Monthly Archives: August 2022

411 Automated Inspection

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Automated inspection of solar panels, the NUAIR Public Safety Summit, USAF interest in supersonic target drones and the Boeing MQ-28 Ghost Bat, the Pixy selfie drone goes out of production, drones and rural law enforcement, and UAVs that can land on steep roofs.

UAV News

Percepto automated inspection drones monitor huge Thai solar farm

Percepto announced it has completed the proof-of-concept phase for its automated system that will be used for inspection and data analysis of a giant floating solar power farm in Thailand. The solar power farm includes a grid of 145,000 panels floating over an area equivalent to about 70 soccer fields. The Percepto artificial intelligence-enhanced, automated UAVs will conduct regular inspection flights and use the company’s Autonomous Inspection and Monitoring software package to identify panels that need maintenance or repair.

Automated inspection drone from Percepto.
Percepto Air Mobile

Drone Developers Fly their Latest Models at the Annual UAS Public Safety Summit

NUAIR (the Northeast UAS Airspace Integration Research Alliance) recently hosted the fourth annual UAS Public Safety Summit at Griffiss International Airport in upstate New York. Drone developers exhibited their aircraft and some companies performed flight demonstrations. Aircraft exhibitors included Ascent Aerosystems, Skydio, BRINC, senseFly, and Inspired Flight.

Video: Spirit | All Weather UAV

Stealthy Target Drones Sought As QF-16 Program Winds Down

The U.S. Air Force has long used target drones for training purposes, most recently with the QF-16 Viper Full Scale Aerial Target (FSAT) drones. Now the Air Force wants aerial targets that mimic supersonic Chinese and Russian stealth fighters and they’ve posted a request for information (RFI) for a supersonic-capable Next Generation Aerial Target (NGAT).

Sierra Technical Services 5GAT target drone.
Sierra Technical Services 5GAT target drone.

USAF Eyeing MQ-28 Ghost Bat For Next Gen Air Dominance Program

Preliminary discussions are underway on the possibility that the USAF could purchase the Boeing MQ-28 Ghost Bat under the NGAD (Next Generation Air Dominance) program. The MQ-28 was known as the Boeing Airpower Teaming System and the Loyal Wingman project developed by Boeing Australia for the Royal Australian Air Force.

Looks like time is up for Snap’s Pixy drone

Snap says it will sell the little selfie drone from its limited existing inventory. The company is shifting its focus and priorities.

Why drones may be the next big thing in fighting rural crime

Rural law enforcement is increasingly seeing drones used for criminal activity, and at the same time recognizing that UAVs are a valuable resource. The South Carolina Public Safety Drone Pilot Association was organized as a nonprofit in 2020 and has trained more than 100 personnel as public safety drone pilots.

Now Drones Can Safely Land On Steep Roofs

These small UAVs can land on inclined surfaces of up to 60 degrees using adaptive friction shock absorbers and reverse thrust. The legs compress during impact and dissipate energy through friction. A small DC motor controls the friction in each leg by compressing disks. Reverse thrust is applied at contact to increase friction and prevent flipping. This is described in a paper published in IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters.

Video: Fast Multirotor Landings on Steep Roofs using Friction Shock Absorbers and Reverse Thrust

Mentioned

NASA Will Inspire World When It Returns Mars Samples to Earth in 2033

…the Mars Sample Return campaign will no longer include the Sample Fetch Rover or its associated second lander. The Sample Retrieval Lander will include two sample recovery helicopters, based on the design of the Ingenuity helicopter, which has performed 29 flights on Mars and survived over a year beyond its original planned lifetime. The helicopters will provide a secondary capability to retrieve samples cached on the surface of Mars.

410 Women and Drones Documentary

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A women and drones documentary film, a Chinese submarine that can fly, the “ghost fleet” of unmanned surface vessels, transferring drone technology to India, a portable air traffic management system for wildfires, Ford’s drone patent, and increased mapping speed using multiple drones.

UAV News

Women and Drones Documentary Filming Onsite at Commercial UAV Expo

Women and Drones and Monumental Access are creating a multi-part documentary with stories of women in the drone industry. They hope to inspire the next generation of aviation leaders through interviews with educators, CEOs, and industry professionals. The Commercial UAV Expo runs September 6-8, 2022 in Las Vegas and will be an official filming location for the documentary.

Flying Submarines! China Is Testing ‘Sub Drones’ That Can ‘Fly & Float’; Goes One Up On US Navy’s Submersible Aircraft Concept

Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics says they have built and tested a prototype submarine drone that can also fly in the air. Two large wings fold back when it glides underwater and two of the four propellers can tilt. These transmedia vessels are seen by China as a low-cost and effective way to destroy the defense system of an aircraft carrier fleet.

Drones of the Water

The unmanned surface vessels Seahawk, Sea Hunter, Ranger, and Nomad participated in the RIMPAC 2022 training event. Unmanned Surface Vessel Division One (USVDIV-1) operates this “ghost fleet” that includes the Seahawk, Sea Hunter, Ranger, and Nomad.

Unmanned surface vessel Sea Hunter. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Aleksandr Freutel)

US offers ToT to build HALE Drones in India

Negotiations are underway between India and the U.S. for 30 Predator (MQ-9) series UAVs. These High Altitude Long Endurance (HALE) drones are valued at almost $3 billion, including spares and ground control stations.

NASA backs drone company that tracks wildfires

Florida-based Improving Aviation has been awarded a grant to develop SkyTL, a portable air traffic management system to combat wildfires and keep emergency services safe. SkyTL would collect atmospheric measurements of the wildfire canopy and predict the fire spread in real-time. The company is partnering with the College of Engineering and the College of Aviation at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University

Ford Patent Filed For Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Sanitation System

The patent describes how a vehicle that needs to be sanitized could send a wireless signal to an aerial sanitizing machine. The sanitizing UAV would land on the vehicle’s roof, open a window, and inserts an “arm” into the vehicle which could hold subbing pads or sanitizer dispensers.

Ford Patent

Reveal Technology and Teal Drones Demonstrate Multi-Drone Mapping to US Military

Reveal Technology and Teal Drones have teamed up to enhance Reveal’s mapping software by automatically combining imagery from the drones. Maps and analytics can be created faster using Reveal’s “Farsight” mapping software. This method has been successfully demonstrated to the U.S. Army Special Operations Command. Teal’s 4-Ship multi-drone system is designed for the defense, government, and public safety markets. Teal’s Golden Eagle quadcopter drones are mass-produced in the U.S. and meet U.S. Department of Defense guidelines.

Video: Teal Drones Swarm Technology Test Flight

Florida Power & Light launches first drone for commercial use

With a wingspan slightly longer than that of a Cessna, FPLAir One can withstand tropical storm force winds and survey storm damage. FPL can then deploy its resources quickly and effectively.

FPLAir One

Mentioned

Tones & Drones

A podcast with conversational style interviews with musicians who work in the realm of ambient, drone, space, and new age music.

409 Court Ruling on Drone Remote ID

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D.C. court rules on drone Remote ID case, reconnaissance drones for Ukraine, more drones going to Mars, fried chicken coming by drone, lifeguard drones meet U.S. resistance, mapping a mountain with a UAV, NASA and Zipline partnership, and United Airlines sends a pre-delivery payment to Archer.

UAV News

D.C. Circuit Upholds Drone Remote ID Rule

Court Upholds Remote ID For Drones

RaceDayQuads and drone operator Tyler Brennan sued to vacate the FAA’s drone Remote ID rule saying the rule amounted to “constant, warrantless governmental surveillance in violation of the Fourth Amendment.” The D.C. Circuit’s U.S. Court of Appeals has ruled and upheld the constitutionality of the FAA’s Remote ID requirement saying “drone pilots generally lack any reasonable expectation of privacy in the location of their drone systems during flight.” Also that the rule was properly developed.

Ukrainian defenders will receive 20 Fly Eye reconnaissance drones from the Drone Army

Included in the purchase are two control stations and 20 Fly Eye drones, 78 Matrice multicopters, and two ground systems for 20 Warmate kamikaze attack drones. The Fly Eye drones are designed and built by WB Electronics in Poland, can fly up to 160 kilometers per hour, have fully autonomous take-off and landing capability but can be launched by hand.

Video: NASA plans to send 2 more drones to Mars

Indian multinational English news channel WION says NASA is not going to scrap their original plan of sending another rover to Mars and instead send two new helicopter drones to would retrieve the samples from the Perseverance rover, then transport them to a rocket that will return them to Earth.

See also, Mars Sample Return Mission, and NASA, ESA to Discuss Mars Sample Return Mission.

Lifeguard drones can save lives. But U.S. beaches might not buy them.

Drones are being used by lifeguards at some European beaches with 22 of them in Spain using the General Drones Auxdron LFG, which costs 40,000 euros. A monthly fee of 15,000 euros pays for a trained pilot. In the US, there is a lifeguard shortage as younger Americans found other, higher-paying jobs during the pandemic. US lifeguard officials recognize the value of these drones but say widespread adoption is limited by their high cost.

KFC takes to the sky with drone-delivered fried chicken

KFC is partnering with Wing in Queensland in a trial to deliver fried chicken. The drone can carry up to 1.5 kilograms, not enough for the full bucket of chicken. But it can carry smaller orders.

Drone deliveries consume 94% less energy per parcel than diesel trucks

A new study by Carnegie Mellon University says drones carrying small packages emit 84% less greenhouse gas emissions than a diesel truck and use 94% less energy. Researchers used small quadcopter drones carrying packages weighing no more than half a kilogram to a single destination. Data from almost 200 flights were used to measure drone energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions.

See also: Rodrigues and Samaras Suggest Drones for Efficient Last-Mile Deliveries and Drone flight data reveal energy and greenhouse gas emissions savings for very small package delivery published in Patterns.

Conquering Elbrus: Mapping Europe’s Highest Peak with a UAV

A FIXAR 007 drone is being used to inspect a cable car route and to map the area for the potential future cable car extension The FIXAR 007 is a fully autonomous, VTOL fixed-wing drone for commercial and industrial applications. At 18,510 feet, Mount Elbrus poses some environmental challenges that were not met by previous systems.

Video: FIXAR conquered Elbrus!

NASA and Zipline Sign Space Act Agreement to Pursue m:N Drone Operations

NASA announced it signed a Space Act Agreement with Zipline “to pursue a future vision of U.S. aviation that includes delivery drones and air taxis.” m:N operations refers to the ratio of multiple operators (m) controlling multiple vehicles (N). The Zipline m:N operations model for medical drone delivery is already being used at scale in Africa. As well as operations in the U.S., Japan, Ghana, and Rwanda.

A Space Act Agreement (SAA) is a legal instrument that formulates partnerships with NASA. In March 2021, NASA formed the Multi-Vehicle (m:N) Working Group “…to bring together a broad collective of interested stakeholders from government, industry, and academia to identify and reduce barriers to m:N operations…”

Archer Receives $10 million Pre-Delivery Payment From United Airlines for 100 eVTOL Aircraft; Advances Path to Commercialization

In 2021, United Airlines conditionally ordered 100 Archer eVTOL aircraft. Now United has made a $10 million cash pre-delivery payment which signals that the airline is serious. The Archer production aircraft Preliminary Design Review (PDR) has been completed and establishes aircraft specifications and manufacturing requirements.

UAV Video of the Week

Watch how Amazon is preparing for safe drone delivery