Tag Archives: AI

422 Global Drone Market

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 26:19 — 18.1MB)

Subscribe: Email | RSS

A global drone market report, aircraft control with artificial intelligence, a slow start to Amazon drone deliveries, drones disrupt flight operations at Dublin Airport, a testing service for microgravity research.

UAV News

Chinese drone maker DJI is dominating the market – despite being blacklisted by the U.S.

A report by Drone Industry Insights says: the global drone market was $30.6 billion in 2022 and it is expected to grow to $55.8 billion by 2026. DJI holds 70% market share. Global Drone Market Report 2022-2030 says that drone services will remain the biggest segment, but hardware will grow the fastest. Energy is the Industry with the highest adoption of drones. Cargo, courier services, intralogistics, and warehousing have the highest CAGR. Mapping and surveying is the top drone application, followed by inspection as well as photography and filming.

AI Just Flew an F-16 for 17 Hours. This Could Change Everything.

The  Lockheed Martin VISTA X-62A training aircraft flew for more than 17 hours with artificial intelligence software,  marking the first time AI operated a tactical aircraft. The VISTA is based on the F-16. Software allows it to mimic the performance characteristics of other aircraft.

Amazon’s delivery drones served fewer than 10 houses in their first month

Amazon’s drones have reportedly delivered to fewer houses than there are words in this headline

Amazon has been making deliveries by drone in Lockeford, California, and College Station, Texas. But not many. According to The Information, as few as seven houses had received Amazon packages by drone – two in California and five in Texas. The report says the FAA has safety concerns since Amazon’s drone weighs around 80 pounds (and carries a five-pound payload) and they fly over roads and people. FAA said Amazon must ask for permission on a case-by-case basis and Amazon employees had to act as spotters.

However, Amazon successfully argued last November that the new MK27-2 drone is safer and more autonomous and didn’t need as many humans or safeguards. See: Amazon Prime Air revised limitations 2023 (Corrected Copy) [PDF], a 64-page letter from FAA to Amazon Prime Air informing Amazon that FAA has partially granted their Nov 2022 petition to amend the Exemption (No. 18601).

Drones disrupt flight operations at Dublin Airport for second day running

Confirmed drone sightings caused six incoming flights to be diverted, three to Belfast Airport and three to Shannon Airport. Operations were suspended for 38 minutes on runway 28R for departures and 44 minutes on Runway 28L for arrivals.

Watch a drone drop a microgravity capsule in 1st-of-its-kind experiment (video)

Gravitilab provides testing services for microgravity research. They offer seven proprietary, reusable launch vehicles. One is “the world’s first commercial UAV microgravity testing platform.” The LOUIS UAV system and drop pod flew to an altitude of 2,000 feet and then released the drop pod carrying scientific experiments. The pod payload experienced over five seconds of weightlessness. Gravitilab says they “deliver up to 180 seconds of microgravity with a significant cost saving per kilo per second and short campaign lead times.” They offer “dedicated and rideshare launch capabilities, and the option to transport launch services to customers.”

Gravitilab drone and pod in flight.
(Image credit: Gravitilab)

UAV Video of the Week

DRONE | Animated short film about drones, AI, and live-streaming on YouTube

A 15-minute animated film about a malfunction at a CIA press event that causes a Predator drone installed with an ethical AI personality to go rogue as it attempts to understand its purpose in the world.

328 Blockchain for Unmanned Aircraft

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 29:23 — 20.3MB)

Subscribe: Email | RSS

The U.S. Department of Transportation issued a report showing the benefits of blockchain for unmanned aircraft. Also, drone cinematographers and a labor agreement, a drone modeled after a dragonfly, VTOL reconnaissance, AI controllers, and AUVSI virtual sessions.

UAV News

US Transportation Dept. Says Blockchain Could Bring More Trust to Commercial Drones

In a report titled Blockchain for Unmanned Aircraft, the U.S. Department of Transportation says blockchain could help in areas with large numbers of drones operations, especially near high-risk areas like airports or in crowded areas. The report says “Blockchain technology is being looked on to deliver a framework that can be used by stakeholders in the commercial drone industry, as it can ensure security and provide for identity management as well as providing a supporting role in aircraft traffic management, UAS conflict management and flight authorization.”

Cinematographers Guild Celebrates Drone Victory Over Warner Bros. in Arbitration

The International Cinematographers Guild initiated arbitration over a dispute with Warner Bros. The Guild said drone operators filming for productions are covered under the labor agreement. Those who work in “all phases of motion and still picture photography,” including members of a drone crew, should be treated the same as aerial directors of photography, camera operators, and camera technicians. They say the drone crew should get the same health and pension benefits.

The stealthy little drones that fly like insects

Animal Dynamics is a technology start-up that takes lessons from wildlife and applies them to drone design. The Skeeter project uses flapping wings to power a small hand-launched drone, mimicking the dragonfly.

AeroVironment unveils fully-automated hybrid vertical takeoff and landing unmanned aircraft system

The AeroVironment Quantix™ Recon is a lightweight and rapidly deployable reconnaissance solution that is fully-automated. It produces high resolution, georeferenced terrain, vegetation, and infrastructure imagery. The VTOL transitions to a fixed-wing unmanned aircraft and can survey up to 0.6 square miles or 12.4 linear miles with a 45-minute flight time. The aerial imagery data is compatible with many geographic information systems (GIS)

Hybrid Drones: Coupling Disruptive Mechanisms to Reshape UAV Industry

The MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL), Dartmouth, and the University of Washington have developed an AI-based system that uses “reinforcement learning” to train the model. This approach is being applied to VTOL designs that transition from vertical to horizontal flight. The AI works with the popular OnShape CAD software.

AUVSI Launches UAS Webinars

AUVSI postponed XPONENTIAL 2020 (tentatively scheduled for August 10-12, 2020). In the meantime, five webinars will be offered starting May 4, 2020:

  1. Digital Twins – the Future of Virtual and Mixed Reality Robotic Avatars
  2. Drone Delivery Supporting Public Health
  3. NASA’s Vision and Role to Enable Urban Air Mobility
  4. Advancing Autonomy Through DARPA Challenge to Benefit First Responders
  5. Aerial Connectivity Joint Activity – Bridging the Gap Between Cellular and Aviation

297 Nano Drones, Swarms, and AI

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 35:44 — 24.6MB)

Subscribe: Email | RSS

A drone crash halts Swiss package delivery, AI used to detect drone faults and locate/track other drones, swarming nano-drones, mesh networked drones for precision agriculture, a drone mesh for event security, UAS for airport and public safety, and the reliability of drone sightings from aircraft.

UAV News

Swiss drone crashes near children, forcing suspension of delivery program

In May, a 22-pound Swiss Post drone crashed 50 yards away from a group of children. As a result, the drone delivery program in Switzerland has been suspended indefinitely. Swiss Post has asked Matternet to make several changes to the system: parachutes connected to the UAV by two ropes instead of one, ropes reinforced with metal braiding, and a louder emergency landing whistle.

Fault Diagnosis of Drone Propellers Using AI

Propeller defects in drones can cause them to fall from the sky and researchers have used different methods to perform fault diagnosis. But a new study by Italian researchers takes a different approach and focuses on measuring the noise emitted by the drone. Different noise patterns are used to build an artificial intelligence (AI) model that detects unbalanced blades in a UAV propeller. See Fault Diagnosis for UAV Blades Using Artificial Neural Network.

Drones Chasing Drones Using Deep Learning and AI

A Canadian study proposes target-detection and target-following using AI techniques for UAV pursuit-evasion. Deep reinforcement learning predicts the actions to apply to the follower UAV to keep track of the target UAV. A deep object detector and a search area proposal predict the position of the target UAV for tracking purposes. The proposed framework uses vision data. See Drones Chasing Drones: Reinforcement Learning and Deep Search Area Proposal.

The amazing world of nano drones

Nano drones have been studies for several years. Draper Lab’s DragonflEye drone project was announced in 2017. A real dragonfly wears a tiny backpack fitted with electronics, sensors, and a solar cell. AeroVironment has been working on a nano-hummingbird since 2011. The market for the nano drones alone is expected to reach $13.4 billion by 2023.

If one drone isn’t enough, try a drone swarm

Drones are being used for precision agriculture, but there are shortcomings with one drone and a big farm. Many battery changes may be required and the survey could take a lot of time. The Norwegian Defence Research Establishment and Rajant Corporation in the US are working on a drone swarming approach with decentralized communications, self-organizing drones, and little human supervision. The technology uses Rajant’s “Kinetic Mesh®” radio technology and “foreign function interface” distributed computing software.

Atlas Multi-Drone System Used by Rio Military Police to Secure Soccer Tournament

Atlas Dynamics partnered with the Military Police of Rio de Janeiro State to use the AtlasPRO  at the Copa America soccer (football) tournament. The AtlasPRO was flown in single and multi-UAS missions along the perimeter of the stadium during the tournament’s final series. Data was gathered on public safety hazards and to facilitate emergency response. This was the first time the Atlas mesh multi-drone UAS technology was approved for use at a major sporting event. The mesh multi-node communication capability allows a single operator to command and control a drone network from a unified ground control system. The operator can divide missions among several UAS and maintain constant “eyes in the sky” using autonomous hot-swap capabilities.

Report: Data Management a Challenge for Public Safety UAS Programs

Droneresponders has released the 2019 Mid-Year Public Safety UAS Report. Three out of four public safety agencies say they are already either operating drones or working on implementing a drone program. More than 80% of public safety UAS operators either have obtained or are pursuing, their FAA Part 107 certification. 82% of public safety agencies with a UAS program are operating multi-rotor systems, while only 11% are using fixed- or delta-wing drones. Over 35% of public safety UAS programs are using the FAA’s LAANC system for airspace requests.

UAS Used For Part 77 Airport Inspections in Washington

AeroTEC has completed proof-of-concept aerial surveys in Washington State at Sunnyside Municipal Airport (1S5) and Prosser Airport (S40). The AeroTEC system looks for runway obstacles using photogrammetry to meet the requirement of FAA FAR 14 CFR Part 77. See AeroTEC Conducts First UAS Part 77 Survey of Washington State Airports for WSDOT.

Video of the Week

Epic Long Range FPV Mountain Surfing – 7km round trip

Mentioned

Drone Sightings (2014-2018) from the FAA from Rupprecht Law.

280 Flying UAS Over People

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 33:01 — 22.7MB)

Subscribe: Email | RSS

The FAA proposal for flying small UAS over people, a terrain-following fixed-wing UAS with active navigation, using drones and citizen science for animal conservation, a greater surveillance role for FAA Flight Standards District Offices, and an autonomous grocery delivery service.

UAV News

Small UAS Over People: A New Safety Paradigm

The FAA published a notice that would allow flying UAS over people without a waiver. Small category 1 and category 2 UAS would require fewer safety precautions than heavier category 3 drones.

Black Swift Technologies Developing Active UAS Navigation

Black Swift Technologies (BST) has been developing a terrain-following fixed-wing UAS. The Black Swift S2™ uses autonomous, active navigation around obstacles and over rugged terrain. Machine vision technologies and advanced sensors (including lidar and radar) make this possible.

‪How drones and AI are protecting endangered wildlife

Conservationists are using drones, citizen science, and artificial intelligence to replace manual methods for finding and counting animals. Volunteer citizen scientists label images from the drones which then train an AI engine. Zooniverse offers “people-powered research” where volunteers assist professional researchers.

FAA UAS Symposium Slated for June 3-5 in Baltimore

Presented by the FAA and AUVSI, the FAA UAS Symposium will be held June 3-5, 2019 at the Baltimore Convention Center. Stakeholders will gather to help define the rules and concepts that will govern the future of drone operations. See the symposium program for the extensive list of the topics to be covered.

UAS: The FAA Tightens the Screws

The FAA issued a new National Policy requiring local FAA Flight Standards District Offices (FSDOs) to immediately update their 2019 National Work Program Guidelines to include new Required Surveillance Work Activities for UAS operations. Details in FAA Notice N 8900.504, Expanded Unmanned Aircraft Systems Oversight [PDF].

‪Kroger and Nuro launching their autonomous grocery delivery service in Houston

In 2018, large supermarket chain Kroger and California-based robotics company Nuro piloted a self-driving grocery delivery service in Scottsdale, Arizona. Now they are expanding the service into Houston.

UAV Video of the Week

Stunning drone footage of a humpback whale breach in Hawaii – A Hawaii resident captured this stunning drone footage of a humpback whale breach off the North Shore of Oahu.