Monthly Archives: June 2020

335 Kespry CEO George Mathew

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Guest

Kespry chairman and CEO George Mathew
George Mathew

George Mathew is the chairman and CEO of Kespry, a leading drone-based aerial intelligence solution provider. The company delivers fully integrated solutions from drone data capture to industry-specific analytics. Kespry serves customers across North America, Europe, and Australia.

George talks about “drone-based aerial intelligence” and Kespry’s success with “touchless inspections.” We consider the evolution from a hardware-based drone industry to one that is software-based and how Kespry successfully navigated that pivot. 

George explains the growing need for autonomy in certain use cases such as repeatable flight control. Also, how Kespry accommodates customer objectives that range from fully outsourcing the service to operating with internal resources. George also offers some thoughts on the current regulatory landscape and the waiver process, as well as on sensor data acquisition and analysis beyond drone-based platforms.

Kespry just announced their Summer 2020 Aerial Intelligence Platform Release which includes DJI Phantom 4 RTK support, seamless third-party drone operator support, a new haul roads feature, and enhanced hail detection for insurance inspections.

George has 20 years of experience developing high-growth technology startups and before joining Kespry he held senior leadership positions at Alteryx, salesforce.com, and SAP. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Neurobiology from Cornell University and a Masters in Business Administration from Duke University, 

UAV Video of the Week

Activists used a drone to hang a Pride flag on Ukraine’s version of the Statue of Liberty

Ukrainian LGBTQ activists used a drone to hoist a giant rainbow flag and attach it to the “Motherland” statue in Kyiv. The sculpture is venerated in the country and stands slightly higher than the Statue of Liberty. “Drone flights were carried out under the current legislation and according to the rules of the State Service,” according to Dronarium Ukraine, the company that arranged the flight.

334 Drone Aerobatics

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AI-powered drones perform extreme aerobatics, the U.S. administration intends to allow the export of armed drones, how to test swarming drones, the Royal Canadian Navy uses a drone to find drug smugglers, a hybrid drone rescues a stranded motorist – in a demonstration, and the 5th Annual FAA UAS Symposium goes virtual.

UAV News

Researchers train drones to perform flips rolls and loops with AI

Researchers at Intel, the University of Zurich, and ETH Zurich developed an AI system that allows autonomous drones to perform acrobatics using only onboard sensing and computation. The vision-based drone can perform barrel rolls, loops, and flips. Training is accomplished entirely in simulation, which is fast, inexpensive, safe, and free from physical crashes.

Exclusive: Trump aims to sidestep another arms pact to sell more U.S. drones

The Trump administration plans to reinterpret the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) in a way that would open up the sale of armed U.S. drones to other countries. This would allow General Atomics and Northrop Grumman Corp sell into new markets that are currently serviced by China and Israel, which do not participate in the MTCR.

World’s Largest Drone Swarm Testing Facility

The U.S. Army and PhaseSpace have created an outdoor system for testing swarming drones. It uses a new motion-capture capability where LED marker strobes are attached to the UAS. 96 cameras on 16 tracking pods around the perimeter track the LED markers. It has a capacity of more than 1,500 times the volume of a typical testing facility and the testing system is transportable and can be scaled up or down and even change shape. 

Radar Tech becomes UAS Pilot

The Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) has been testing Puma-model fixed-wing unmanned aircraft for about two years. They’ve been used to help locate potential drug smuggling ships. The Pumas can sweep an extended area while the ship stays below the horizon. One team monitors the Puma real-time streaming video and another team manages the operation of the aircraft. Instead of the ship weaving around hunting smugglers, the drone does the weaving. The patrolling ship sails in a straight path saving fuel and increasing operational time.

UAV Video of the Week

The HYBRiX 2.1 is a hybrid fuel/electric multirotor with up to 2-4 hours of operational flight time and a 25 kg MTOW. It uses a 2-stroke gas (or petrol) engine and LiPo 6S batteries.

Mentioned

FAA UAS Symposium is Going Virtual

The FAA is hosting the 5th Annual FAA UAS Symposium virtually instead of in-person in Baltimore. The Symposium will take the form of several virtual events or “Episodes.”

Episode I  —  July 8-9, 2020 will focus on UTM and international UAS integration.

Episode II  —  August 18-19, 2020 will focus on updates to the Integration Pilot Program (IPP) and public safety operations.

The sessions will be re-run later in the day for international attendees.

333 Insect-Inspired Microbot

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A cockroach-inspired microbot, a manned vs. unmanned fighter fly off, autonomous deliveries from CVS, a Predator over Minneapolis protests, a police helicopter collides with a police drone, piloting a UAS from an airborne C-130J Hercules, and library books delivered by Wing.

UAV News

HAMR-JR, coin-sized robot by harvard researchers inspired by a cockroach

Researchers at Harvard created the tiny, cockroach-inspired Harvard Ambulatory Microrobot, or HAMR. The HAMR-JR is a ½ scale microbot allowing researchers to test scaled robot performance. It can trot, jump, pronk, and bound gait.

Manned Fighter To Face Autonomous Drone Next Year In Sci-Fi Movie-Like Showdown

A July 2021 fly-off is planned between an AI-controlled drone and a human pilot. The “Big Moonshot” was conceived by the Joint Artificial Intelligence Center. 

Nuro to deliver prescriptions and essential items using autonomous vehicles in Houston

Autonomous vehicle maker Nuro is partnering with CVS Pharmacy to deliver prescriptions and essentials to three Houston zip codes. Nuro says “We see this moment as an important stepping stone toward delivering all kinds of goods, beyond food and groceries.” Initial deliveries will be made by autonomous Prius vehicles. In the future, Nuro’s custom-built R2 delivery bot will be used to make deliveries. 

Drones Over Protests in Minneapolis: Military Drones Over Cities Won’t Help the Commercial Industry (Op-Ed)

A Predator drone from the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) was flown over recent protests in Minneapolis. Now a U.S. House of Representatives committee wants to know why. The DroneLife Op-Ed says the use of Predator drones over a city will not help ease the way for commercial drones. The CBP says that the drone was not used for surveillance purposes.

Police Helicopter collides with Police Drone

A Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) AS350 B3 helicopter and an RCMP Aeryon SkyRanger R60 surveillance quadcopter collided during a joint mission in British Columbia. Canada’s Transportation Safety Board rated it a five on a seriousness scale of one to six. It was classified as a “mid-air collision” that resulted in a “forced landing.” The helicopter and drone met at about 300 feet AGL. The drone was destroyed and the helicopter made a precautionary landing on a road.

Cooperating to launch fresh ideas

A trial at RAAF Edinburgh was performed to test the feasibility of operating a UAS through the aircraft’s onboard Satellite Communications (SATCOM) link. The test demonstrated operating a UAS from anywhere in the world and uploading live imagery from offboard sensor systems.

Wing delivers library books to students in Virginia

The Montgomery County Public Schools in Virginia is the first school system to offer a library book drone delivery service. Blacksburg Middle School librarian Kelly Passek thought that drones could deliver books while the library was closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The service is being provided by Wing, in conjunction with the Montgomery public schools.

UAV Video of the Week

Aussie scientists turn to drones to protect sea turtles

The researchers counting endangered female green turtles at the world’s largest sea turtle nesting site off the Northern tip of Australia have significantly underestimated their numbers. Drone footage shows the actual number is about twice that originally thought.

332 Last-Mile Drone Delivery Tested

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A major test of last-mile drone delivery, direct-seeding rice with a drone, a drone-centric kiosk you can build yourself, and a webinar to learn the BVLOS regulatory landscape.

UAV News

Last Mile Drone Delivery: Testing the Limits of Commercial Operations

DroneUp partnered with Virginia’s Center for Innovative Technology (CIT) and UPS on a project to quickly evaluate the concept of last-mile drone delivery. They wanted to see how unmanned aerial systems could assist with critical delivery during times of crisis.

On the vacant campus of St. Paul’s College, in Lawrenceville, Virginia, a group of pilots flew over 200 flights under a scripted plan, operating under part 107 rules, with industry-standard drones. The flights simulated the delivery of 1.275-pound payloads of medical and other critical supplies in city-like conditions. Data was collected with respect to operational capacities, airspace deconfliction, operator safety, processes, policies, and training.

Tom Walker, DroneUp’s CEO, said, “DroneUp’s drone delivery exercise was aimed at learning what is possible to do safely and effectively today while gathering data to overcome seemingly impossible obstacles in the near future.” 

For more, see the 56-page report, DroneUp Resources Operation Last-Mile: Critical Drone Delivery Report.

XAG Introduces Rice Seeding Drone

XAG is a Chinese company focused on agricultural technology. In April 2020, they organized a rice direct-seeding demonstration where two workers spread 5kg of rice seeds through a muddy rice paddy. Following that, a XAG drone repeated the same task. The difference in planing time was significant.

Raspberry Pi-based Kiosk Display Shares Weather, FAA Advisories for Drones

A project from Sky Horse Tech uses a Raspberry Pi to power a custom drone-centric kiosk. The kiosk pulls in local weather data and FAA advisories through AirMap and MapBox. The data cycles every 30 seconds and is refreshed every 5 minutes. The kiosk uses a 32” display, a $35 Raspberry Pi 3 Model B or newer, some free software, and weather and FAA advisory APIs.

Navigating the Regulatory Landscape Towards BVLOS Operations

This free AUVSI webinar is scheduled for Wednesday, June 10, 2020, 03:00 PM TO 04:00 PM (EDT). You’ll learn about the regulations affecting Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) drone flight and the factors involved in successfully navigating the regulatory environment to achieve a waiver. 

Iris Automation director of airspace integration Trever Linn will explain what operators should expect before applying for a waiver, and the key components such as risk mitigation measures and CONOPS documentation necessary for approvals. Attendees will learn about current regulatory challenges, readily available solutions, and the path forward for BVLOS drone operations.