data and senseFly partner for Canada’s largest BVLOS drone trial

Canadian commercial drone operator IN-FLIGHT Data, drone-maker senseFly, and other partner organizations are starting a five-month “UAS BVLOS Proof-of-Concept Trial.” The goal is to demonstrate that BVLOS flights can be conducted safely and efficiently. The trial will run until early November and will collect a very large amount of geo-accurate data, across many types of long-range drone applications.

Drones taught to spot violent behavior in crowds using AI

Researchers in the UK and India are developing an algorithm that analyzes drone video of crowds and indicates when violent behavior is occurring. The system uses a Parrot AR quadcopter, video over a real-time internet connection, and a “deep learning” algorithm that matches poses to violent postures, such as strangling, punching, kicking, shooting, and stabbing. Accuracy of the algorithm is an issue. See the Paper: Eye in the Sky: Real-time Drone Surveillance System (DSS) for Violent Individuals Identification using ScatterNet Hybrid Deep Learning Network [PDF] and the video demonstration.

Taser-maker Axon partners with DJI on police drone program

DJI and Axon have entered into an exclusive partnership to sell surveillance drones directly to public safety and law enforcement agencies. Under the new Axon Air program, DJI supplies drones and Axon brings its Evidence.com data management system which is used to preserve data from law enforcement body cameras and in-car cameras. This chain of custody control system is used by more than 200,000 public safety professionals, according to Axon. See the Product card [PDF].

Mentioned

The first webinar in the FAA series How to Apply for an Operational Waiver is available for you to watch:

How do I Apply for a Drone Waiver?

Be sure to contribute to the Embry-Riddle Unmanned Systems Industry Survey. Use this handy shortcut link: http://theUAVdigest.com/usis

MQ-9C Triton at Pax River by David Vanderhoof

UAV245 Airbus Urban Air Mobility

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Airbus pushes forward with a new Urban Air Mobility unit, law enforcement embraces drones, another Amazon drone delivery patent, and FAA UAS news.

Urban Air Mobility. Courtesy Airbus.

UAV News

Airbus Steps Up Push for Flying Taxis, On-Demand Helicopters

Airbus SE is creating an Urban Air Mobility (UAM) division based in Munich. The division will consolidate all UAM activities except current air vehicle projects. Eduardo Dominguez Puerta becomes head of Urban Air Mobility. Previously, Puerta was CEO of the Airbus A3 innovation center in Silicon Valley. In Autonomous Skies: Airbus is working towards a world of self-piloted air travel, the company says, “The future of transport lies in the skies. By developing a range of cutting-edge autonomous technologies, Airbus is working towards a world of self-piloting urban air mobility vehicles, cargo drones and more autonomous commercial aircraft. The vision: a safer, more efficient and eco-friendly global transport network.”

Wisconsin, Texas, California states with most law enforcement agencies with drones

The Bard College Center for the Study of the Drone estimates that “at least 910 state and local police, sheriff, fire, and emergency services agencies in the U.S. have acquired drones.” Texas, California, and Wisconsin have the most agencies with drones. In Public Safety Drones: An Update, Bard says they “estimate that the number of public safety agencies with drones has increased by approximately 82 percent in the last year alone. All told, there are now more than twice as many agencies that own drones as there are agencies that own manned aircraft in the U.S.”

Amazon patent covers how to signal a delivery drone (and how it signals back)

Amazon was issued Patent 9,984,579, Unmanned aerial vehicle approach notification for methods by which a delivery drone and the customer could communicate. Patent abstract:

An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) may provide an approach notification to enable people to understand and interpret actions by the UAV, such as an intention to land or deposit a package at a particular location. The UAV may communicate a specific intention of the UAV and/or communicate a request to a person. The UAV may monitor the person or data signals for a response from the person, such as movement of the person that indicates a response. The UAV may be equipped with hardware and/or software configured to provide notifications and/or exchange information with a person at or near a destination. The UAV may include lights, a speaker, and possibly a projector to enable the UAV to project information and/or text on a surface. The UAV may control a moveable mechanism to “point” toward the person, at an object, or in another direction.

Webinar Series – How to Apply for an Operational Waiver

The FAA will host a summer webinar series to help drone operators maximize their chance of success when applying for an operational waiver. The eight free, live webinars start June 5, 2018, and will be conducted every two weeks. The series will address the waiver application process and cover the most requested Part 107 waivers, under the Small UAS Rule: daylight operation, operation over people, operating limitations (altitude), and visual line of sight aircraft operation. Registration is on a first come, first served basis, and caps at 1,000 attendees.

Note: As of June 1, the June 5 webinar registration is currently full, but you can sign up for the waitlist.

The FAA Will Require Recertification for Commercial Drone Pilots | InterDrone

The Remote Pilot Airman Certificates under Part 107 for commercial drone pilots are good for 24 months. This update (Remote Pilot – Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems Airman Certification Standards (FAA-S-ACS-10A) [PDF] describes the process for recurrent testing.

UAV Video of the Week

Hawaii volcano: Drone video shows emergency services evacuate home as lava approaches

See USGS.gov for more. Specifically, Kīlauea Volcano Erupts for current information and more videos and still photographs.

Mentioned

Unmanned Systems Industry Survey (USIS)

This Embry-Riddle Worldwide survey looks at the future challenges for and expectations of the workforce in unmanned systems. Embry-Riddle Worldwide wants to learn about current market developments and challenges, identified gaps, and upcoming needs for graduates and employees in this field.

Sound Idea: Acoustic Technology Lets Small Planes “Listen” for Nearby Aircraft

A device mounted on the exterior of small aircraft that listens “for characteristic sounds that indicate the presence of other fliers. Called an acoustic vector sensor (AVS), the system uses nanoscale materials to alert pilots to other aircraft within about 10 kilometers…” For more, see the paper, Acoustic Detection of a Fixed-Wing UAV [PDF].

uAvioniX and the potential for ADS-B for sUAS from Southern Helicam

Forum on Air & Space Law from the American Bar Association, June 5, 2018, in Washington, D.C.