Tag Archives: NASA

427 Drone Safety Day 2023 393827

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Drone Safety Day is April 29, a drone that changes shape, jump-starting your car with a drone, Florida bans DJI from government agencies, decision-making for small UAVs, drones that work together without colliding, adding VTOL to a fixed-wing drone, agave farmers saving water, land a drone in Red Square.

Drone Safety Day banner.

UAV News

Drone Safety Day

Drone Safety Day is Saturday, April 29, 2023. The annual campaign is dedicated to educating the drone community on the importance of flying safely. You can download the 2023 Drone Safety Day Playbook  and 2023 Drone Safety Day Flyer. You can also visit the Drone@Home page to find ideas to participate at home. Register your event. 

Crazy shapeshifting drone inspired by dragons forces itself around objects

University of Tokyo graduate students created drone prototypes that can rearrange into different structural shapes midair. The drones have individual segments with multi-axis gimbal systems. Each segment has its own propulsion unit, that can thrust in any direction. The drones can change their configuration to hold or move objects. They’ve also developed the SPIDAR quadruped robot that has joints in each leg and can fly.

Could Drones Come Jump Start Your Car When You’re Stranded? Ford’s New Patent

This patent contemplates drones that assist motorists stranded with a dead battery. The Ford vehicle would transmit a “dead battery” signal and its location then a drone would fly to the vehicle, open the hood, connect to the battery, and jump-start the vehicle.

Despite police outcry, DeSantis administration bans Chinese drones

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is forbidding government agencies from using drones manufactured by DJI. Only drones made by a small number of “approved manufacturers” can be purchased. Agencies have until January 1, 2023, to stop using drones not on the list. Many departments have already grounded their fleets. They told lawmakers that the Florida-approved drones are far more expensive and much less capable.

Sen. Tom Wright, R-New Smyrna Beach said, I’m not going to let one officer risk his life or her life because somebody thinks that these things talk to China. I cannot imagine what China would really want to see when we pull over a DUI, when we stop a speeding car, when we arrest somebody for an outstanding warrant.”

Making the skies safer with smarter drones

University of Notre Dame computer scientists and engineers are developing an automated decision-making system for small drones under a $5.3 million 3-year NASA grant. Notre Dame will enhance NASA’s current drone traffic management system and develop decision-making software that permits or denies flight requests by evaluating a drone’s safety track record, equipment readiness, operator preparedness, and maintenance procedures.

MIT researchers create algorithm to stop drones from colliding midair

The Robust MADER system lets drones work together without collisions. Each drone calculates its own trajectory and checks with nearby drones to be sure it won’t collide with any of them. The system is an asynchronous, decentralized, multiagent trajectory planner. By broadcasting both the newly optimized trajectory and the committed trajectory, and by performing a delay check step, RMADER is able to guarantee safety even with communication delays. The new system has been validated through simulation and hardware flight experiments. A 100% success rate of collision-free trajectory generation was achieved.

FLARES system gives non-VTOL drones a VTOL boost

The Flying Launch and Recovery System (or FLARES) turns a fixed-wing drone into a VTOL. The FLARES aircraft is a multicopter drone with four propeller arms. A mechanism on the underside clasps onto the body of a fixed-wing drone. The pair then rise vertically. At altitude, FLARES releases the fixed-wing drone. FLARES is manufactured by Hood Tech and was primarily designed for use on ship decks.

Boeing’s Insitu subsidiary offers a package that includes its Integrator fixed-wing drone and Hood’s FLARES system. Integrator flight time is reportedly up to 16 hours with a maximum payload of 40 lb (18 kg). Insitu says that payload capacity would be lower if Integrator had its own integrated VTOL system.

Video: Integrator VTOL joins Insitu’s best-in-class products & technology

Diageo Drones Improve Efficiency of Tequila Farming in Mexico

Tequila producer Diageo started using drones in 2022 to identify agave plants that need pesticides, fertilizer, and water. The 2022 pilot developed the flying skills of the agave planters and introduced more efficient farming practices with environmental benefits.

The drones work in pairs: One identifies plants that need attention and collects agave growth data while the other dispenses a water, fertilizer, and pesticide mix. Water use is dropping by two-thirds.

Video: Society 2030 | Introducing drones to drive efficient tequila farming | Diageo

Ukraine launches competition to land a drone on Red Square during Russian military parade

May 9, 2023, marks Victory Day in Russia and parades celebrate the Soviet victory in World War II. To help “celebrate,” a competition with a cash prize was launched for landing a UAV in Red Square that day. A bank co-founder who is also the developer of the Dovbush drone said, “I am officially awarding a prize to a Ukrainian UAV manufacturer, whose aircraft, with the help of the military, of course, will fly and land on Red Square in Moscow on May 9”. The prize fund is currently £440,000 and there is an open invitation for those who would like to contribute to the fund.

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

399 BREEZE Drone for Venus

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The proposed BREEZE drone for Venus, a tethered drone for first responders, river rescue missions, taking out drones with Thor’s hammer, UAS over the Arctic, drone deliveries to offshore wind farms, and hobby drones in Ukraine.

UAV News

NASA considers bird-like drones to explore Venus’s atmosphere

NASA wants to study the use of drones that fly through the Venusian atmosphere and study the planet. BREEZE, or Bioinspired Ray for Extreme Environments and Zonal Exploration, will be funded for a two-year concept study. The BREEZE drones would be inflatable, fly at altitudes between 50-60 km, and ride zonal winds. This is one of 17 proposals under the NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) program.

Video: BREEZE | A Revolutionary Ray-inspired Airship Concept for Aerial Venus Exploration

NCDOT launches national first with tethered drones on IMAP Trucks

Three years ago, in episode 285, we covered the Fotokite tethered drone and their partnership with Pierce Manufacturing. Now we see that the North Carolina Department of Transportation is launching a pilot with Fotokite. Some IMAP (Incident Management Assistance Patrol) vehicles will be fitted with tethered drones to provide situational awareness to the NCDOT Operations and Traffic Management Centers and assist with overall traffic management of the incidents.

Iris Automation receives FAA waiver to test BVLOS drones in Nevada river rescue missions

The Iris Automation waiver allows them to fly BVLOS in a rural, unpopulated area south of Reno, Nevada using the company’s Casia X detect and avoid system. Iris is working with the City of Reno and the Reno Fire Department (RFD) which conducts about 40 rescues per year at the Truckee River.

Killing drones with Thor’s hammer: Air Force eyes counter-UAS ‘Mjölnir’ weapon

The Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) has awarded a $26 million counter-UAS contract to Leidos. The company will build a prototype system that disables sUAS with high-power microwaves. Called Mjölnir, the name of Thor’s hammer, it builds on previous work under the Tactical High Power Operational Responder, or THOR, program. THOR is a counter-swarm electromagnetic weapon that uses non-kinetic energy to defeat multiple targets. In 2020, the Defense Department became so concerned it created the Joint Counter-Small Unmanned Aircraft Office, led by the Army.

Earth News: NASA is helping fly drones in the arctic — here’s what that means for sea ice and sea level change

NASA is leading a team to show that a fixed-winged drone could fly over the Arctic ocean for several days. The attritable UAS from Vanilla Unmanned is designed for multi-day surveillance and inspection operations. In this application, a drone with sensors can capture more accurate data than is the case with satellites.

Project Seeks to Build Drones to Supply Offshore Wind Farms

The drones would be customized to deliver supplies and other items to offshore wind farms in the Asia-Pacific region. Two Singapore-based companies signed an MOU to co-develop the drones: Marco Polo Marine Ltd., a regional integrated marine logistics company; and F-drones, developer of large autonomous delivery drones. The delivery drones are expected to reduce cost by 90 percent, be four times faster, and reduce carbon footprint.

Hobby drones at war: How do they help Ukraine?

In a February Facebook post, Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense says it is looking for drones and for pilots: “Do you own a drone? Give it to experienced pilots to use!” and “Do you know how to drive a drone? Join the joint patrol with units 112 of the separate brigade of the city of Kyiv!”

UAV Video of the Week

The PGA Tour is using drones to follow golf shots like this one from Rory McIlroy and it’s so cool

381 Tactical Beyond Visual Line of Sight

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First responder tactical beyond visual line of sight (TBVLOS) waivers, 100,000 Wing deliveries in Australia, using Starlink for military maritime intelligence drones, DJI Mavic 3 leaked, measuring the wind for UAM safety, a drone services company meets a UAV maintenance provider, and the history of drones in Southeast Asia

UAV News

Paladin publicly launches Knighthawk, a first response drone for cities

Paladin has unveiled its custom Knighthawk and Watchtower products for first responders. The startup has built autonomous systems for cities that can be deployed to 911 calls and provide instant situational awareness. The Knighthawk drone has a 10x zoom optical camera and a thermal camera to provide video feeds day and night. The Watchtower software is available as an app. Since 2018, the company has responded to about 1,600 emergencies in Texas and Ohio. 

Paladin has “First Responder Tactical Beyond Visual Line of Sight” (TBVLOS) [PDF] operating waivers from the FAA. These temporary BVLOS flights are flown to both reduce risk to first responders and to ensure the safety of the communities they serve. The waiver has a number of specific conditions and requirements.

Wing approaches 100,000 drone deliveries two years after Logan, Australia launch

In the first week of August alone, customers in Logan, Australia placed 4,500 orders – one every 30 seconds during Wing’s delivery window. The Wing drones delivered 10,000 cups of coffee, 1,700 children’s snack packs, 1,200 hot chooks (roasted chicken, in Australia), 2,700 sushi rolls, and 1,000 loaves of bread. Wing expects the service to expand into other markets in the coming months, including Australia, Finland, and the United States.

Drones and Starlink: Combining Satellite Constellations With Unmanned Navy Ships

The United States Navy faces an aging fleet of transport ships and personnel shortages. Autonomous maritime vessels could be a solution, as well as semi-autonomous drones that could act as a screening force for operations, provide an extended sensor net, and provide greater tactical awareness. The new SpaceX Starlink satellite constellation might provide easy and reliable connectivity for a globally operated network of maritime drones.

DJI Mavic 3 leaks with new cameras, a larger battery and longer flight times

A YouTuber leaked what is believed to be the next Mavic drone. It features improved obstacle detection utilizing new wide-angle lenses on the front and rear cameras, the main camera with a focal length equivalent to 24 mm, and an f/2.8 aperture, a second camera that supports up to 7x optical zoom, images stored on 1 TB of internal memory, and a larger battery providing up to 40 minutes of flight time.

NASA taps Kyoto startup to make maps of the wind for drones

NASA wants maps of the wind so drones and air taxis will be safer. Japanese startup MetroWeather Co. LiDAR sensors track atmospheric dust to measure wind direction and speed.  MetroWeather sensors will be used by US-based TruWeather Solutions Inc. at a NASA drone testing site to show how real-time wind information can help drones choose optimal routes that avoid wind shear and other dangers.

Carbonix Partners with Robotic Skies to Advance Global Field Support

Robotic Skies, Inc provides maintenance, inspection, and repair services for the commercial drone industry with over 230 Service Centers in 50 countries. Carbonix is an Australian company with data capture UAVs for long-range and large-area aerial surveillance. The two companies are partnering to provide an international field support program for customers who operate Carbonix UAVs.

Inside Vietnam’s Forgotten Drone War

Drones played an important role in the Vietnam War target spotting for bombers, jamming radars, and dropping propaganda leaflets. The new nonfiction book Drone War: Vietnam explores that history.

UAV Video of the Week

Watch: Alligator Eats Drone In Video Shared By Sundar Pichai

An inexperienced drone operator in Florida flew his drone too close to an alligator, with serious consequences.

380 NASA System-Wide Safety Project

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NASA’s System-Wide Safety project is focused on safe operations of unmanned vehicles in the National Airspace System. 

Guest

Dr. Wendy A. Okolo, Associate Project Manager, NASA System-Wide Safety project

Dr. Wendy A. Okolo is the Associate Project Manager for NASA’s System-Wide Safety project, which seeks to develop new research tools, innovative aerospace technologies, and re-defined operational methods. Researchers and stakeholders are developing an integrated safety management solution that considers the new unmanned entrants into the airspace. The project looks at safety from both a design and operations perspective.

Wendy describes the System-Wide Safety project, including its participants and objectives. We consider what “safety” means in this context, project methodology and timeline, beneficiaries of the project, and accomplishments to date. She explains the complexities of the project and collaborating with established and new entrants in the unmanned aircraft space.

As an aerospace controls research engineer, Wendy’s expertise is in unconventional controls system design and optimization for air and space vehicles. Wendy’s research experiences include stints at the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base and the Advanced Development Programs of Lockheed Martin (the Skunkworks). She worked on multi-aircraft formation flight, and performance-optimizing flight control for the Joint Strike Fighter F-35C aircraft.

At 26 years old, Wendy became the first black woman to obtain a Ph.D. in aerospace engineering from the University of Texas at Arlington. She is the recipient of the 2020 NASA Ames Award for Researcher and the 2019 NASA Ames Early Career Researcher Award. She also received the 2019 Black Engineer of the Year Award for Most Promising Engineer in the U.S. Government, the 2019 Women In Aerospace Award for Initiative, Inspiration & Impact, and the 2019 U.T. Arlington Distinguished Recent Graduate Award.

373 ASRS for UAS Operators

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The NASA/FAA ASRS safety reporting system is now extended to UAS operators. Also, an autonomy Level 4 drone, learning from dragonflies, a triple-drop drone, a possible ADS-B solution for UAVs, getting your groceries delivered in Ohio, and a virtual UAS Symposium.

UAV News

FAA’s Aviation Safety Reporting System (ASRS) now available for drones

NASA’s Aviation Safety Reporting System (ASRS) collects confidential information about near misses from pilots and others. The data is used by the FAA to make aviation safer while maintaining confidentiality to maximize the number of incidents reported. Aviation Safety Reporting Program (ASRP) for UAS describes how “NASA’s ASRS has a reporting form tailored to the UAS community. This will ensure that the safety data that is collected will result in actionable information for the entire aviation community.”

Exyn Technologies’ drones achieve autonomy milestone with on-board mapping

Drones from Exyn Technologies have reached “Level 4A” autonomy and can explore a designated 3D area without a remote operator and operate without GPS. All spatial and mapping computations are done onboard, and unlike Level 3 autonomy, they do not  require an operator who can take over if required.

The company says, “We developed an autonomous system that can take you into dark, dirty, dangerous environments. Place it at the edge of danger and send it off to collect the information that you need. Oftentimes the information you need is beyond the line of sight, both in terms of communications as well as visual.”

See The 6 Levels of Vehicle Autonomy Explained for more.

Future drones likely to resemble 300-million-year-old flying machine

Researchers at the University of South Australia designed and tested components of a dragonfly-inspired drone. They describe the dragonfly as the “apex insect flyer” because of its flying abilities. The team modelled the aerodynamic properties of the dragonfly’s body, studied dragonfly wing geometry of 75 species, and created 3D images of the wings. The researchers believe drones that mimic dragonflies could perform many tasks, such as collecting and delivering unbalanced loads, safely operating near people, exploring delicate natural environments, and executing long surveillance missions.

Published in the journal Drones, 27 March 2021: Biomimetic Drones Inspired by Dragonflies Will Require a Systems Based Approach and Insights from Biology

Wingcopter debuts a triple-drop drone to create ‘logistical highways in the sky’

Wingcopter is a German startup that calls their Wingcopter 198 “the world’s first triple-drop delivery drone.” It’s fully autonomous, fixed-wing, BVLOS, and one operator can manage up to 10 Wingcopter 198s simultaneously. It has quick-swap batteries and can deliver up to 3 packages in a single flight. The company is currently pursuing certification from the FAA that would allow it to operate commercial flights in the United States.

New Patent Integrates UAS into National Airspace Systems, Enables ADS-B Inert & Alert Capability

The patent from uAvionix (U.S. Patent 10,991,260) is titled “Intelligent Non-Disruptive ADS-B Integration for Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS).” The uAvionix patent claims to allow UAS to use ADS-B in a way that minimizes spectrum use. Under the Inert and Alert Concept, the UAS ADS-B solution stays “inert” or in a “listen” mode that is not broadcasting. However, when a safety-critical event takes place, the UAV begins broadcasting its ADS-B position as an “alert.” Once the conditions are safe again, the system reverts to its “inert” state.

Kroger to Deliver Groceries Via Autonomous Drones in Ohio

Forget something for your picnic or barbeque? Drones can help you out in Centerville

Supermarket chain Kroger wants to deliver groceries with autonomous drones, and they are starting a pilot program in Centerville, Ohio, south of Dayton using drones from Drone Express. Test flights near the Kroger Marketplace in Centerville will be managed by licensed Drone Express pilots from an on-site trailer, with additional off-site monitoring. Customer deliveries should begin within a few months and a second pilot is scheduled to start this summer at a Ralphs store in California.

FAA To Host Second Virtual UAS Symposium

The FAA has announced that it will be hosting a two-part virtual UAS/drone symposium in 2021. What the FAA is calling Episode III is scheduled for June 9-10. Episode IV is September 14-15. The FAA notes, “Each episode will feature keynote presentations, expert panels, guided and non-guided networking discussions, one-on-one meetings with experts in the FAA UAS Support Center, and informational sessions with live Q&A.”

Episode III in June will focus on international operations, STEM, public safety operations, recreational drone operations and commercial drone operations.

Episode IV will address UAS traffic management, technology, the FAA BEYOND program, advanced air mobility and international operations.

The symposium is co-hosted by the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI).

FAA UAS Symposium program

Commercial UAV Expo Americas, September 7-9, Las Vegas

Showcasing the global commercial UAV industry, with a special focus on solutions in the Americas region and urban air mobility. Collocated with the Urban Air Mobility Summit.

Commercial UAV Expo Europe, December 7-9 Amsterdam

In its third year, this show co-locates with Amsterdam Drone Week for 2021. This leading pan-European conference and expo is focused on commercial drones.

Video of the Week: 

The makers of that Bryant Lake Bowl drone video now have a Mall of America version

Rally Studios of Minneapolis released a first-person video from the Mall of America and its indoor theme park, Nickelodeon Universe.

Video: The Quack Attack is Back

361 Urban Airports for Drones

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Urban airports for drones as a service, FAA UTM transparency, a new Transportation secretary, drones that self-monitor airworthiness, domestic actions against Chinese drones, and the Superbowl no-fly zone.

UAV News

Hyundai Passenger Drones Need Urban Infrastructure: Urban Air Port® Air-One® is the eVTOL Operational Hub

A UK company called urban-Air Port aims to develop “the world’s smallest airport,” aa a “one stop shop for drones and eVTOL.” The company says, “We provide innovative ground infrastructure as a service for Future Air Mobility. An ultra-compact, rapidly deployable, multi-functional operations hub for manned and unmanned vehicles providing aircraft command and control, charging/refuelling, cargo and passenger loading, and other mission specific facilities.” Video: Urban airports: the future of urban aviation

FAA Could Improve Communication on UTM Programme

A Government Accountability Office (GAO) report recommends that the FAA provide more UTM information to stakeholders. The GAO says stakeholders need a better understanding of the timeline for planning purposes. Also, stakeholders would benefit from knowing the goals and metrics of the FAA plans for UTM testing and implementation. The GAO is recommending that FAA provide stakeholders with additional information on the timing and substance of UTM testing and implementation efforts using FAA’s UTM website or other appropriate means, and develop performance goals and measures for its UTM implementation plan.

What Secretary Pete’s confirmation means for drone regulation

Pete Buttigieg is the new Department of Transportation secretary and some are speculating if policy will change with regard to unmanned aircraft. As a previous mayor, Buttigieg embraced autonomous vehicle technology and drove initiatives to position South Bend as a testbed for drones and wireless technology.

Fit2Fly Aims to Make Future Drones Safe and Reliable

If drones flights are to become commonplace, they need to self-detect problems inflight. The NASA Fit2Fly program seeks to develop technologies for drones that allow this and transmit the situation to other drone operators.

The Legal Aspects of Banning Chinese Drone Technology

Last year, DJI donated at least 100 drones to more than 40 U.S. law enforcement and public safety departments. Against the background of the government issued warnings and even prohibitions against Chinese drones, some people are calling for federal inquiries into DJI’s drone giveaway. This article examines the issues.

60-mile-wide ‘no drone zone’ planned for Super Bowl Sunday; violators could face $30,000 fine

Restrictions for the 2021 Superbowl include a 30-mile radius “no drone zone” around the event. See https://www.faa.gov/superbowl/ for more information that applies to manned and unmanned aircraft.

UAV Video of the Week: 

Big Sur video shows what it’s like driving up to gaping hole in Hwy. 1 – and flying over it

Highway 1 in California was heavily damaged after recent rains. This aerial video from the Monterey County Sheriff’s Office shows the extent of the destruction.

320 Holographic Radar for C-UAS

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Holographic radar for drone detection, inspecting the Tokyo underground, good uses for drones at airports, delivery drones in China, Elon Musk has another prediction, a drone delivery proposal for Long Island Sound, an eVTOL prototype goes up in flames, and NASA’s Autonomous Navigation Demonstration Challenge.

UAV News

Aveillant’s Holographic Radar and Fortem Technologies’ Complete End-to-End Counter UAV Solution

The UK National Beyond Visual Line of Sight Experimentation Corridor (NBEC) was created to test new technologies that integrate unmanned aircraft into the airspace. A counter-UAS holographic radar from Aveillant was used to detect and track several different drones. Counter drone systems developer Operational Solutions signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Airways New Zealand for a drone detection system based on Aveillant’s radar technology. This is being trialed at Auckland Airport. Fortem Technologies has also developed an autonomous Counter UAV solution using TrueView R30, a holographic radar similar to Aveillant’s Gamekeeper.

Drones used to inspect Tokyo’s subway tunnels

Tokyo Metro is using drones to inspect almost 200 km of tunnels. The drones reduce the need for scaffolding and heavy equipment. The drone has a 22 cm diameter, weighs 1.15 kg, and can fly for up to five minutes. It’s surrounded by a spherical cage with LED lights and sends video to a monitor where workers look for any defects in the tunnel. The drone also takes photos for later inspection.

Good drones: the UAVs changing airport operations for the better

Three ways drones can work positively with airport operations: maintenance and inspection activities at airports, drone delivery systems based at the airport, and bird control. The International Air Transport Association (IATA) lists six major technology trends that will impact how future air cargo facilities evolve: augmented reality and wearables, robotics and automated systems, IoT and connected cargo, big data and AI, green buildings, and drones and autonomous vehicles.

Drones & Robots: Deploying New Technology to Handle Crisis

China’s eCommerce powerhouse JD.com has been using drone technology for deliveries since at least 2016. Under the JD Drone program, items are carried from regional delivery stations to village entrances, then local partners deliver orders to the customers. The JD drones are also being used for disaster relief and disinfectant spraying for Coronavirus.

Elon Musk says military drones will outlive fighter jets

Elon Musk had a fireside chat with Gen. Jay Raymond, chief of space operations for the Space Force, about the future of air defense. Musk expects unmanned drones will outlive fighter jets in the U.S. Air Force. “It’s not [that] I want the future to be this. The fighter jet era has passed.”

Wave Aerospace proposes commercial drone delivery between Stamford and Long Island

Wave Aerospace wants to establish a corridor across the Long Island Sound for commercial drone delivery from Stamford, Connecticut to Huntington, Long Island – about 10 miles. The corridor would be 1,000 feet wide, outside New York’s Class B Controlled Airspace.

First electric VTOL Lilium Jet prototype goes up in flames

Lilium had two prototype jet eVTOL prototypes in their flight-test program. Now they have one. The first prototype was destroyed in a fire on February 27, 2020, while in maintenance in Germany. The investigation to determine the cause is underway.

NASA Langley Opens Applications for $20,000 UAV Competition

Applications for NASA Langley’s Safeguard with Autonomous Navigation Demonstration (SAND) Challenge are now being accepted. Small businesses will compete in an autonomous UAV for a grand prize of $20,000 under the America Competes Act. They will complete a set of complex mission profiles using NASA’s “Safeguard” technology. The SAND Challenge will be held in August of 2020 in Hampton, Virginia. To apply for the SAND challenge and to view more information including drone eligibility, participant eligibility, operational requirements and more visit: sand2020.nianet.org.

Max’s Zip News One-Liners

Quaternium drone HYBRiX sets a new World Record of Endurance with a flight of 8 hours and 10 minutes

Quaternium accomplished the feat with its HYBRiX hybrid fuel-electric drone.

Protesters tell FAA “If we build it, let it fly”

A protest was held in front of FAA headquarters by modelers who don’t like the proposed remote ID rules. The Help Save Our Hobby webpage was created for the event.

New Tech Could Finally Change Drone Regulations for the Better

Detect-and-avoid technology is being tested at Virginia Tech’s Mid-Atlantic Aviation Partnership (MAAP) where drones are being flown head-on.

With a speaker and four microphones, drones can echolocate like bats

The headline says it all. From Purdue University.

UAV Video of the Week

These insanely fast racing drones capture golf shots as you’ve never seen them

Seattle drone pilot Ross Beck released a video of golf shots captured from tee to green via a drone that can fly 85 mph.

Mentioned

Drones deployed in bid to tackle Queensland’s rogue crocodiles

308 Droneresponders Working Group

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Droneresponders forms a working group for public safety agencies, protestors and C-UAS, TSA and C-UAS, cannon-launched drones, the QF-16 target drone, names for different types of passenger drones, and drone light shows.

UAV News

Droneresponders Major Cities Working Group

Non-profit Droneresponders announced the formation of a Major Cities Working Group designed to “unite and assist public safety agencies operating UAS in urban and large metropolitan areas.” The group will establish communications with other public safety agencies and partner with other non-profit organizations like AIRT (Airborne International Response Team), AUVSI, and the NPPA (National Press Photographers Association).

Chilean Protestors Down Drone By Dazzling It With Dozens Of Laser Pointers

Protesters aimed high-powered handheld laser pointers at a drone observing them. The lasers blinded the optical sensors, causing the drone to crash.

‘Sorely lacking:’ Congress Members Blast Homeland Security Counter-drone Plan

The Department of Homeland Security planned to allow TSA air marshals to neutralize drones over airports. However, two House Republicans sent a letter to the DHS saying the plan overreaches the agency’s congressional authority. The lawmakers say the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018 gives DHS narrow authority to deploy counter-drone technology, but that authorization doesn’t apply to airports. The other concern is that the TSA lacks the training and skills to operate C-UAS technology.

This transforming drone can be fired straight out of a cannon

Researchers from Caltech University and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory have come up with a drone that can be launched with a cannon. It’s a quadcopter called SQUID, short for Streamlined Quick Unfolding Investigation Drone. The 27-centimeter long drone weighs 18 ounces and has four spring-loaded rotor arms that open after launch.

Video: Design of a Ballistically-Launched Foldable Multirotor

What It Takes to Turn a Vintage F-16 Into a Drone

The F-16 has computer systems that are easily modified to turn the fighters into drones. Boeing installs Drone Peculiar Equipment at a cost of $1.9 million on old aircraft from an Arizona boneyard. The automatic flight system enables takeoffs and landings at the press of a button.

Passenger Drones: Understanding Their Varieties and Specifications

Drone Industry Insights notes the confusing names being used for passenger drones: air taxis, flying cars, eVTOLs, etc. They present a graphic that defines these names based on the power source (gasoline/kerosene, battery, hydrogen) and takeoff and landing type (VTOL, STOL, CTOL).

Forget fireworks. SeaWorld wants to test 500 drones for a new nighttime light show in San Diego

SeaWorld in San Diego has been given permission to test a 15-night light show in February 2020 using up to 500 Intel “Shooting Star” drones. The show could eventually replace fireworks.

UAV Video of the Week

Incredible Video Shows Giant Plane Made Of 800 Drones Floating Through Sky. This demonstration was flown during this year’s Nanchang Flight Convention.

303 Ehang Autonomous Aerial Vehicle

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EHang is flying its urban air mobility vehicle contender. Remote identification of drones is moving forward. Also, using drones to measure methane emissions, find standing water where mosquitoes breed, assess hurricane damage, explore Titan, and plant trees.

UAV News

EHang completes first passenger-carrying autonomous aerial vehicle demonstration flight

The EHang 216 passenger-carrying autonomous aerial vehicle (or AAV) was flown at the 2019 Northeast Asia Expo in August. Ehang has been demonstrating the aircraft at several cities in China as well as in Austria, the Netherlands, and Qatar. Ehang says, “This is a critical step towards making our dream [a] reality and to make urban air mobility broadly available and affordable as a safe, fast, and eco-friendly transportation alternative.”

Video: EHang AAV Trial Flights Across Cities in China

Electronic License Plates for Drones May Come Soon

A draft of the proposed ASTM standard for electronic identification of drones is available as ASTM WK65041, “New Specification for UAS Remote ID and Tracking.” During operation, a drone would transmit a unique ID, location, and vector. The chairman of ASTM International’s Committee F38 on Unmanned Aircraft Systems said, “You can just take a phone, point it up at a drone and get its electronic ID if you see it doing something dangerous. [And you can report it] just like reporting a car’s license plate number.” Old drones can be retrofitted with ID chips that would plug into their USB ports and might cost $7 to $12.

BP deploys continuous methane measurement for new major oil and gas projects

BP said it is going to monitor its methane emissions around the world using a technology called gas cloud imaging and drones. Inspections would take 30 minutes instead of seven days. The sensor technology was originally designed by NASA for the Mars Curiosity Rover. This is a key part of BP’s strategy to deploy a suite of complementary methane detecting techniques across new and existing facilities.

Anthropology professor deploys drone to fight disease in Africa

Mosquitoes are the main transmitters of malaria, and they breed in standing water. Agricultural irrigation can create standing water which is difficult to detect with satellite imagery. In the East African nation of Malawi, Professor Jon Carroll and other researchers from Oakland University spent nine days collecting data on the effectiveness of drone imagery to detect standing water.

AIRT uses UAS to perform damage assessment operations in the Bahamas following Hurricane Dorian

Two organizations have formed a joint-reconnaissance team to survey the Bahamas following Hurricane Dorian: the Airborne International Response Team (AIRT) and the Southeast Florida Region 7 All-Hazards Incident Management Team (SEFL-R7 AHIMT). Disaster scenes were mapped by UAS with high-resolution camera systems.

Meet The Nuclear-Powered Self-Driving Drone NASA Is Sending To A Moon Of Saturn

The Dragonfly is a dual-rotor quadcopter, about the size of a compact car, autonomous, and nuclear powered. Expected to launch from Earth in 2026 and arrive on Titan in 2034, Dragonfly will explore Titan’s dunes, mountains, gullies, and rivers and lakes of liquid methane.

NASA Video: New Dragonfly Mission Flying Landing Sequence Animation.

Middle East drones signal end to era of fast jet air supremacy

Air superiority has been key to winning wars since airplanes were invented. But compared to the world’s major air forces, drones are small, low cost, and they don’t put a pilot into the war-zone.

This startup lets you subscribe to support an army of drones that’s planting millions of trees

A new startup called Now wants to “mobilize humanity to reverse the climate crisis.” The organization was created by 19-year-old activist and musical artist Xiuhtezcatl Martinez who says that if a trillion trees are planted, they could capture two-thirds of the carbon that humans have emitted since the industrial revolution. The subscription concept of Now would fund planting trees with drones. See also 19-Year-Old Xiuhtezcatl Martinez Isn’t Waiting For Permission to Solve the Climate Crisis: “The Time Is NOW.”

Conference

Commercial UAV Expo Americas 2019, October 28-30, 2019 in Las Vegas. Video: Commercial UAV Expo 2018 in a minute.

298 High Altitude Pseudo Satellite

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HAPSMobile plans to fly a High Altitude Pseudo Satellite (HAPS) over Hawaii, Amazon petitions for drone delivery exemptions, NASA plans to test UAS traffic management in Texas, researchers find that drones are better than people studying whales, a female drone pilot seeks to encourage women, and drones that provide medical assistance.

UAV News

FAA Approves Solar Drone Flights Over Hawaiian Island

Japanese drone company HAPSMobile has a waiver to fly a solar-powered UAV over Lanai. The HAWK30 will act as a stratospheric telecommunications platform – a High Altitude Platform Station, also called a High Altitude Pseudo Satellite. The project is a collaboration between HAPSMobile, the University of Hawaii, and the Pan-Pacific UAS Test Range Complex which is managed by the University of Alaska Fairbanks. AeroVironment is HAPSMobile’s aircraft development partner for the HAWK30.

In related news, see HAPSMobile Working Together with Facebook to Accelerate the Adoption of HAPS.

Amazon requests FAA approval of delivery-drone plans

Amazon has filed a 29-page petition with the FAA requesting approval to use their MK27 delivery drone before getting a certificate of airworthiness. Amazon would like to fly BVLOS and they ask for exemptions from certain aviation regulations that are more applicable to manned aircraft. The petition says delivery drones will fly autonomously but with one operator for each drone in flight. Eventually, Amazon would like to have one operator for multiple drones “subject to FAA approval based on flights and simulations that demonstrate required levels of safety.”
The FAA will take public comments on the petition until August 28, 2019. See Petition for Exemption; Summary of Petition Received; Amazon Prime Air in the Federal Register.

NASA drone testing schedule in Corpus Christi: What you need to know

NASA selected the Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi’s Lone Star UAS Center of Excellence & Innovation as a nationwide drone testing site. Testing will focus on urban UAS traffic management and they plan to close or restrict access to several downtown streets.

Tests show multi-rotor UAVs can improve cetacean behavioral studies

New Zealand researchers found that small, multi-rotor UAVs are better than expert observers on research vessels. When it comes to surveying and studying humpback whales, the drones captured some social activities not detected by the observer and there was no observable effect on the whales’ behavior. See Insights into the use of an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) to investigate the behavior of humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) in Vava’u, Kingdom of Tonga.

Introducing Derbyshire Police’s First Female Drone Pilot

Victoria Atherton, Derbyshire Police’s first female drone pilot, has said she wants to inspire others and fight crime. She was recently deployed to a damaged dam that forced the evacuation of about 1,500 residents. She commented: “Personally, I think the best way to encourage women to get involved is to support each other. The future of aviation appears to be heading in the direction of unmanned aircraft and it’s important that men and women are equally represented in this field.” Also, “It’s an achievement to be labeled the first, however, I think it’s more important to ensure that I am not the last.”

Drones, smartphones and sensors could provide a new solution to elderly falls

Researchers from Baghdad’s Middle Technical University and the University of South Australia have designed a system to remotely monitor elderly people. It detects heart rate and temperature abnormalities and provides urgent first aid via a drone if a fall occurs.

UAV Video of the Week

DARPA video shows autonomous drones swarming a building

The demonstration took place under the agency’s OFFensive Swarm-Enabled Tactics (OFFSET) program, which “envisions future small-unit infantry forces using swarms comprising upwards of 250 unmanned aircraft systems (UASs) and/or unmanned ground systems (UGSs) to accomplish diverse missions in complex urban environments.”

Video: Teams Test Swarm Autonomy in Second Major OFFSET Field Experiment

289 UAS Threat to Critical Infrastructure

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DHS resources for the threat of UAS to critical infrastructure, urban testing of drone flights in Reno, using drone images as evidence, a delay for the remote ID NPRM, and a drone used by the Army Corps of Engineers.

UAV News

‘We’re Not Being Paranoid’: U.S. Warns Of Spy Dangers Of Chinese-Made Drones

NPR references the DHS Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) website Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) – Critical Infrastructure. It contains a video describing the UAS threat to critical infrastructure, as well as a description of what the threat is, why the threat is important to critical infrastructure, actions critical infrastructure organizations can take, available DHS UAS resources, and contact information.

Video: UAS and Critical Infrastructure – Understanding the Risk

NASA’s First-Of-Kind Tests Look To Manage Drones In Cities

Tests in downtown Reno have included an autonomous drone flight from one rooftop of a five-story parking garage to a roof across the street. The drone adjusted itself for gusty winds. In another test, drones approached each other and avoided colliding. The drones have onboard software for landing, avoiding crashes, surveillance, detection, and identification. Ground system software communicates flight plans and positions to other software systems. The Nevada Institute of Autonomous Systems is conducting the Reno tests.

Man says neighbors used drone footage in court against him

A man in Indiana bought a 35-acre property in 1985, but his new neighbors didn’t like what he was doing on his own land. The neighbors complained to the county accusing him of violating county ordinances. Apparently, they flew a drone over the property taking pictures as evidence. The property owner says they had to be BVLOS to get those pictures.

Remote ID Regulations For Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Are Delayed Until September 2019

The Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) for Remote Identification of UAS was scheduled for July 2019. The Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs says the NPRM will instead be issued in September 2019. This comes from the May 22, 2019 OIRA publication of the Trump Administration’s Unified Agenda of Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions.

UAS adds cutting-edge capabilities for Corps projects

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Sacramento District has begun using a Microdrones quadcopter. The District’s 4-person UAS team has been trained by Microdrones. Two of them are Part 107-certified UAS pilots. Applications include video footage and photos for the Public Affairs Office, creating detailed site maps, and high-resolution 3-D images for team members and partner agencies.

md4-1000, courtesy Microdrones.

Microdrones to Host GeoDays 2019, June 12 – 14

Microdrones is hosting GeoDays 2019 at their location in Germany. They’ll be conducting flight demonstrations and explaining how to integrate surveying, mapping, LiDAR, and inspection into your business.

Mentioned

Drones: Latest incidents around the world – A map highlighting the latest drones incidents around the world has been published as part of the Countering Drones Conference, taking place July 9-11, 2019 in London, UK.

Opinion piece: Risk, regulation and resilience in countering drones – A report you can download on risk and regulation around drones.

287 Embry-Riddle UAS Program

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Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University offers an Unmanned Systems Science degree, delivery drones produce an annoying noise, Uber Eats is hiring UAS specialists, AUVSI announces humanitarian award winners, and autonomous BVLOS patrol drones are planned for the Australian coastline.

Embry_Riddle uses the Penguin C UAS from UAV Factory.
The Penguin C UAS. Courtesy UAV Factory.

Interview

Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University UAS Flight Standards and Training Manager Michael Zebehazy talks about the Embry-Riddle BS in Unmanned Systems Science, and the Penguin C aircraft from UAV Factory for extensive hands-on training. Recorded at the 2019 Sun ‘n Fun International Fly-in & Expo in Lakeland, Florida.

Embry-Riddle Penguin C showing open sensor bay.
Embry-Riddle Penguin C showing open sensor bay. Photo by Max Flight.

UAV News

Drones to deliver incessant buzzing noise, and packages

Multirotor UAVs create an annoying buzzing sound. If delivery drones proliferate, who will set and monitor sound levels?

Video: QUADCOPTER Sound FX from the HISSandaROAR sound library.

Here’s who Uber is hiring to build its drone delivery service for Uber Eats

Forty UAS positions have been posted on Uber’s jobs site since March 2018. Uber Eats is preparing to employ drones to deliver food on demand.

Here are the 5 Winners of the 2019 AUVSI XCELLENCE Humanitarian Award

The five winners of the second annual XCELLENCE Humanitarian Awards announced at AUVSI XPONENTIAL:

North Carolina Department of Transportation – Using drones in an innovative response to Hurricane Florence.

Swoop Aero – Vaccine and health supply delivery on the island nation of Vanuatu.

NASA/MIT Search and Rescue Under the Canopy (SARUC) – Locating people and other important targets lost in challenging and cluttered forest areas.

Project Lifesaver International – Search and rescue for ‘at risk’ individuals who are prone to the life-threatening behavior of wandering.

Zipline International – Medical drone delivery operations in Africa.

Surf lifesaving drone-maker plans long-haul, autonomous UAV

Currently, The Ripper Group operates 51 ‘Little Ripper’ drones in New South Wales and Queensland. They spot sharks and drop self-inflating floats for people in distress. Now The Ripper Group is working on a much larger, beyond line-of-sight fixed-winged drone called The Ripper Ranger.

Mentioned

Academy of Model Aeronautics Programs & Benefits

282 Drones and Wildlife

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Drones for studying wildlife, wetlands, and tornadoes. Using them to resupplying troops and support a Mars rover. Also, gender diversity study of the drone industry, and airplane incidents that turn out to not be caused by drones.

Guest

Executive Wildlife Producer Heather.

UAV News

A Guide To Using Drones To Study Wildlife: First, Do No Harm

A Best practice for minimising unmanned aerial vehicle disturbance to wildlife in biological field research has been published for researchers using unmanned aircraft to study wildlife.

Drones will gather data for tornado research project

The TORUS program (Targeted Observation by Radars and UAS of Supercells) will use fixed-wing UAS to assist scientists in studying the formation of tornadoes in thunderstorms. The $2.5M project is funded by the NSF in cooperation with NOAA, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Texas Tech University, and the University of Colorado-Boulder.

Marines test plywood drone for disposable resupply

DARPA and the U.S. Marine Corps Warfighting Laboratory are experimenting with low-cost resupply drones from Logistic Gliders Inc. There are 10.4 feet long with a 23-foot wingspan, can be made from plywood or aluminum, and can carry 700 pounds of cargo.

Video: Logistic Gliders Inc. Flight Test Highlights as of Jan 2019

UAS Lidar for Ecological Restoration of Wetlands

A YellowScan Surveyor Lidar-equipped UAV is being used to create an accurate digital terrain model (DTM) of a bog in France. Understanding the hydrology of the area is key to the restoration efforts.

Ready for the Red Planet! NASA’s Mars Helicopter Aces Key Flight Tests

NASA announced the successful first flight of the 4-pound aircraft that will launch with a NASA Mars rover in July 2020.

Gender Diversity In the UAV (Drone) Industry

A UK study looked at gender diversity in the commercial drone industry. After looking at 112 drone service companies, the study found that “The average rate of women employment was 13% and “…women are concentrated in non-technical positions, such as sales and administration.” The study is published in the International Journal of Gender, Science and Techology.

Rod Vaughan’s plane crash not caused by drone – CAA

The Civil Aviation Authority has determined that the March 2018 incident was not a drone strike, but was instead a windscreen failure. As a related note, it had been concluded that the December 18, 2018, Aeromexico incident was not drone-related.

275 UAS Traffic Management

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Guest

Kevin Gallagher, President and CEO of Simulyze, contributing UAS Traffic Management technology.

Kevin Gallagher is President and CEO of Simulyze, a provider of operational intelligence and technology applications for both federal and commercial organizations.

He has more than 30 years of experience in system engineering and operational support. Kevin co-founded Simulyze to specialize in operational intelligence, situational awareness, and traffic management technology for the Department of Defense and intelligence operations. Now Simulyze has entered the commercial drone space.

Their platform enables commercial UAS operators to process and analyze large streams of data from disparate sources in real-time and achieve a common operating picture in real-time in a customized graphical interface.

Simulyze is the only company that has exercised with every build of NASA’s UAS Traffic Management platform. In 2018, Simulyze completed the deployment of its Mission Insight application during NASA’s Technical Capability Level 3 (TCL 3) National Campaign testing of its UTM research platform. Simulyze will serve as a UAS Service Supplier for two Integration Pilot Program projects awarded by the U.S. Department of Transportation and the Federal Aviation Administration.

Kevin began his career in General Electric’s Space Division where he held a number of analysis, engineering and management roles. In 1993, Kevin joined Aegis Research Corporation and started the company’s Information Technology group, which provided system engineering and programmatic support to a variety of customers, including the U.S. Air Force and the U.S. intelligence community.

Kevin earned his bachelor’s degree in computer science from Pennsylvania State University and his master’s degree in computer science from Villanova University.

UAV News

Drones defend, entertain at the Super Bowl

An Intel Shooting Star drone formation spelled out “ONE” and “LOVE” during Maroon 5’s halftime performance. Meanwhile, Skyfire Consulting co-founder Matt Sloane and a team of pilots were on a nearby rooftop with a tethered DJI Matrice 210 quadcopter. Skyfire’s video feeds were shared among various agencies using a platform built by DroneSense to enhance situational awareness. The tether system was provided by Drone Aviation Corp.

At least six drones in the exclusion zone before game day were confiscated. Three drone-hunting drones operated by Fortem Technologies were reportedly on-site, although it is unclear if those systems with nets captured the rogue drones in flight.

272 FAA Draft NPRM for Night Flying and Flights over People

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The FAA has released a draft of the NPRM that proposes rules for night flying and flights over people. Also, three UAS UTM Pilot Program projects awarded, drones survey Africa and identify illegal activity in India, Japan will issue underwater drone guidelines, and NASA contemplates a quadcopter for Titan.

UAV News

New FAA proposal would let drones fly over people and at night without a waiver

Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao released a draft NPRM [PDF] that removes waiver requirements for flying after dark and flying over people. It expands the activities permitted under Part 107.

Night flying for small UAS would be allowed without a waiver or exemption. Drone operators would be required to “complete knowledge testing or training, including new subject matter areas related to operating at night.” The sUAS would have “an anti-collision light illuminated and visible for at least 3 statute miles.”

Flights over people would be allowed without a waiver or exemption under certain conditions. The FAA proposes three categories of permissible operations over people based on the risk of injury they present.

The NPRM is to be published in the federal register soon, followed by a 60-day open comment period.

State of Nevada Unmanned Aircraft System Test Site Selected for Milestone DOT / FAA UAS Traffic Management Pilot Program

The FAA-designated State of Nevada UAS Test Site was awarded a project under the UAS UTM Pilot Program. The Smart Silver State project will focus on urban drone operations using advanced airspace, drone, and sensor technology. The Nevada UAS Test Site proposal included over 20 partners and the project will be demonstrated in the City of Reno with additional testing in other areas.

Drones for good: UAVs help survey poorly mapped areas of Africa

Many areas in rural Africa are poorly mapped and having GPS doesn’t help disaster relief agencies and local authorities. Now people in Tanzania are volunteering to survey unmapped areas with drones. In Zanzibar, a mapping initiative was started in 2016 to survey about 900 square miles with senseFly eBee drones taking high-resolution images.

Government keen on drones with night-vision to track illegal sand mining

Eight months ago the Indian government started a UAV surveillance project targeting illegal riverbed sand mining. Forty-six UAV missions were flown with a 48 percent success rate. Now the Geology & Mining Department is looking at fixed-wing drones with infrared for night surveillance.

Japan to set rules for drones

The Japanese government plans to issue guidelines for underwater drones by fiscal 2020. This is a response to increased private sector use for missions such as inspecting offshore wind power plants and underwater pipelines. Expected guidelines include collision avoidance mechanisms and collection of drones after their batteries are depleted.

NASA May Decide This Year to Land a Drone on Saturn’s Moon Titan

The proposed Dragonfly mission to explore Saturn’s moon Titan is one of the options NASA is considering. Titan has a thick atmosphere (four times as dense as Earth) which allows for a flying vehicle instead of a rover. The quadcopter would fly to multiple sites to conduct experiments, recharging its flight batteries via nuclear power. The project is led by the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Lab.

Artist's impression of Dragonfly at work on Titan's surface.
Artist’s impression of Dragonfly at work on Titan’s surface. Dragonfly’s focused instrument payload would help scientists answer key questions about prebiotic chemistry and astrobiology, meteorology, geophysics and geomorphology. Image credit: Johns Hopkins APL.

Mentioned

From Rupprecht Law: Drone Sprayers: Uses, Laws & Regulations, Tips to Save Money

UAV243 UAS Integration Pilot Program

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The DOT announces the UAS Integration Pilot Program selectees, and the Small UAS Coalition responds. The future of Aurora’s Hybrid-Electric VTOL X-Plane is uncertain, and Uber wants to be your air taxi service provider, but many others want to play a role as well.

UAV News

U.S.Transportation Secretary Elaine L. Chao Announces Unmanned Aircraft Systems Integration Pilot Program Selectees

UAS Integration Pilot Program

The U.S. Department of Transportation received more than 140 applications for the FAA UAS Integration Pilot Program, created to accelerate drone integration in the national airspace. DOT announced 10 UAS Integration Pilot Program Awardees who will conduct flight tests under the three-year program. Following are the ten selectees along with a brief description of their projects:

 

Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, Durant, OK – Agricultural, public safety and infrastructure inspections, with planned Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) operations over people and nighttime operations.

City of San Diego, CA – Border protection and package delivery of food, with a secondary focus on international commerce, Smart City/autonomous vehicle interoperability and surveillance.

Innovation and Entrepreneurship Investment Authority, Herndon, VA – Facilitate package delivery in rural and urban settings.

Kansas Department of Transportation, Topeka, KS – Deploy UAS to support beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) operations in rural communities, leverage a statewide unmanned traffic management system to facilitate precision agriculture operations.

Lee County Mosquito Control District, Ft. Myers, FL – Low-altitude aerial applications to control/surveil the mosquito population using a 1500-lb. UAS.

Memphis-Shelby County Airport Authority, Memphis, TN – Inspection of FedEx aircraft and autonomous operations that support airport operations such as perimeter security surveillance and package delivery.

North Carolina Department of Transportation, Raleigh, NC – Test localized package delivery within a defined airspace by establishing drone delivery stations in local communities. This approach enables small businesses to utilize this delivery platform for commercial purposes.

North Dakota Department of Transportation, Bismarck, ND – Diverse operations that incorporate advanced technologies that seek to expand UAS operations at night and Beyond Visual Line of Sight.

The City of Reno, NV – Time-sensitive delivery of life-saving medical equipment, such as medical defibrillators in emergency situations in both urban and rural environments. See also, Reno, Flirtey among 10 chosen nationally for drone partnership.

University of Alaska-Fairbanks, Fairbanks, AK – Pipeline inspection and surveying in remote areas and harsh climatic conditions.

Small UAV Coalition approves of new US DOT policy

The Small UAV Coalition, representing consumer and technology companies, is very happy with the “Notification to UAS Operators Proposing To Engage in Air Transportation” that was published in the Federal Register. In their press release Small UAV Coalition Applauds DOT for Taking Steps to Authorize UAS Delivery Operations [PDF], the Coalition says they applaud “the Department of Transportation (DOT) for announcing that it will use existing exemption authority to grant economic authority to unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) operators seeking to carry property in air transportation, an important step to expedite UAS delivery operations in the United States. The Coalition has long encouraged DOT to take this step and is pleased that it will be available to operators as the UAS Integration Pilot Program (IPP) gets underway.”

The Small UAV Coalition is also happy with the applicants selected to participate in the Unmanned Aircraft Systems Integration Pilot Program (IPP). In Small UAV Coalition Congratulates Secretary Chao and First UAS Integration Pilot Program Selections [PDF], they say, “The Coalition is pleased that UAS IPP has moved forward so quickly since it was first established by the President just a few months ago. The pace is emblematic of the urgency around developing a regulatory framework that will enable the safe integration of UAS into the national airspace and allow the United States to keep pace with other countries that are increasingly moving beyond pilot programs to ubiquity and integration.”

Darpa Pulls Plug On Aurora’s Hybrid-Electric VTOL X-Plane

DARPA no longer plans to build and fly the XV-24A LightningStrike from Boeing subsidiary Aurora Flight Sciences. Aurora won an $89 million contract for Phases 2 and 3 of the program in March 2016 and flew a 20%-scale, all-electric demonstrator in April 2016. But the Phase 2 full-scale demonstrator isn’t progressing well enough for DARPA and they have decided not to proceed into Phase 3 and flight testing.

Uber Targets Los Angeles As Next Air Taxi Market

Uber wants to develop a network of air taxi operators. They previously announced their interest in Dallas and Dubai, and now Uber has added Los Angeles as a test market. Uber sees its network of air taxis flying 20% of the 45.8 million daily Los Angeles trips from rooftop and purpose-built skyports with up to 1,000 landings and takeoffs per hour.

Embraer unveils electric air taxi concept

At the Uber Elevate event, Embraer announced it formed the “Embraer X” division to work on urban air taxis. Their four-passenger concept vehicle is called the “DreamMaker.”

NASA, Uber to Explore Urban Air Mobility Safety, Efficiency of Future Urban Airspace

NASA and Uber signed an agreement under which Uber will provide its plans for an urban aviation rideshare network and NASA will use computer modeling and simulation to assess the impacts of small aircraft in crowded environments.

 

UAV235 The Cora Electric Air Taxi

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Testing the Cora electric air taxi in New Zealand, drone research at Ford, package delivery in the UK and in the U.S., UAS traffic management in Switzerland and in the U.S.

The Cora electric air taxi in-flight in New Zealand.

The Cora electric air taxi in-flight in New Zealand. Credit: Richard Lord, via Kitty Hawk.

UAV News

Larry Page’s Flying Taxis, Now Exiting Stealth Mode

The Kitty Hawk company calls Cora “your first step towards everyday flight.” Financed by Google co-founder and Alphabet CEO Larry Page, Kitty Hawk’s operator in New Zealand Zephyr Airworks has been testing an electric, self-piloting flying taxi. The plan is for a commercial network of flying taxis in New Zealand in as soon as three years.

New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern said the decision to work with Kitty Hawk was “about sending the message to the world that our doors are open for people with great ideas who want to turn them into reality.” She added, “We’ve got an ambitious target in New Zealand of being net carbon zero by 2050,” and given that the Kitty Hawk vehicle is fully electric, “exciting projects like this are part of how we make that happen.”

Meet Cora

Why a Car Company Is Looking to the Skies: A Glimpse into Ford’s Drone Research

Ford was “…intrigued by the relationship between our vehicles and drones and how we might serve our customers in the future, so we embarked on a mission to find out more.” Ford participated in the FAA Unmanned Aircraft Systems Symposium and they say they are the only automaker on the FAA’s Aviation Rulemaking Committee.

Ford has recommended a way to identify and track drones during flight. The idea is to use the drones anti-collision lights to broadcast the 10-digit registration code as an ASCII-encoded binary signal. The lights would be interpreted by a camera-based software app. See the whitepaper titled, “A Zero-Cost Solution for Remote Identification and Tracking of sUAS in Low Altitude Flights.” [PDF]

The U.K. Might Rid Itself of Beyond Visual Line-of-Sight Drone Regulations

The National Air Traffic Control Service (NATS) in the U.K. intends to eliminate the beyond-visual-line-of-sight (BVLOS) regulations that are holding up package delivery by drone. Deliveries in the UK could begin as early as next year.

Drone Deliveries Really Are Coming Soon, Officials Say

Under the Trump administration’s “Unmanned Aircraft Systems Integration Pilot program,” 149 companies have filed applications with the FAA to provide package delivery by drone. At least 10 of them should get approval in May. According to The Wall Street Journal, a senior FAA air-traffic control official at the symposium, Jay Merkle, stated that companies like Amazon “think they might be ready to operate this summer.”

Skyguide & AirMap Join Forces to Develop Europe’s First National Drone Traffic Management System

Skyguide and AirMap have partnered to develop and deploy the first national drone traffic management system in Europe. Skyguide is a Swiss air navigation service provider and AirMap provides an airspace management platform for drones. Powered by the AirMap UTM platform, U-space provides dynamic geofencing, instant digital airspace authorization, and solutions for situational awareness. senseFly is the manufacturing partner.

Amazon, Boeing, GE and Google to develop private Unmanned Traffic Management (UTM) system

Amazon, Boeing, GE, and Google announced that they are developing a private Unmanned Traffic Management (UTM) system for drones. Testing in conjunction with NASA is supposed to start in the next three months.

UAV226 Drones at CES 2018

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Drone news from CES 2018, drones and asymmetrical warfare, situational awareness for sense and avoid from Insitu, a Cargo Air Vehicle prototype from Boeing, and GoPro exits the quadcopter market.

The Volocopter 2X autonomous air taxi at CES 2018.

The Volocopter 2X autonomous air taxi at CES 2018.

UAV News

Drones fly over Bellagio fountains during Las Vegas CES

Intel Corp. flew 250 light-emitting Shooting Star drones over the Fountains at Bellagio at CES 2018. Intel plans a drone show at the 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea.

Video: Intel’s drone light show sends 250 drones flying over Las Vegas at CES 2018

Volocopter 2X: An Autonomous Flying Taxi In Flight At CES 2018 In Las Vegas For The First Time

The Volocopter 2X autonomous passenger drone lifted off on the stage at CES 2018. The flight was short and tethered for safety.

Yuneec announces Typhoon H Plus alongside first fixed-wing and racing drones

Yuneec showed three drones at CES 2018: The Typhoon H Plus for pro photographers and videographers, the Firebird FPV fixed-wing drone, and the HD Racer small racing drone.

Images from CES 2018

These photos were provided by junior21 in our Slack listener team:

Law enforcement drone at CES 2018.

Law enforcement drone at CES 2018.

Yamaha Frazer at CES 2018.

Yamaha Frazer at CES 2018.

CES 2018 drone safety booth.

CES 2018 drone safety booth.

Defining Asymmetrical Warfare: Extremists Use Retail Drones to Attack Russian Air Base in Syria

There are reports of insurgents modifying commercially available quadcopters to deliver explosives such as mortar rounds and grenades. Social media photos show the damaged tail of a Sukhoi Su-24 Fencer attack aircraft in Syria. There is speculation the Russians have intercepted the drones with the Pantsir S-2 integrated missile and gun vehicle.

Insitu Demonstrates Broad-area Airspace Situational Awareness System for Unmanned Air Systems

Insitu completed a successful flight demonstration of their real-time, ground-based UAS airspace situational awareness system. The system allows commercial UAS operators to detect and avoid nearby aircraft flying both within and beyond line of sight. The system is specifically designed to help detect and avoid “non-cooperative” traffic. Insitu collaborated with Boeing Phantom Works International in Australia under a program sponsored by the Queensland Government.

Boeing Unveils New Unmanned Cargo Air Vehicle Prototype

The unmanned electric VTOL multi-copter Cargo Air Vehicle (CAV) prototype is designed to carry up to 500 pounds. Boeing will use it to “test and evolve Boeing’s autonomy technology for future aerospace vehicles.” Initial flight tests were successfully completed at Boeing Research & Technology’s Collaborative Autonomous Systems Laboratory in Missouri.

Future of autonomous air travel: Boeing unveils new cargo air vehicle prototype

GoPro Plunges After Announcing Job Cuts, Revenue Miss

GoPro Inc. had a difficult fourth quarter. The company is cutting more than 20 percent of its global workforce and ending its drone business. GoPro says they will sell off the existing inventory of Karma drones but will continue to provide service.

UAV Video of the Week

Brain Controlled UAV

A hacked Star Wars Force Trainer uses the operator’s thoughts to control a small drone in this ARCLab ACE Project.

Feedback

NASA chief historian Bill Barry sets the record straight on the origins of the winglet. It was Richard Whitcomb at NASA that gets credit for the aeronautical innovation, not DARPA.

Dryden Flight Research Center: Winglets

 

 

 

UAV224 UAS Identification and Tracking

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An Aviation Rulemaking Committee has released their recommendations for identification and tracking of unmanned aircraft, Airbus looks to incorporate some Formula 1 technology into their Zephyr High Altitude Pseudo-Satellite, a proposal is submitted to send a multirotor drone to one of Saturn’s moons, a drone quickly finds a missing man, and the FAA prohibits drone flights over certain facilities.

Half-scale Dragonfly test-bed vehicle

An autonomous half-scale Dragonfly test-bed vehicle built by the Penn State University Center of Excellence for Vertical Lift.

UAV News

FAA Releases UAS Remote Tracking & ID ARC Report

The Unmanned Aircraft Systems Identification and Tracking Aviation Rulemaking Committee (ARC) submitted its 213 page final report and recommendations: UAS Identification and Tracking (UAS ID) Aviation Rulemaking Committee (ARC), ARC Recommendations, Final Report. [PDF]

The FAA says, “Overall, the ARC provided the FAA with a substantial amount of useful data, including very detailed technology evaluations and a comprehensive list of law enforcement needs and preferences. The ARC’s recommendations and suggestions… cover issues related to existing and emerging technologies, law enforcement and security, and implementation of remote identification and tracking. Although some recommendations were not unanimous, the group reached general agreement on most.”

FAA Releases UAS Remote ID, Tracking Report; Groups Dissent

The ARC recommended that model aircraft operating under Section 336 of the FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012 be exempt from identification and tracking requirements. The dissenting opinion was that this recommendation would undermine the value of an ID and tracking requirement.

The dissenting opinion was led by the Commercial Drone Alliance and signed by the General Aviation Manufacturers Association, the Aerospace Industries Association, the National Agricultural Aviation Association, X, GE, uAvionix, Ford Motor Co., AirMap, and General Atomics. They “appreciate the extensive efforts of the ARC but strongly disagree on the critical point of who and what UAS should have to comply with ID and tracking requirements.”

The FAA will use the data and recommendations in the ARC report and produce a proposed rule for public comment.

Airbus seeks help from Formula One team to develop high altitude drone

The solar-powered Airbus Zephyr UAS is designed to fly at 65,000 feet, above weather and commercial air traffic. Acting as a “High Altitude Pseudo-Satellite (HAPS),” it is designed to fly without fuel for months in communications and surveillance roles. Airbus Unmanned Aerial Systems will work with the Williams Motorsports Formula 1 team on battery and lightweight composite materials technology.

Finalists in NASA’s Spacecraft Sweepstakes: A Drone on Titan, and a Comet-Chaser

NASA solicited proposals under the New Frontiers competition for missions to explore the solar system, and they announced two finalists.

The Comet Astrobiology Exploration Sample Return (Caesar) spacecraft would travel to the comet that was previously visited by the European Space Agency’s Rosetta mission, and return a sample for study.

The John’s Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) Dragonfly is a Plutonium-powered quadcopter that would be sent to Saturn’s moon Titan. It would take measurements on the surface of Titan, then fly to another location on the moon. Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) is the principal investigator for Dragonfly.

Video: Dragonfly: A Proposal to Explore Titan, Saturn’s Largest Moon, via Quadcopter

After humans fail, drone tracks down lost 92-year-old in 20 minutes

92-year-old Bill McDonnell went hunting in Shenandoah County, Virginia but didn’t come home. Rescuers used helicopters and foot patrols but couldn’t find him. The next morning, the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office team put up their new drone and found McDonnell in 20 minutes. Additionally, though not part of this operation, the drone is one of six in the nation that flies in the Project Lifesaver program designed to locate people with medical conditions such as Alzheimer’s who are wearing a specific wristband.

FAA Expands Restrictions to Include UAV Flights over Department of Energy Facilities

Effective December 29, 2017, drone flights below 400 feet are banned over seven DOE facilities in the interest of national security. Violations can result in tens of thousands of dollars in fines and possible criminal charges with up to one year in jail. The restrictions apply to both hobbyist drones and civil aircraft at these locations:

Idaho National Laboratory, Idaho Falls, ID
Pantex Site, Panhandle, TX
Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM
Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN
Savannah River National Laboratory, Aiken, SC
Y-12 National Security Site, Oak Ridge, TN

UAV Video of the Week

Santa & the X-MAS drones

 

 

 

 

UAV221 sUAS Collisions with Manned Aircraft

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A study examines sUAS collisions with manned aircraft, Amazon patents a self-disintegrating drone, Mercedes completes 100 package deliveries by drone, a race that pitted an autonomous drone against a piloted drone, and marine mammals are disturbed by drones.

Delivery drone above a Mercedes Benz Vito van. Courtesy Daimler AG.

Delivery drone above a Mercedes-Benz Vito van. Courtesy Daimler AG.

UAV News

Researchers Release Report on Drone Airborne Collisions

A research team from ASSURE {Alliance for System Safety of UAS through Research Excellence} released a report that looks at sUAS collisions with manned aircraft. Congress directed the FAA in 2014 to establish a UAS Center of Excellence and the FAA selected ASSURE, led by Mississippi State University, in May 2015.

The ASSURE UAS Airborne Collision Severity Evaluation Final Report concludes that drones that collide with large manned aircraft can cause more structural damage than birds of the same weight for a given impact speed. The FAA says they will use the research results to help develop operational and collision risk mitigation requirements for drones.

ASSURE used computer modeling and physical validation testing it its research. The team looked at a 2.7 pound quadcopter, a 4 pound quadcopter, a 4 pound fixed-wing drone, and an 8 pound fixed-wing drone, all striking a single-aisle commercial transport jet and a business jet.

They examined impacts to the wing leading edge, the windshield, and the vertical and horizontal stabilizers. The windshields generally sustained the least damage and the horizontal stabilizers suffered the most serious damage.

The researchers concluded that unmanned aircraft system manufacturers should adopt “detect and avoid” or “geo-fencing” capabilities to reduce the probability of collisions with other aircraft.

The ASSURE team provided an A3 Airborne Collision Presentation, and the report in four volumes:

FAA sUAS COE Task A3 UAS Airborne Collision Hazard Severity Evaluation [PDF]

An FAA press conference presentation explaining why it is necessary to determine the potential severity of sUAS mid-air collisions with aircraft in order to define an Equivalent Level of Safety to manned aviation.

Volume I: UAS Airborne Collision Severity Evaluation: Summary of Structural Evaluation [PDF]

A summary of the entire structural portion of the study that includes a high-level explanation of the project’s scope, technical approach, evaluation and conclusions of the severity of small unmanned aircraft impacts with a commercial transport jet and business jet. This summary report also provides conclusions on the influence of velocity and mass on impact damage, a comparison to bird strikes and concludes with recommendations going forward.

Volume II: UAS Airborne Collision Severity Evaluation: Quadcopter [PDF]

A detailed report the project’s scope and the selection and definition of both the “projectile” Unmanned Aircraft and the “target” commercial transport and business jets. This Volume centers on the quadcopter UAS and its unique characteristics.

Volume III: UAS Airborne Collision Severity Evaluation: Fixed-Wing UAS [PDF]

A similarly detailed report centering on the fixed-wing UAS and its unique characteristics.

Volume IV: UAS Airborne Collision Severity Evaluation: Engine Ingestion [PDF]

An evaluation of the severity of a small UAS collision with propulsion systems. This report helps us to start to understand the effects of parameters of aircraft speed, impact location, fan speed and unmanned aircraft orientation on impact severity to a unique FAA fan-blade-out model.

Amazon delivery drone could self-disintegrate for safety if it falls from sky

Amazon has been granted a patent for Directed fragmentation for unmanned airborne vehicles: “In one embodiment, the UAV includes various components, such one or more motors, batteries, sensors, a housing, casing or shell, and a payload for delivery. Additionally, the UAV includes a flight controller and a fragmentation controller. The flight controller determines a flight path and controls a flight operation of the UAV. During the flight operation, the fragmentation controller develops a fragmentation sequence for one or more of the components based on the flight path, the flight conditions, and terrain topology information, among other factors. The fragmentation controller can also detect a disruption in the flight operation of the UAV and, in response, direct fragmentation of one or more of the components apart from the UAV. In that way, a controlled, directed fragmentation of the UAV can be accomplished upon any disruption to the flight operation of the UAV.”

Mercedes Plans More Drone Deliveries After 100 Perfect Flights

In a 3-week pilot project by Mercedes-Benz Vans, US drone systems developer Matternet, and Swiss online marketplace siroop, 100 package delivery flights were successfully completed in Zurich. Customers placed orders for items like ground coffee and cellphones. The drones flew as far as 17 kilometers (11 miles) to four fixed points in the city where they landed on roofs of special Mercedes-Benz Vito vans. The vans then delivered the packages.

NASA-Built Drone Races FlyingBear, Loses

Professional drone racing pilot Ken “FlyingBear” Loo flew against a NASA autonomous drone. The NASA drone flew more cautiously, smoothly, and consistently over the course. Loo’s speeds were higher, and he executed more complex maneuvers, but mental fatigue became a factor. In the end, his times were quicker.

As Ocean Drones Proliferate Marine Wildlife are getting a bit annoyed

Drones are violating the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1992 which makes it illegal to disturb marine mammals, regardless of whether you are in the water, in a boat, or in the air. Marine biologist Alicia Amerson started the AliMoSphere initiative to develop best practices studying marine wildlife with drones.

UAV Video of the Week

Flying Robot international Film Festival

The FRiFF calls itself “the world’s premiere international competitive short film festival focused on drone culture and aerial cinema created from the perspective of drones.”

The 2017 edition of the Festival took place November 16, 2017, at the Roxie Theater in San Francisco. Twenty-five short drone films from a dozen countries were selected for inclusion and nominated for awards in each of seven categories. Watch the winning drone films.

Mentioned

The Drone Racing League (DRL) and MultiGP Drone Racing Announce Simulator Partnership Surrounding the 2018 Swatch DRL Tryouts

 

UAV218 UAS Integration Pilot Program Details Emerge

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Additional details of the FAA UAS Integration Pilot Program have emerged, with webinars held on that topic by the FAA and others. Also, Boeing’s acquisition of Aurora Flight Sciences is complete, NASA’s Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate (ARMD) is expanding its research scope to include Urban Air Mobility, and drone strikes on manned aircraft.

UAV News

UAS Integration Pilot Program Webinar

UAS Integration Pilot Program

The FAA conducted several one-hour UAS Integration Pilot Program webinar sessions. The Program seeks to achieve BVLOS and other complex operations (flight at night, over people, and operational coordination with manned aircraft), promote innovation, develop regulations that reduce the need for operations by exception. address security concerns, and balance national and local interests.

The 17-minute UAS Integration Pilot Program Webinar video provided an overview of the program, the application process, acceptance criteria, and deadlines.

We recorded the live Q&A session from the November 3, 2017, webinar, which runs about 40 minutes:

To learn more, about the UAS Integration Pilot Program, see these FAA webpages:

UAS Webinar: Regulatory and Policy Developments

Hogan Lovells Unmanned Aircraft Systems is offering a free webinar Thursday, November 16, 2017, 2:00 p.m. – 3:30 p.m. Eastern to discuss key UAS regulatory and policy developments and provide insight on the Part 107 waiver process. Emily Avant, Senior Counsel for CNN, will be participating to discuss CNN’s new waiver for operations over people, what it means for the broader commercial UAS industry, and tips for making your waiver application a success.

Other webinar topics will include:

  • Status update on Part 107 waivers granted to date
  • The inside scoop on CNN’s precedent-setting waiver for operations over people
  • Developing a safety case for a Part 107 waiver application
  • The Trump Administration’s new UAS Integration Pilot Program
  • Rollout of the FAA’s Low Altitude Authorization and Notification Capability (LAANC) system
  • Upcoming FAA rulemakings and next steps moving forward

Register for the Hogan Lovells webinar here.

Also, Drones and the Legal Landscape from the AOPA Drone Talk Series will be held November 10, 2017, 8 PM Eastern.

Boeing completes acquisition of Aurora Flight Sciences

Boeing announced the completion of its acquisition of Aurora Flight Sciences. Aurora will operate under Boeing Engineering, Test & Technology as a subsidiary called Aurora Flight Sciences, A Boeing Company. It retains its independent operating model. Boeing first announced the agreement with Aurora on Oct. 5, 2017, pending U.S. government approval.

NASA Embraces Urban Air Mobility (UAM), Calls for Market Study

NASA’s Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate (ARMD) is expanding its research scope to include Urban Air Mobility or UAM.

UAM is defined in this article as “a safe and efficient system for air passenger and cargo transportation within an urban area, inclusive of small package delivery and other urban Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) services, which supports a mix of onboard/ground-piloted and increasingly autonomous operations.”

NASA’s associate administrator for aeronautics Jaiwon Shin says, “We plan to conduct the research and development, and test the concepts and technologies that establish feasibility and help set the requirements. Those requirements then serve to make using autonomous vehicles, electric propulsion, and high density airspace operations in the urban environment safe, efficient and economically viable.”

ARMD awarded contracts to Booz Allen Hamilton and to Crown Consulting to conduct market studies on the policy, economic, social, environmental, and legal barriers to enabling UAM; and also to estimate how much potential demand there is for UAM.

Here’s How Drones Do (and Don’t) Threaten Passenger Aircraft

Recently, a civilian drone struck a U.S. Army UH-60M Blackhawk helicopter and a drone hit a Beechcraft King Air. Studies have been conducted by the Crashworthiness for Aerospace Structures and Hybrids (CRASH) Lab, the U.K.’s Department for Transport and Military Aviation Authority, and George Mason University, but there is little data on the damage small drones can cause in a collision.

 

UAV197 NASA UAS Traffic Management (UTM) System Tests

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NASA UAS Traffic Management system testing at the UAS test sites, Arizona law enforcement uses a drone to find a missing man, a drone company becomes a drone data company, DARPA studies mid-flight multitasking for small drones, a University of Calgary study of drone incidents, and fuel cells for drones.

The Kespry fully autonomous aerial intelligence system

The Kespry fully autonomous aerial intelligence system. Image courtesy Kespry.

UAV News

NIAS and NASA test the Next Phase of NASA’s UAS Traffic Management System

Tests for NASA’s Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) Traffic Management (UTM) system are being conducted at the six UAS test sites in the “Technology Capability Level 2 (TCL2) National Campaign.” The first tests were held at the Nevada Institute for Autonomous Systems.

NCSO uses UAV to find missing man

After receiving a call about a man who was missing in the woods, the Navajo County Sheriff’s Office in Arizona deployed their drone for the search. The disoriented man was found in about 45 minutes.

Transforming a Drone Company into a Data Company

Kespry says they are “focused on making it easy to capture, process, use and share high-resolution information from the field.” They offer “a fully autonomous aerial intelligence system” that tries to eliminate the need to integrate multiple systems from multiple vendors. In effect, their complete drone solution makes them more of a data company than a drone company.”

DARPA program to allow for mid-flight multitasking drone missions

A small UAS can often carry only one payload due to power, weight, and size constraints. Under the CONverged Collaborative Elements for RF Task Operations (CONCERTO) program, DARPA is looking at multiple payloads that share common RF components. BAE Systems has been awarded $5.4 million in contracts to help develop technology that allows operating modes to switch mid-flight. See the video: CONCERTO Concept of Operations

Close encounters of the drone kind becoming more common, U of C study says.

A new University of Calgary study finds there are more drones in the air than manned aircraft. There were 355 drone incidents reported in Canadian airspace between November 2005 and December 2016, and 22% of them involved close encounters between drones and piloted aircraft. Most incidents involve non-licensed operators.

Will Hydrogen Fuel Cells Help Drones Stay in the Air?

Three options today for increasing electric UAV time-in-the-air are tethered devices, solar power, and in-the-field rapid battery replacements. However, fuel cell power systems are gathering steam and two private companies are innovating and offering products: Protonex, based in Massachusetts, is focused on Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) technology for small, light UAV applications; China-based MMC is currently manufacturing and distributing two models of fuel cells.

UAV Videos of the Week

‪Playing Pong with Drones

3DR Interns Ian McNanie and Josh Jacobs have programmed a group of drones to play a game of pong in the air. One base station communicates with the swarm of drones.

Brad Byrd – Highest Mountain

The Highest Mountain music video from singer/songwriter Brad Byrd was shot and directed by Dylan Kussman (Dead Poets Society, Jack Reacher, X-men) using DJI Zenmuse X5 video drones.

Mentioned

Nova Systems Completes Multi-drone UTM Trial

Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) Traffic Management (UTM) system trials are taking place in Australia. The trial that Nova Systems participated in explored different Remotely Piloted Aircraft types and sizes, payload capabilities (including live payload distribution over an LTE network), the effectiveness of each UTM (some of which relied upon the LTE network), control of drones over the LTE network, and a new approach to range safety.

Drone Problems

A humorous cartoon from XKCD about drone operators who seem to crash a lot.

 

 

 

 

UAV167 UAS as a Subscription Service

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A UAS service for public safety agencies, ScanEagle goes to the Smithsonian, testing drone strikes on airliners, NASA tests BVLOS, maritime drone tests, a new sense and avoid sensor, and FAA outreach.

Aeryon SkyRanger UAS

Aeryon SkyRanger UAS

News

Aeryon Introduces Flexible UAS Subscription Solution for Law Enforcement at IACP 2016

Aeryon Labs, Inc. is offering UAS services to qualified public safety agencies on a monthly subscription basis. Announced at the International Association of Chiefs of Police annual conference and exhibition, the service includes the Aeryon SkyRanger UAS, Program Launch and Support Services, Assured Operational Availability, Investment Protection, and Secure, Remote Distribution of Video and Imagery.

Insitu Donates ScanEagle UAS to Smithsonian Air & Space Museum; Ryan Hartman Comments

ScanEagle N202SE will go on display at the Smithsonian National Air & Space Museum’s Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia. Boeing subsidiary Insitu donated the ScanEagle that was the first drone operated beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) in a commercial mission in the U.S. National Airspace System.

UK government to test drone safety by deliberating crashing UAVs into passenger aeroplanes

The Department of Transport (DoT), the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) and the Ministry of Defence (MoD) have been ordered to begin tests to learn what happens when a typical consumer quadcopter strikes a commercial passenger jet.

NASA Conducts ‘Out of Sight’ Drone Tests in Nevada

As part of NASA’s Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) traffic management [PDF] (or UTM) research platform, the Agency is testing drones beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS). NASA will now offer the capabilities to all FAA test sites for further validation and assessment.

Maritime drones have a long voyage ahead before they become commonplace

Self-sailing boats experience a complex operating environment. Unmanned water taxis, or “Roboats,” will be tested next year in Amsterdam’s canals.

Canadian Skies Abuzz – The Regulation of Drones and UAVs in Canadian Airspace

In 2015, Transport Canada issued a Notice of Proposed Amendment to its UAV regulations, and the organization it is now finalizing the proposed regulations. Publication for formal comment is expected in Spring 2017.

Quantum film sensor stops delivery drones crashing into things

InVisage Technologies has developed QuantumFilm™ sensors that allow small drones to sense and avoid obstacles. The sensor’s photosensitive layer uses quantum dots and has five times the light sensing capability of conventional CMOS image sensors. The new sensor design “can rapidly detect obstacles up to 20 metres away, using a technique called structured light.” Projected “laser dots… are distorted by any object they strike, allowing the sensor to infer the location and distance of obstacles ahead.”

Education Key to Understanding FAA Drone Regulations

As part of the FAA’s outreach to drone users, an educational webinar was produced in conjunction with the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF).

Video of the Week

UAS Conference – 2 Races – Cape May, NJ

Mentioned

Northern Light Aerial Images from photographer Mark Fink.

Drones being used to zero in on pests in vineyards and orchards

 

 

 

 

 

UAV161 Exemptions to Part 107 Granted

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The FAA quickly grants some Part 107 exemptions, drought-stricken agriculture embraces UAS, the Facebook Aquila drone is meeting with some success, and a robot pilot offers to make existing aircraft unmanned.

 

Photokite Pro

Photokite Pro tethered flying camera system for professional use cases and live broadcasting

News

CNN Wins FAA Waiver To Fly Newsgathering Drones Over People

CNN received a Part 107 waiver from the FAA to fly UAS in the U.S. over people. Previously, CNN had only flown only over unpopulated areas. The newsgathering duties are performed with a small Fotokite Pro tethered quadcopter. Earlier this month CNN announced its Aerial Imagery and Reporting (CNN AIR) unit with two full-time UAS operators.

In a first, FAA allows PrecisionHawk to fly drones where pilots can’t see them

The Federal Aviation Administration has also given PrecisionHawk an exemption to fly in the U.S. beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS). The exemption came on August 29, when Part 107 became effective. PrecisionHawk Executive VP Thomas Haun said, “In agriculture, now that we have an exemption to fly beyond the visual line of sight, we can fly an entire farm, not just one field, efficiently.” The FAA issued 76 waivers on that day, most of them applying to night flying.

Virginia Woman Blasts Drone ‘to Smithereens’ with Shotgun

In June, Jennifer Youngman was at home cleaning her shotguns. Two men arrived nearby and began flying a drone in the area. Ms. Youngman happens to be a neighbor of actor/director Robert Duvall. When the drone ultimately flew over her property at a height of 25 or 30 feet, she discharged one of her newly cleaned shotguns, much to the distress of the drone.

Mark Zuckerberg meets Pope Francis, gives him a drone

On his tour of Italy following the recent earthquake which killed hundreds, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg met with Pope Francis. Zuckerberg presented the Pope with a model of the solar-powered Facebook Aquila drone designed to provide Internet access to regions without connectivity.

Feds turn to space experts NASA for small-drone traffic plan

Actually, NASA also has aeronautics experts, and those are the ones working on the UTM, the UAS Traffic Management project. NASA has two “A”s.

In drought, drones help California farmers save every drop

The severe California drought continues, with dire consequences for farmers growing food. One farmer with a 2,400-acre tomato crop estimates his drones that detect irrigation leaks could save enough water for over 550 families of four for a year. He also started using a thermal camera to show moisture variations in soil, and even established a drone management position at his company. AUVSI (Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International) says about 2,100 companies and individuals have FAA permission to fly drones for farming.

Flight fantastic: Instead of rewiring planes to fly themselves, why not give them android pilots?

Instead of designing new planes to be unmanned aircraft, Shim Hyunchul and his colleagues at KAIST (the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology) have a different idea: Put a robot in the pilot’s seat. The PIBOT (short for pilot robot) is a humanoid robot with a head, torso, arms and legs. Cameras act as eyes while arms and legs operate the controls like a human pilot.

Videos of the Week

This is Why Drones and Balloons Don’t Like to Play Together

White helium balloons were released as part of a celebration, but the wind changed and carried the balloons into a DJI Phantom. The string from one balloon caught the propellor and down came the drone.

Facebook Tests Internet-Beaming Plane

Facebook just announced the first flight of its unmanned, high-altitude Aquila unmanned aircraft.

First drone footage of Uluru released: Video

The first drone to operate under permit inside Australia’s Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park captured the spectacular 600 million-year-old monolith.

 

UAV160 UAS for Newsgathering

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A major news network launches a UAS newsgathering unit, a real-time UAS flight data exchange for a drone traffic management system, and a tethered drone solution for persistent applications.

Elistair tethered drone station

Elistair tethered drone station

News

CNN Launches CNN AIR

News network CNN has launched a UAS unit called CNN Aerial Imagery and Reporting (CNN AIR) with two full-time UAS operators. They will provide aerial imagery and reporting for the CNN networks, Turner Broadcasting, and Time Warner.

University UAS researchers share information network with NASA

NASA and the Lone Star UAS Center of Excellence and Innovation (at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi) have created an interconnection security agreement that allows university researchers to directly access NASA’s Ames Research Center and exchange real-time UAS flight data. This advances research for a drone traffic management system that is integrated with manned aviation.

Drones do mix with airports, so long as they’re kept on a leash

French firm Elistair designs and manufactures tethered stations for small civilian drones. According to the company, applications include persistent aerial surveillance, continuous aerial broadcasting, complex industrial inspection, and traffic monitoring. Two tethered ground stations for drones are available, the Safe-T and ruggedized High-T. The ground stations provide constant data transfer, continuous power, unlimited flight duration, and keeps the multicopter from flying where it shouldn’t.

Man sentenced to federal prison for pointing laser at sheriff’s helicopter

A 35-year-old California was has been sentenced to 15 months in federal prison for pointing a laser pointer at a police helicopter flying over a traffic accident.

Baltimore PD Can Keep Tabs On The Entire City, Thanks To Privately-Donated Aerial Surveillance System

The Baltimore, Maryland Police Department has acquired a wide area surveillance system developed for military use. The Persistent Surveillance Systems 192-million megapixel camera was purchased privately and given to the city. Due to the half-meter resolution, specific individuals cannot be identified, but their movement can be tracked. Program secrecy and privacy implications are causing some concern.

Video of the Week

FlexRC OWL Storm Edition FPV Racer – HeliPal.com

The FlexRC Owl Storm Edition is a compact size box-shape FPV racer specially made for indoor (or outdoor) flying.

Upcoming Conferences

Airborne ISR

26th – 27th October 2016, Holiday Inn Kensington Forum, London, UK.

In today’s complex and ever-changing operational environment, the demand for increased situational awareness continues to grow. As a decisive and indispensable tool, air based ISTAR is increasingly relied upon to deliver this capability, allowing commanders to understand the situation on the ground and act accordingly.

Covering direction, collection, process and dissemination, Airborne ISR will thoroughly analyse the intelligence chain and deliberate best practice for the enhancement of ISTAR capability. Drawing on respective nations ISTAR structure, operational feedback and training, to explore the doctrine necessary to develop this vital asset.

The conference will also benefit from the guidance of technical leaders from research and industry, whose insight into the latest platforms, systems and sub-systems will provide greater awareness of existing and future capability.

The 2016 expert speaker panel includes: RAF, UK MoD, Joint Forces Command UK, United States Air Force, French Air Force, German Air Force, Royal Netherlands Air Force, Ministry of Defence Spain, Defence Command Denmark, RUSI, NATO, DSTL and many more.

Benefits of Attending:

  • Hear from those at the heart of air systems operation, development and integration
  • Deliberate contemporary operational requirements that are shaping capability development
  • Hear the very latest technological developments from research and industry that are enhancing intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance and targeting

Register by 31 August and save £200. By 30 September and save £100.

Register online at: www.airborne-isr.net/uavdigest. For more information please contact: +44 (0) 207 827 6138 or email: scargan@smi-online.co.uk.

UAV Technology Eastern Europe

21-22 September 2016, Angelo by Vienna House, Radlicka 1g, 15000 Prague, Czech Republic.

SMi’s UAV Technology Eastern Europe conference, taking place on 21-22 September 2016 in Prague, will help develop and shape the future capability of Central and Eastern Europe’s UAV and airborne system projects.  As many nations are in the early adoption phase of developing Unmanned Aerial Technology and Systems, this is the perfect event for those wishing to get ahead and meet key decision makers for the region’s fastest developing programmes.

With many nations in this region now actively looking for new technologies and solutions to ensure their airspace is both secure and offering vital intelligence to ground operations, you really cannot afford to miss this essential conference.

Register now and join the likes of: Harris, Textron, WB Group, Cybaero, Spacemetric, Ampex Data Systems, Swiss Air Force, German Air Force Command, Swedish Army, US Army, Danish Army, Hungarian National Police, and UAE GHQ.

Expect regional UAV briefings from the following keynote speakers:

  1. Lieutenant Colonel Petr Snajdarek, Reconnaissance and Electronic Warfare Branch, Czech MoD
  2. Colonel (ret) Ryszard Szczepanik, General Director, Polish Air Force Institute Of Technology
  3. Lieutenant Colonel Petr Stodola, Associate Professor, Department of Tactics, University of Defence, Czech Republic
  4. Mr. Marko Gruden, Secretary, Directorate of Logistics, Ministry of Defence, Slovenia
  5. Mr. Janek Mägi, Head of Department, Border Policy Department, Estonian Ministry of the Interior
  6. Dr. Wojciech Komorniczak, Director at WB Group and Vice President at Flytronic, WB Group
  7. Mr. Tomas Pustina, Senior Legal Officer, Department of Civil Aviation, Ministry of Transport, Czech Republic

To view the full speaker line-up and conference program, visit http://www.uav-technology.org/uavdigest.

Mentioned

Drone over Lambeau confiscated by authorities

The operator of a drone flown over a Green Bay Packers football game was tracked down. The FAA is investigating.

Drone accidents mostly caused by technical problems, not operator error, research shows

The Australian RMIT University School of Engineering looked at 150 reported civilian drone-related accidents around the world over the past decade. Technical problems caused 64 percent of the accidents.

 

 

 

UAV154 Cargo Drone Challenge Winners

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Crowdsourcing designs for cargo drones, UAS for higher education, US Air Force training enlisted RPA operators, NASA detect and avoid tests, delivering vaccine by drone, a woman freed by a Phantom, and drones interfering with wildfires.

ZELATOR

The ZELATOR by Alexey Medvedev from Omsk, Russia

News

Airbus reveals cargo UAV challenge winners

The Airbus Cargo Drone Challenge was created by Local Motors and Airbus Group to crowdsource the design of a commercial-grade package delivery drone for medical supplies and other types of cargo. Local Motors reports in Airbus Cargo Drone Challenge winners announced that 425 submissions were received, and assessed on mission performance, weight and balance, and preliminary flight performance. Video: Winners Revealed in the Airbus Cargo Drone Challenge by Local Motors.

Early Days for Drone Use in Higher Education

Drones in the academic environment offer the opportunity to focus on design and development and also using them for academic instruction and research. The Higher Education UAS Modernization Act would let students and educators operate UAVs without FAA approval if certain conditions are met.

Air Force plans 100 enlisted drone pilots by 2020

The Air Force expects to graduate the first class of enlisted airmen in 2017 for remotely piloted aircraft, specifically unarmed RQ-4 Global Hawks used for high-altitude reconnaissance missions. The graduates would become the first Air Force enlisted pilots since World War II.

NASA Concludes UAS NAS Integration Flight Tests

NASA has completed a two-month series of flight tests at Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California. NASA tested technologies for Detect-and-Avoid (DAA) algorithms developed by NASA, General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc., Honeywell, and other partners. The tests included more than 260 scripted encounters between the Ikhana UAS and manned “intruder” aircraft. The algorithms successfully alerted the pilot on the ground.

Drones to unleash vaccine-laced pellets in bid to save endangered ferrets

The endangered black-footed ferrets in Montana eat prairie dogs, and both are susceptible to the sylvatic plague transmitted by fleas. The United States Fish and Wildlife Service wants to help the animals by dispensing vaccine-laden pellets from drones.  Note:  The article originally reported that the drones would shoot vaccine-laced M&Ms.

Video shows man use drone to save person trapped in bathroom

A woman in a bathroom was unable to unlock the door from the inside. A DJI Phantom trailing a string was flown over the bathroom window and the woman then tied the door key to the string. With the key in hand, those outside could unlock the door and free the woman.

Authorities in Utah can now legally disable or destroy drones near wildfires

Lawmakers approved a bill that would allow firefighters or law enforcement to shoot down or disable drones interfering with efforts to contain wildfires. The bill also provides for a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison and a $15,000 fine if a drone causes a firefighting aircraft to crash.

Video of the Week

Engineers Hack Pokemon Go by Using a Drone

Thanks to @ProfVanderhoof’s sister Marianne for bringing this to our attention.

 

 

 

 

UAV149 Sense and Avoid and Package Delivery at NASA Langley

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David talks with Frank Jones, Deputy Director, Research Services Directorate at NASA Langley Research Center.

David Vanderhoof and Frank Jones

David Vanderhoof (L) and Frank Jones (R)

Frank Jones describes how sense and avoid algorithms based on ADS-B have been researched using the specially instrumented NASA Cirrus SR-22 as a surrogate drone. NASA and the other research partners conducted a number of flight tests to try and tried to break the algorithms with “blunder maneuvers” and observed how the software performed.

The SR-22 also participated in the project with Virginia Tech, Flirtey, and others to deliver medical supplies by drone. The SR-22 carrying the supplies was flown remotely to an airport; the package was transferred to the Flirtey quadcopter, which then made the “last-mile” delivery.

Currently, an urban test environment is being created at NASA Langley where sUAS could be flown routinely across the campus using them operationally to deliver mail and packages, conduct building inspections, and perform other tasks.

Find NASA Langley Research Center on Twitter as @NASA_Langley.

We’d like to thank Kathy Barnstoff and Bill Baley for arranging the NASA Langley interviews.

 

UAV145 The Autonomy Incubator with Dr. Danette Allen

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Dr. Danette Allen from NASA Langley Research Center’s Autonomy Incubator describes projects that will advance autonomous technology for unmanned aircraft.

Guest

Dr. Danette AllenDr. Danette Allen is the NASA Senior Technologist for Intelligent Flight Control System and the Head of the Autonomy Incubator at NASA Langley Research Center (LaRC). She is responsible for setting the strategic vision, transforming the workforce, and building systems to realize the promise of autonomy and robotics in enabling new missions in space, aeronautics, and science. Dr. Allen provides subject matter expertise on several DoD autonomy programs including ONR AACUS, DARPA CODE, and DARPA ALIAS.

In this episode, Dr. Allen talks about the democratization of the airspace, and she explains the process by which NASA flies UAS at Langley, which is adjacent to active Air Force operations. Dr. Allen also describes an earth science delivery demonstration that is coming up. There, a payload sensor will be placed autonomously in a difficult-to-access location, where it can collect data. Later, the sensor is retrieved and returned to the scientist. Dr. Allen is also investigating an autonomous Mars explorer and the concept of “trusted autonomy.”

Prior to her current position, Dr. Allen served as the Research Team Lead for Human-System Integration (HSI) and ATM Concepts in Crew Systems and Aviation Operations. She also served as Mission Manager in the Earth Science Systems Pathfinder (ESSP) Program Office as well as Head of the Mission Simulation Lab (MiSL) and the Integrated Design Center.Autonomy Incubator logo

Dr. Allen began her NASA career in the design, development and operation of spaceflight missions including Lidar In-Space Technology Experiment (LITE) on STS-64, Measurement of Air Pollution from Satellites (MAPS) on Mir, and Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment (SAGE) III on ISS. Dr. Allen received her Bachelor’s degrees in Electrical Engineering and Computer Engineering from North Carolina State University, MBA from Manchester University (UK), Master’s Degree in Computer Engineering from Old Dominion University, and her Master’s and Doctoral Degrees in Computer Science from UNC Chapel Hill. She is the recipient of several NASA awards including the NASA astronauts’ “Silver Snoopy” award for achievements related to human flight safety and mission success as well as the NASA “Systems Engineering Excellence Award” medal.

Follow Dr. Allen on Twitter @DrDanetteAllen

UAV144 UAS Traffic Management (UTM) Research Platform

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A milestone for the UTM research platform, controlling drones with brain waves, FAA approval for night flying, rules for sUAS get one step closer, more from the Drone Dealer Expo, and a Flirtey goes into the Smithsonian.

Flirtey founder and CEO Matthew Sweeny

Flirtey founder and CEO Matthew Sweeny

News

NASA Marks Success for Most Complex Drone Traffic Management Test Yet at FAA Test Sites

A three-hour field test of NASA’s UAS Traffic Management (UTM) research platform included 24 drones flying in all six FAA UAS test sites. Operators planned operations, entered flight plans,  and used a variety of aircraft and software. Up to 22 drones were operated simultaneously. The UTM research platform checked for conflicts, approved or rejected the flight plans, and notified users of constraints. This Technical Capability Level One test addressed rural UAS operations within line-of-sight.

University of Florida held the world’s first brain-controlled drone race

Sixteen pilots at the University of Florida used a brain-computer interface (BCI) to control DJI Phantoms down a 10-yard course. Each pilot was calibrated with electroencephalogram headsets measuring neuron activity, which was then bound to the controller for flight.

Nocturnal UAV ops approved

Tremco Roofing and Building Maintenance has become the first commercial drone operator to be granted approval by the FAA to conduct UAV operations at night. Tremco plans to inspect buildings at night for energy leaks, rooftop damage, deteriorating façades, safety issues, etc. In partnership with Toronto-based Industrial SkyWorks, they’ve developed the SkyBEAM (Building Envelope Aerial Mapping) UAV using an Aeryon Skyranger quadcopter with HD video and infrared cameras.

Big News: Small UAS Rule at OIRA for Final Review

Law firm Hogan Lovells reports that “the FAA has sent the Small UAS NPRM to the White House for a final interagency review.” The Operation and Certification of Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems (sUAS) rule must go through a review process at the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) at the White House. OIRA received the FAA’s Small UAS rule on April 20, 2016. Their review period averages 53 days.

Interview with Drone Nerds from Drone Dealer Expo

Continuing with Tim Trott’s interviews recorded at Drone Dealer Expo, we bring you his conversation with Lance Knowles from Drone Nerds, Incorporated, a distributor for brands like DJI and Monster X heavylift craft for commercial applications. Tim and Lance talk about the impact of regulations, the responsibilities of drone manufacturers and dealers, knowledge exams and check rides for drone operators, and measuring commercial drone operator proficiency.

Mentioned

The Flirtey drone used to make the first FAA-approved delivery in the U.S. has been accepted into the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum.

The Smithsonian National Air & Space Museum’s Innovations in Flight Family Day and Outdoor Aviation Display on Saturday, June 18, 2016, at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia. See recreational and home-built aircraft as well as classic automobiles. Enjoy presentations, demonstrations, special tours, and hands-on activities for all ages.

 

UAV140 Package Delivery by Drone Takes Another Step Forward

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Flirtey package delivery droneAn autonomous package delivery drone, blanket COA altitude limit raised, FAA forecasts UAS sales, in U.S., states eye drone applications, NASA and AFRL developing a fully autonomous UAS, JPL applies Mars sensor technology to earth-bound drone, and the Pentagon will pair manned and unmanned jets.

News

First US autonomous, urban drone delivery in Nevada

Flirtey package delivery droneIn Episode 59 we reported that Flirtey was conducting package delivery tests in Australia. Flirtey now says they have successfully completed the first fully autonomous, FAA-approved, urban drone delivery in the United States, in an uninhabited residential setting in Hawthorne, Nevada.

The company successfully used a drone to deliver a package that included bottled water, emergency food, and a first aid kit. The six-rotor drone flew itself along a predetermined delivery route and lowered the package at a precise drop-off location. A Flirtey pilot and several visual observers were on standby during the delivery as a backup to the autonomous system but were never needed.

This test was completed through a partnership with the Nevada Advanced Autonomous Systems Innovation Center at the University of Nevada, Reno. Both partners are also working with NASA to develop a low-altitude air traffic management system. Additionally, Flirtey has partnered with the Nevada Institute for Autonomous Systems (NIAS) and the FAA-designated Nevada UAS Test Site.

FAA Doubles “Blanket” Altitude for Many UAS Flights

After conducting a risk analysis, the FAA has decided to raise the blanket altitude authorization for Section 333 exemption holders and government aircraft operators. Previously, the nationwide Certificate of Waiver or Authorization (COA) limited such flights to 200 feet. The new COA policy [PDF] allows commercial use to 400 feet anywhere in the country, other than in restricted airspace or where the FAA prohibits UAS operations.

Rupprecht Law’s In-Depth Analysis of the New 400ft Blanket COA for Commercial Drone Operators

Attorney Jonathan Rupprecht describes how the original blanket authorization was written to avoid a COA choke-point. However, many radio towers are between 200 and 400 feet tall, and each of these towers needed a new, 400 foot site-specific COA. This bogged down the system tremendously.

The FAA estimates that the new blanket COA will lessen the need for individual COAs by 30 to 40 percent. The blanket COA also addresses the inconsistency where recreational drone operators can fly up to 400 feet while commercial operators were restricted to 200 feet unless they obtained another COA.

Other changes to the blanket COA include see-and-avoid requirements, reporting involving certain accidents/mishaps involving UAS operations, ATC special provisions, and flight planning.

The Future of Commercial Drone Use

The latest FAA forecast shows hobbyist and commercial UAS unit sales growing from 2.5 million in 2016 to 7 million in 2020. Hobbyist purchases were 1.9 million in 2016 and the forecast is 4.3 million by 2020. Commercial sales were 600,000 in 2016 and could grow to 2.7 million by 2020.

The FAA forecast for the top five commercial drone markets:

  • Industrial Inspection: 42%
  • Real Estate/Aerial Photography: 22%
  • Agriculture: 19%
  • Insurance 15%
  • Government 2%

Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office to receive $1M in state funding for drone program

State funding for a drone pilot program at the Palm Beach Florida County Sheriff’s Office should allow them to use unmanned aircraft for “search and rescue, disaster assessment and assistance, interdiction of drug and human-trafficking activities, and situational awareness of a person whose life is in imminent danger.”

Michigan testing drones for bridge inspections

A survey by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials shows that 33 states have studied or used drones, develop drone policies, or aided in drone research.

Michigan transportation officials are considering assessing bridge decks, traffic monitoring, inspecting confined spaces, and will conduct a two-year study. Minnesota tested a drone to help conduct safety inspections of bridges. Vermont is studying the use of drones to monitor river flooding and assist with road work. Massachusetts has been looking at the pros and cons of drone use.

NASA’s Traveler To Demo ‘Trustworthy’ UAS Autonomy

FireFLY6NASA and the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) hope to demonstrate the Traveler UAS that can autonomously plan, launch, navigate, and refuel itself. The FAA supports the idea and will use data from the program to help set future standards for UAS operations. A Traveler project demonstration flight outside of restricted airspace is planned for later in 2016. An autonomous mission without a safety pilot could take place in 2017. The demonstrations will use a modified BirdsEyeView Aerobotics FireFLY6 VTOL UAV, named “Elissa.”

Mini NASA Methane Sensor Makes Successful Flight Test

NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory has successfully flight-tested a miniature, highly sensitive methane gas sensor onboard a small quadcopter. With application for pipeline inspection, the sensor is similar to the one JPL developed for use on Mars.

Pentagon touts “Loyal Wingman” for combat jets

Deputy defense secretary Robert Work says that the air force will pair unmanned F-16s with F-35s in future battles. The Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) is developing the autonomy algorithms needed to control the unmanned fighter jets. These algorithms would be hosted in line-replaceable units and thus, could easily be transferred between aircraft.

Video of the Week

Beachy Head in 4k by drone

Filmed at an area called Beachy Head, in Sussex, on the south coast of England. This scenic area is very similar to the white cliffs of Dover.

Mentioned

Robotics: Aerial Robotics, University of Pennsylvania

An aerial robotics course offered through Coursera. It focuses on the flight dynamics and controls for quadcopters. Enrollment is free.

UAV Propulsion Tech Representing DST Controls to Market their Gyro-Stabilized EO/IR Systems and Thermal Imagers in the US and Canada

UAV Propulsion Tech has signed a reseller agreement with DST Control to market their lightweight, high performance gyro-stabilized electro-optical systems, and small, lightweight thermal imagers into the US unmanned vehicle and manned aircraft markets. UAV Propulsion Tech is a U.S. company that markets German, Canadian, Australian and now also Swedish technology into the North American UAV market. This includes propulsion, autopilot, servo/actuator, and rescue/recovery parachute solutions.

UAV Operations: Preparing to meet the anticipated FAA knowledge test requirements for UAS Operator and/or Pilot UAS Rating (14CFR§107)

Tim Trott has written an e-book study manual in anticipation of the written test requirement for UAV operators that is included in current FAA authorization legislation. The book includes all 11 of the areas listed in the NPRM/14 CFR107 and a 50 question practice test with answer key. This material can provide preparation for the FAA test that may be coming.

New Online Registration for Commercial UAVs

Tim also tells us that as of March 31, 2016, there is a checkbox for commercial registration at registermyuas.faa.gov. Once the process is completed, a certificate number is assigned, and a certificate of registration issued for each UAS registered with the company. The new online system provides a certificate ID number instead of an N number. Those who want an N number must use the paper process.

UAV115 FAA Misses UAS Integration Date

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Firefighting drone by FliteTest

Industry reacts to FAA missing the UAS integration deadline, lasers on drones, UAS testing at Wallops Island, a million drones for the holidays, and interviews from UAS Industry Days 2015.

News

Drones Armed With High-Energy Lasers May Arrive In 2017

Predator and Reaper manufacturer General Atomics Aeronautical Systems is looking at mounting a 150-kilowatt solid-state laser onto its Avenger drone, also known as the Predator-C. This could be ready in 2017.

NASA Wallops looks to bump up drone traffic

NASA and the state of Virginia are working together on a plan to build a 3,000 foot runway for drones on Wallops Island. This UAS test range is envisioned to support commercial, government, and academic users.

FAA Fears That 1 Million Drones Could Be Sold This Holiday Season

According to Aviation Week, the FAA’s Rich Swayze says the Agency expects as many as one million UAVs to be sold during this year’s holiday season. That’s a lot of opportunity for misuse of unmanned aircraft.

AUVSI and 28 Organizations Mark Missed FAA Deadline for UAS Integration

The congressionally mandated deadline for the FAA to integrate UAS into the National Airspace System was Sept. 30, 2015. The Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI) and 28 others sent a letter [PDF] to the FAA, stating in part:

“While the FAA has hit some milestones in the integration process, it has yet to finalize small UAS rules, let alone facilitate the full integration of UAS that Congress contemplated in 2012. The increasing number of businesses applying for Section 333 exemptions demonstrates the pent-up demand for commercial UAS operations and the immediate need for a regulatory framework.”

“In the absence of regulations, American businesses and innovators are left sitting on the sidelines or operating under a restrictive exemption process.”

“On behalf of businesses across a wide range of industry sectors in the United States, we urge the FAA to use all available means to finalize the small UAS rules immediately without any further delays and move ahead with the next regulatory steps on the path for integrating all UAS into the NAS. Once this happens, we will have an established framework for UAS operations that will do away with the case-by-case system of approvals, reducing the barriers to commercial UAS operations. And importantly, having more trained commercial operators will create a culture of safety that helps deter careless and reckless behavior.”

Interviews from UAS Industry Days

We recorded a number of interviews at the NUAIR Alliance UAS Test Site, including these two about testing done at Griffiss International Airport in Rome, New York:

Thomas Washington

Manager of Flight Test Operations, Aurora Flight Sciences. The Centaur (DA 42) optionally piloted aircraft was tested previously at Griffiss for their unmanned flight test campaign.

John Reade

A computer scientist at Quanterion working with AFRL (Air Force Research Laboratory) and two Desert Hawk III UAVs from Lockheed Martin doing collision avoidance testing in the “triangle” at Griffiss. Quanterion has also developed simulation software that evaluates the interactions of manned and unmanned aircraft in shared airspace.

Videos of the Week

Fire Fighting Drone | Flite Test

The Firecopter is a custom-made Y-6 multi-rotor equipped with a fire extinguisher for fighting fires from the air. From Flite Test.

Esperance whale encounter captures hearts across Australia

Beautiful footage of amazing marine mammals, but before you try this, review Approaching whales and dolphins in NSW and the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Amendment (Marine Mammals) Regulation 2006.

Approaching whales and dolphins in NSW

UAV106 UAS Traffic Management

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NASA UTM Chart]Observations from the NASA Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) Traffic Management Convention, including the Amazon Prime Air proposal for drone traffic management.

Guest

Max Trescott attended the NASA Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) Traffic Management Convention (or UTM) and gives us his impressions of the event. Max is a general aviation pilot, a certified flight instructor, an aviation author, and a glass cockpit expert. He also flies quadcopters.

Discussion

The UTM convention was an opportunity for NASA and others to share their visions for managing low altitude commercial drone traffic. Presentations were given by Amazon, Google, Cisco, FAA, NTSB, DOD, California DOT, law enforcement, and others. There were panel discussions, vendor displays, and demonstrations.

Google talked about the role of “Airspace Service Provider” (ASP). Under this concept, UAV operators would file flight plans with an ASP, which would then coordinate these with other ASPs to ensure non-conflicting flights. Google is said they are developing a lightweight, low-cost dual band ADS-B transceiver. FreeFlight Systems showed prototype weighing just 215 grams.

Amazon details its plan for how drones can fly safely over U.S. skies

Amazon drone management proposal

Amazon Prime Air vice president Gur Kimchi described Amazon’s idea for a drone air traffic management system. In Amazon’s view, drones with different capabilities would have different airspace rights, with an underlying control system managing it all.

Airspace under 200 feet would be designated for low-speed local traffic. Drones in that zone wouldn’t require the most sophisticated collision-avoidance technology. Airspace from 200-400 feet would be for high-speed transit – the highway for drones. Sophisticated sense-and-avoid technology would be a requirement there. Finally, a no-fly buffer zone would exist from 400 to 500 feet.

UTM builds

As a technology enabler, NASA is developing an airspace management control system. They plan four “builds” of the software over the next 4 years. Build 1 is a reservation system for exclusive access to the airspace and is due out August 2015. The culminating Build 4 in March 2019 would manage beyond line-of-sight drone flights in congested urban areas.

UAV101 Wildlife Conservation UAV Challenge

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Aurora Flight Sciences CentaurThe optionally piloted Centaur flies at a UAS test site, a NASA-led team tests a sense and avoid system, more bad drone behavior, and an interview with the founder of the Kashmir World Foundation.

News

Remote-controlled passenger flights 5 years away, CEO says

An Aurora Flight Sciences Centaur was flown over the New York UAS test site from Griffiss International Airport. The Centaur is an Optionally Piloted Aircraft (OPA) based on the Diamond DA42 twin engine airplane. It becomes the first large-scale fixed wing unmanned aircraft to fly at an FAA-approved test site.

Aurora CEO John Langford believes that unmanned aircraft will ultimately make aviation safer, and we may some day see passenger flights with aircraft like the Centaur. The Aurora website has a video of the flight.

NASA tests advanced Ikhana and Global Hawk technology

A team led by NASA is testing a sense and avoid system using the Ikhana UAV, a General Atomics Aeronautical Systems MQ-9 Predator B that was acquired by NASA in 2006. Testing in June included 23 encounters with a Beech C90 King Air acting as the intruder. Besides NASA, the team includes General Atomics, the FAA, and Honeywell.

The current test phase includes validation with the Ikhana of sensor, trajectory, and other simulation models. Other tests will utilize a Lockheed S-3B Viking jet from NASA’s Glenn Research Center acting as a high-speed piloted surrogate aircraft.

Seattle police seek pilot after woman knocked out by falling drone

A drone crashed into a building during a parade in Seattle, then fell and struck a woman in the head. Unconscious, she collapsed into her boyfriend’s arms. The drone was turned over to police, as were a physical description and photographs of the man believed to be the pilot. The drone was described as costing about $1,200 and weighing about two pounds.

Guest

Princess Aliyah PandolfiPrincess Aliyah Pandolfi is founder of the Kashmir World Foundation, established in 2008 to improve the lives of people and animals worldwide. Their projects create healthy habitats for humans and wildlife, and emphasize education, vocational training, job creation programs, and endangered species protection.

Kashmir-Robotics is hosting the worldwide Wildlife Conservation UAV Challenge to foster innovation and invention in the design, fabrication, and utilization of unmanned aircraft to assist with counter poaching and illicit wildlife trafficking.Kashmir World Foundation
Can 3-D Printed Drones Help Save Wildlife? is a National Geographic video about the Wildlife Conservation UAV Challenge.

Wildlife Conservation UAV Challenge

Videos of the Week

FPVRACING.TV Time Trial Course #2

This video shows what FPV multicopter racing looks like from the quad’s perspective.

Sticks of a Mini Beast

A dramatic view of high speed FPV flying that shows the video feed from the multicopter as well as the operator’s hands on the controller. For more, see Mr. Steele’s Youtube channel

Flytrex Sky – The first delivery drone

The Flytrex Sky claims to be the world’s first internet connected drone that serves as a personal courier.

 

UAV097 Drone Lawyer Jonathan Rupprecht

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Boeing patents drones that can be charged midair, from PatentYogiConversation with drone lawyer Jonathan Rupprecht, a NASA and Verizon UAS tracking system, the Google Internet HALE drone crashes, and Boeing patents a drone charging concept.

Guest

Jonathan Rupprecht, Esq.In December 2014, Jonathan Rupprecht formed Rupprecht Law, a firm providing legal services for operators of unmanned aerial vehicles.

Jonathan authored a book on the law in the United States pertaining to unmanned aircraft called Drones: Their Many Civilian Uses and the U.S. Laws Surrounding Them. He later was an advisor for one of the amicus briefs for the Huerta v. Pirker case.

We talk with Jonathan about the state of drone law, areas that need to be figured out (like export control, frequency allocation, federal versus local jurisdiction), and what lawyers can offer (such as support for building the business plan.) Jonathan discusses how issues like privacy might already be covered under existing laws, the open issue of navigable airspace, and the notice and comment process.  We also consider building safety awareness among the general drone-flying public.

Jonathan Rupprecht is a commercial pilot for single and multi-engine aircraft ratings and also a flight instructor for airplanes and instruments. He obtained a Bachelor of Science in Professional Aeronautics from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Magna Cum Laude, and a Juris Doctor from Florida International University School of Law.

The first book led into him being requested to be a co-author on an American Bar Association book called Unmanned Aircraft in the National Airspace: Critical Issues, Technology, and the Law. Jonathan wrote on administrative law, the FAA rule making process, and the special rule on unmanned aircraft.

News

NASA Developing Unmanned Aerial System Traffic Management

NASA and Verizon plan to monitor US drone network from phone towers

The NASA Unmanned Aerial System Traffic Management system, or UTM, is a  cloud-based concept to manage air traffic operated beyond visual line of sight at low altitudes. UTM Principal Investigator Dr. Parimal Kopardekar says, “We need a way to organize the UAS traffic, whether that’s by crisscrossing or with a bike lane or HOV lane kind of construct. The system can make these things happen based on demand. UTM is a virtual system.”

To learn more, the Guardian filed a Freedom of Information Act request for documents and learned that last year telecom company Verizon signed an agreement with NASA “to jointly explore whether cell towers … could support communications and surveillance of unmanned aerial systems (UAS) at low altitudes.”

Google’s High-Flying Internet Drone Crashed in New Mexico Weeks Ago

The Solara 50 drone built by Google-owned Titan Aerospace crashed shortly after takeoff. The solar powered, 50 foot wingspan drone is designed to linger at 65,000 feet and provide Internet connectivity. The NTSB is investigating.

Boeing patents system for airborne drone charging

The Boeing patent is titled, “Autonomous aircraft with disconnectable tether” and describes a system where drones drop tethers to ground-based charging stations.

Video of the Week

Sky Pixel LA – SBC Flooding Part 1

Listener Heath sent in the link to this video showing some of the flooding around the Shreveport, Louisiana area. It’s a very artistic portrayal of a very serious situation. Part 2 is more of a look at the effect of the flooding on people.

Mentioned

Here and There June 3, 2015 Max Flight

Max appeared on the KSFR 101.1FM, Santa Fe Public Radio show, Here and There with journalism pro Dave Marash. They talked about drones, applications, regulatory issues, privacy, and more.

Enrique Iglesias Undergoes Hand Surgery After Drone Accident

Singer Enrique Iglesias catches a quadcopter with his hand in his act. Things didn’t go so well for Iglesias in the Tijuana performance.

Extreme Sandbox

Extreme Sandbox in Hastings, Minnesota opened an extreme adventure attraction called RC Adventure where visitors can operate DJI Phantom 2 drones on obstacle courses.

UAV094 The Amazon Patent for Package Delivery by Drone

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Amazon Patent 20150120094Amazon patents package delivery by drone, using drones to plant trees, a new Israeli UAV company, another manned aircraft maker goes unmanned, and the Arctic becomes a no drone zone.

News

Here are Amazon’s plans for delivery drones

Amazon Technologies, Inc. of Seattle, Washington was awarded Patent 20150120094 on April 30, 2015. The patent “…describes an unmanned aerial vehicle (“UAV”) configured to autonomously deliver items of inventory to various destinations. The UAV may receive inventory information and a destination location and autonomously retrieve the inventory from a location within a materials handling facility, compute a route from the materials handling facility to a destination and travel to the destination to deliver the inventory.”

Drones to repopulate forests, 1 billion trees at a time

BioCarbon Engineering of Oxford, England-based is planning to use drones to assist in populating the world’s forests. Scout drones survey the area to create a 3D map, then drones with pressurized air canisters launch and shoot biodegradable pre-germinated seed pods into the ground. The drones are designed and built by VulcanUAV and designed to carry the heavy load of seeds and delivery hardware.

Meteor, New Israeli UAV Company

Yitzhak Nissan, the former president of Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), has formed Meteor, a new company that wants to develop “a new breed” of unmanned aerial vehicles. The Israeli Ministry of Defense said that Meteor is planning to demonstrate an affordable UAS with a maximum takeoff weight of about 350 Kilograms.

Sonex Enters UAV Market

Kitbuilt airplane maker Sonex Aircraft is collaborating with Navmar Applied Sciences Corp. (NASC) to research, engineer, and produce UAVs for the U.S. Defense Department. The first project is named Teros and will be based on the Xenos motor glider, powered by the AeroVee Turbo 100 hp piston engine. First prototype delivery is planned for June, 2015.

[AECO] Bans use of UAV’s in the Arctic

If you take an Arctic cruise with a member of the Association of Arctic Expedition Cruise Operators (AECO), you will not be able to bring and use UAVs when visiting the Arctic.

NASA Cohosts Forum on Managing Expanding Unmanned Aerial System Traffic

NASA and the Silicon Valley Chapter of the Association of Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI) are partnering to co-sponsor the 2015 Unmanned Aerial Systems Traffic Management (UTM) Convention, July 28-30, at the NASA Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, California. Convention speakers are to include­­ NASA and FAA executives, industry thought leaders, innovators and stakeholders. Exhibits and flight demonstrations will feature the latest developments in unmanned aerial systems technology, and how they will impact the future of low-altitude flight.

Video of the Week

NASA Greased Lightning GL-10 prototype

Ten-Engine Electric Plane Completes Successful Flight Test

NASA Langley researchers designed and built a battery-powered, 10-engine remotely piloted aircraft. The Greased Lightning GL-10 prototype has a 10-foot wingspan and can take off like a helicopter and fly efficiently like an airplane. In this video, engineers successfully transition the plane from hover to wing-borne flight in tests at Fort A.P. Hill in Virginia.

Mentioned

PhoneDrone: Let your smartphone be your personal drone

PhoneDrone is a Kickstarter project which turns your your smartphone into a quadcopter. Two versions are planned: one RTF and one where you 3D print the frame.

 

UAV070 Preview of the FAA sUAS NPRM

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NAB Chernobyl Aerial VideoSneak peak at the FAA sUAS regulations, NZ drone regs, bioengineered drones, busting poachers, the threat to airliners, first amendment issues, and GoPro to enter the UAV market.

News

Drone Flights Face FAA Hit

The Wall Street Journal reports that “people familiar with the rule-making process” are talking about what we can expect in the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) from the FAA for sUAS.

The expectation is that the FAA will:

  • Lump all sUAS under 55 pounds under the same regulations
  • Require sUAS operators to have a manned-flight pilots license
  • Limit flying to daytime hours, below 400 feet, line of sight.

The NPRM is still expected before year-end, followed by a public comment period.

New Zealand to introduce civil UAV regulations

The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) plans to issue New Zealand’s notice of proposed rulemaking for unmanned air vehicles on December 4. There are no details on what the proposal will contain, but the CAA had input from the UAVNZ industry group and Callaghan Innovation, an entity that promotes economic progress in New Zealand. The CAA says that certification will likely be required for operators of high risk UAVs.

NASA Is Working on Creating Bioengineered Drones Made of Mushrooms and Bacteria

NASA is supporting the Prototyping a Biological UAV project “to grow a mycelium-based chassis for [a] biological drone.” One motivation for this program is to create lightweight sensors that require no electrical energy.

Poachers Caught by ShadowView Drones

ShadowView Foundation drones were used during an anti-poaching operation in the Greater Kruger Area in South Africa.  Rhino poachers were apprehended as a result.

This is believed to be the first time drones were used for this purpose.

ShadowView used information from the drone to direct local rangers on the ground. “One of the rangers reported via radio the poachers were heavily armed and immediately engaged upon sight. During the ensuing firefight, the rangers unfortunately killed one of the poachers.”

Is The Small-UAV Threat To Airliners Overrated?

Regulatory agencies require that commercial aircraft withstand impact by birds. This article wonders if existing regulations for bird strikes can be extended to include small UAVs.

Up in the Air: The free-speech problems raised by regulating drones

Ferguson, Missouri has been the scene of protests and vandalism after a Ferguson Police Department officer fatally shot an 18-year-old man. The FAA granted no-fly zone requests, but there are indications that this was done to keep news helicopters out of the area. This article explores possible First Amendment issues associated with news gathering by drone.

WSJ: GoPro Is Going to Make Its Own Drones

Reportedly, GoPro is going to start making its own multi-rotor helicopters in the $500-1,000 range. Availability is said to be late 2015.

The 19 best drone photos of 2014

Mashable picks 19 awesome images that could only have been created from an aerial perspective.

Video of the Week

Chernobyl by Drone  

Eerie video of the Chernobyl Exclusion Area almost 30 years after the meltdown.

UAV059 Sense and Avoid

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NASA Predator B Unmanned Science and Research Aircraft SystemSense and Avoid by NASA and General Atomics, South African rules by 2015, Amazon’s drone page, package delivery by Flirtey and Google, and cease and desist letters from the FAA.

Guest

Maj. Gen. Charles Frank Bolden, Jr., (USMC-Ret.), the NASA Administrator since July, 2009.

In this clip from a longer interview recorded for the Airplane Geeks podcast, Charlie talks about NASA’s activity to develop autonomous flight technologies with the UAS test sites, focusing on sense and avoid. NASA is looking at low altitude sUAS air traffic control, and they are finalizing an agreement with Google on sense and avoid technology for package delivery systems. NASA wants to help the FAA get out ahead of the developing market.

News

General Atomics Readies for ‘Detect and Avoid’ Demo

General Atomics Aeronautical Systems is developing aircraft detect-and-avoid (DAA) systems for unmanned aircraft. First, they’ll conduct software regression and hardware functional testing on their Predator B at the company’s flight operations facility in Palmdale, California.

Then, they’ll move the system to the NASA Predator B Unmanned Science and Research Aircraft System named “Ikhana,” a Native American Choctaw word meaning intelligent, conscious, or aware. Five weeks of collision avoidance trials will be performed where the Predator will be flown against “intruder” aircraft.

CAA on track to introduce UAV regulations by March 2015

The South African Civil Aviation Authority says it will finalize UAV regulations by March, 2015.

The CAA says until then, UAV operation in civil airspace is illegal and operators could be subject to a fine or up to ten years in prison, or both. Flying on private land or in restricted airspace is also illegal.

However, the director and chairman of the Commercial Unmanned Aircraft Association of South Africa (CUAASA) says you cannot be fined by the CAA because there are no laws in place.

Guess Which Giant Retailer Has Officially Opened Up a “Drone Store”

Amazon.com has officially opened a “Drone Store” featuring the DJI Phantom and the Parrot Drone. Coming soon is the TechJect Dragonfly, a “Wi-Fi enabled robotic insect.”

Mike Fortin, the CEO of CineDrones thinks selling hobby-grade equipment without emphasizing education or safety is irresponsible. But Amazon’s Drone Store web page has a “Fly Responsibly” link that takes you to more “links for informational purposes only:”

Drone Startup Flirtey Partners with The University of Nevada, Reno To Push UAV Delivery Forward

In October 2013, Flirtey started drone delivery tests in Australia. They now have more than a hundred successful test deliveries of textbooks, with its partner Zookal, a company that sells textbooks online.

Now Flirtey has teamed up with UAS research center University of Nevada, Reno. The University gets equity in the company, and Flirtey gets collaboration with the University’s R&D labs for design, manufacture, and research. Flirtey also gets access to the University’s graduate students and indoor flight-testing facilities.

Flirtey is going commercial in New Zealand, which is launching Airshare as a UAV hub where commercial operators can log flight information.

2 Arrested for Flying Drones Near Brooklyn Bridge, US Open: NYPD

The first individual arrested was allegedly flying over the Brooklyn Bridge. He was reported to police by transit workers. The man was visiting from Russia.

The second arrest was for an overflight of the National Tennis Center, hosting the U.S. Open.  The operator, a filmmaker, reportedly stated that he thought he was flying in an “appropriate park space.” The National Tennis Center is a private facility adjacent to Flushing Meadows Corona Park, which is a public space.

Undeclared drone batteries sparked plane fire at Melbourne airport

We’ve seen stories about how certain kinds of Lithium-Ion batteries get hot and cause fires on airplanes. Here, a passenger’s hard plastic case in the hold contained Lithium-ion polymer batteries intended to power a remote control drone. Just prior to takeoff, the captain of the Fiji Airways plane detected the smoke from the cargo hold and called a mayday.

FAA Scans the Internet For Drone Users; Sends Cease and Desist Letters

In January, Governmentattic.org made a Freedom of Information Act request to the FAA for “copies of any letters, e-mails, or other written or electronic communications requesting or demanding individuals and organizations cease and desist, stop operating, or stop advertising unmanned aerial vehicles.”

The FAA responded with records of 17 “warning letters and e-mails [PDF] sent out by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) regional offices to individuals…” Most of the cease and desist letters went to aerial video companies, but two universities were asked to stop operations associated with drone journalism studies.

The FAA communications list 3 ways under which UAVs can be operated:

  1. Certificate of Authorization (COA)
  2. Experimental Certification
  3. Recreational hobbyists

None allow commercial operation for aerial photography for hire.

Video of the Week

Gawk at Richard Branson’s tropical hideaway via aerial drone

You can’t afford to vacation at this private island, but Sir Richard is pleased to present this aerial tour.

Feedback

Paul Braun of TATTS writes to tell us that, “the Taking Autism To The Sky project (TATTS) was notified by Timothy Reuter of the Washington DC Drone User Group the other day that we are a finalist for the Social Drone Innovation Award.” Watch their Drone Social Innovation Award Submittal video and give them a “like.”

UAV051 Martha Stewart on Drones

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Gobble HawkMartha Stewart’s farm via DJI Phantom, UAS competitions, Amazon.com petitions the FAA, and a utility company to start drone testing.

News:

Amazing Aerial Photos Of My Farm

One of Martha Stewart’s security employees took a tour of Martha’s farm with his new DJI Phantom. On her blog, she posted photos taken by the quadcopter, much to the delight of her fans. Is that commercial use by Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Martha’s company?

Shaken or stirred? Drone bartender battles bots in design challenge

The Electrolux Design Lab is a design competition where students submit innovative ideas for households of the future. Among the 35 finalists this year, we see one that carries either hot or cold beverages to thirsty bar patrons, and dispenses the drinks into cups. Control is intended to be by voice or mobile app.

‘Gobble Hawk’ Wins NASA High-Altitude UAV Design Competition

There was another recent contest for students, this one specifically for UAVs that track hurricanes. NASA was looking for a lower cost high endurance UAS, and they chose the twin-fuselage Gobble Hawk design concept from Virginia Tech.

The second place OQ451-5 Trident from Purdue would be powered by hydrogen engines, with an endurance of 7 days. Third place was the University of Virginia Big WAHOO (Worldwide Autonomous Hurricane and Oceanic Observer), also hydrogen-powered..

Amazon asks the FAA for permission to play with its drones outside

Amazon.com has been operating its package delivery drones in an indoor test facility in Seattle. On July 9, they sent a Petition for Exemption to the FAA asking to move outside.

Amazon is serious about package delivery by drone. In part, their petition says:

Amazon Prime Air, a new delivery system that will get packages to customers in 30 minutes or less using aerial vehicles, is one invention we are incredibly passionate about.  We believe customers will love it, and we are committed to making Prime Air available to customers worldwide as soon as we are permitted to do so.

We also see that Amazon has made significant progress:

In the past five months, we have made advancements toward the development of highly-automated aerial vehicles for Prime Air, including:

  • Testing a range of capabilities for our eighth- and ninth-generation aerial vehicles, including agility, flight duration, redundancy, and sense-and-avoid sensors and algorithms;
  • Developing aerial vehicles that travel over 50 miles per hour, and will carry 5-pound payloads, which cover 86% of products sold on Amazon; and
  • Attracting a growing team of world-renowned roboticists, scientists, aeronautical engineers, remote sensing experts, and a former NASA astronaut.

Finally, Amazon summarizes:

One day, seeing Amazon Prime Air will be as normal as seeing mail trucks on the road today, resulting in enormous benefits for consumers across the nation.  We respectfully submit this petition for exemption so that Prime Air can be ready to launch commercial operations as soon as eventually permitted by subsequent FAA action.

Eagle shot wins drone photography competition

A competition for drone photographs recently concluded and the winning photo is a birdseye view of an eagle in flight over Bali Barat National Park in Indonesia. You can see the contest winners at Dronestagram, a website dedicated to aerial photographs. Sponsorship was provided by National Geographic, Go Pro, Picanova, Droneshop and Parrot.

SDG&E Is First (Utility) in Unmanned Flight With Drone Testing

The San Diego Gas & Electric Co. says the FAA has given them permission to conduct test flights of a small camera-equipped quadcopter. Ultimately, the utility wants to use the UAVs for infrastructure inspection. Test flights are limited to rural areas away from houses.

MultiRotorForums Petitions White House to Adopt UK Drone Policy

DroneLive.com reports that MultiRotorForums.com created a petition on WhiteHouse.gov asking that the Obama Administration compel the FAA to adopt the UK’s commercial sUAS standards immediately. 100,000 signatures are needed by August 3, 2014.

 Lifeguard drone to the rescue!

In this concept from RTS, multicopters are fitted with life preservers, a FLIR camera, and the ability to detect swimmers in distress. They fly to the person and drop a life preserver faster than a human lifeguard could arrive.

Video of the Week

Flying Down Low Around Las Vegas Back Alleys with my RC UAV Drone for Aerial Photography

Mentioned

Drone Operators Arrested After Close Call with NYPD Helicopter

Two men were arrested and charged with reckless endangerment after flying a drone within 800 feet of a police helicopter at 2,000 feet near the George Washington Bridge.

Stronger privacy laws needed to protect public from drones, parliamentary committee says

An Australian federal government committee is recommending stronger privacy laws, particularly related to drones. Their report is called Eyes in the Sky: Inquiry into drones and the regulation of air safety & privacy. [PDF]

Eye in the sky keeps close watch on livestock
Kiwi ranchers use a hexacopter and GoPro.

Recommended Books

Amazon.com links to two good books for those just getting started:

The Beginner’s Guide to FPV

Getting Started with Hobby Quadcopters and Drones: Learn about, buy and fly these amazing aerial vehicles

 

UAV041 Regulating UAS

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Flying Fire Breathing Dragon

UAS regulation proposals from CASA in Australia and from a listener in the U.S., a “Ten best drones” list, NASA testing sense and avoid with a Predator, and bright job prospects for those with UAS skills.

The News:

NPRM 1309OS – Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems
Australia’s ‘low risk’ drone strike stance could bring down airliners
Certified UAS operators in Australia hits 100

The Australian CASA released an NPRM (a Notice of Proposed Rule Making) on May 14 concerning Remotely Piloted Aircraft (or RPA) used for commercial operations. It excludes model aircraft used for recreational purposes, but it does have provisions for a “low risk” class of RPA with a gross weight of no more than 2 kilograms:

10 Best Remote Control Drones for 2014

The editors at Faveable made a list of what they believe to be the ten best consumer drones available today.

NASA Wants To Prove Predator Drones Can Play Nice With Airliners

NASA plans to fly an MQ-9 Predator B and two manned manned aircraft in the same airspace. The idea is to test sense and avoid algorithms under real world conditions.

Graduates with drone skills are going to be in demand soon

If you can design, build, or operate drones, you might have a bright future ahead of you. In a 2013 report, the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International says we could see 70,000 new jobs in the U.S. within three years, and 100,000 new jobs by the year 2025.

Video of the Week:

Drone HDR with HDRinstant

Use stacking and morphing technology to create HDR images from your drone videos.

Listener Feedback:

Roy submits two articles for consideration:

Question: What Should the FAA Do About Small UAS? – General Aviation needs to participate in the conversation.

UAVs: Chafing (Rightfully) Against Regulation – The UAV industry and enthusiasts are different than “legacy” aviation. They are historically unrestrained by regulations, and live in a world of fast technology change. The FAA is talking like they are in charge, but they aren’t.

Roy also offers the things he thinks the FAA should be looking at when classifying UAS: weight, speed, and type of control. Type of control defined as:

    • Line of sight and the pilot has to watch it.
    • Point of view and the pilot flies it by watching a video feed from the drone.
    • Completely autonomous, so no pilot is required.

UAV008 The FBI Uses Drones

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U.S. Customs and Border Protection drone

This Episode:

U.S. Justice Department reports on it’s use of drones by the FBI, BATF and others, an online multi-player UAV game, a NASA competition to demonstrate UAS capabilities (with a cash prize!), a map showing which States have anti-drone laws, reverse engineering a Lockheed Martin RQ-170 Sentinel, and qualifications for UAS pilots.

Justice Department Spent Nearly $5M on Drones

The Inspector General of the U.S. Justice Department released a report showing that the Department’s agencies have spent close to $5 Million on unmanned aircraft since 2004. The FBI alone has spent more than $3 million, the ATF (Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives) has spent almost $600,000, and $1.26 million has been awarded to at least seven local police departments and nonprofit organizations.

Real UAV Virtual Reality Game Project

“Zone” is a multi-player online game that is looking for funding through Indigogo. The idea is that modified R/C planes would be remotely controlled by three teams, each with two players who control their fighter. Teams have a mission plan, a destination, and a dog fight along the way.

UAS Airspace Operations Challenge and The Challenge is On: Team Registration Open for NASA-DPI Unmanned Aircraft

This is phase 1 of a NASA Centennial Challenge Program with $500,000 in prizes. Competitors will demonstrate UAS technology and capabilities that are critical to their integration into the national airspace. Hosted at the Ohio/Indiana UAS Center & Test Complex at Camp Atterbury Range, near Edinburgh, Indiana and taking place from 28 April – 2 May 2014.

Map: Is your State a No-Drone Zone?

With drones to eventually enter the commercial airspace in the U.S., some States have passed anti-drone legislation out of concern for public privacy and safety. This map shows which States have no such laws, which have laws restricting use by private citizens, which have laws restricting use by law enforcement, and which have both.

Commander: Iranian RQ-170 to Have Maiden Flight Soon

Lockheed Martin RQ-170 SentinelAn Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Commander says an Iranian version of the Lockheed Martin RQ-170 Sentinel will make its maiden flight in the near future. This is the drone the Iranians captured in 2011 and they claim to have reverse-engineered the technology.

The Future of Unmanned Aircraft Systems Pilot Qualification [PDF]

@onthefly305 Tweeted a link to a Journal of Aviation / Aerospace Education & Research paper that looks at qualification of UAS pilots. The only current printed requirements come from the 2008 FAA Interim Operational Approval Guidance.

The author believes that “UAS Operators and pilots could be incorporated into the National Airspace System under current regulations that govern pilot qualification, by modifying the standards and classification currently used by the U.S. Department of Defense. The FAA needs to make only minor changes to the existing Federal Aviation Regulations (FAR) and certify UAS operators by using type ratings.”

Mentioned:

DARPA Tactical Technology Office, Hydra

 

UAV006 Spy on the Chicken

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PUMA AE beach launch

PUMA AE beach launch. Courtesy AeroVironment, Inc.

This Episode:

The Reaper is turned into a Jammer, drones are spying on chickens in Australia, FAA rules for small UAS’s delayed again, UAV privacy questions remain, a new UAS Test Center in the UK, monitoring wildlife with a PUMA and the weather with a Global Hawk, FEMA shuts down Colorado UAV flights, and more multi-rotor’s come down in crowds.

The News:

Jamming Pod Demonstrated on MQ-9 Reaper UAV

General Atomics has fitted a Northrop Grumman jamming pod to an MQ-9 Reaper. The test flight occurred back in April during a U.S. Marine Corps weapons and tactics instructor (WTI) course, but has only recently been made public. Planned for the October WTI course is a demonstration with EA-6B Prowler electronic warfare (EW) jets and smaller unmanned aircraft.

Animal Liberation activists launch spy drone to test free-range claims

Australian activists are concerned that some large free-range chicken farms are not in fact free-range. So for $17,000 they purchased a hexacopter, fitted it with an HD video camera, and flew it over the farms to document their claims. The group says this does not violate trespass laws.

First Commercial UAS Flight Due; Small UAS Rule Delayed

An Insitu ScanEagle was expected to make the first commercial flight of an unmanned aircraft on September 11, under a restricted category type certification the FAA awarded in July. ConocoPhillips was to launch the ScanEagle from a research vessel in the Arctic Ocean west of Alaska to monitor whale migrations and ice flows.

The FAA’s release of a Notice of Proposed RuleMaking (NPRM) which would govern the operation of small Unmanned Aircraft Systems (sUAS) weighing up to 55 pounds has been delayed until early in 2014.

UAV Operations in National Air Space Advance as Privacy Fight Heats Up

The standards being developed for sUAS over: UAV design, including command and control systems, batteries, production, quality assurance, maintenance, and continued airworthiness, the aircraft flight manual, and operations over populated areas.

ASTM International developed the initial standards for the FAA Aviation Rulemaking Committee that was chartered in 2008. That feeds the NPRM process which includes a mechanism for public comment.

The ASTM standards committee for large UAS was unable to make enough progress, so it’s mission was changed to minimum operational performance standards (or MOPS) for detect-and-avoid equipment.

Unlike the slow rule-making progress for commercial UAS, Government agencies (like law enforcement and public safety) can move quickly as a result of the March MOU between the FAA and the Department of Justice.

UK Inaugurates National UAS Test Center

Two UK airports (West Wales Airport and Newquay Cornwall Airport) have launched a “National Aeronautical Center” (NAC) to develop, test and demonstrate unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), both commercial and military.

More drones coming Saturday in NOAA tests

NOAA’s Office of Marine and Aviation Operations is testing the PUMA UAS in the Florida Keys to monitor wildlife without disturbing them.

 

NASA Global Hawk

A NASA Global Hawk undergoes systems testing while parked on the ramp at NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Center on the edge of Rogers Dry Lake at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., in preparation for participation in NASA’s Genesis and Rapid Intensification Processes, or GRIP, hurricane mission.

Spy Drones Turning Up New Data About Hurricanes And Weather and NASA to Investigate Tropical Storm Humberto: Atlantic’s Second “Zombie Tropical Storm”

NASA is flying two Global Hawks from Wallops Island over Hurricanes under the five-year HS3 (Hurricane and Severe Storm Sentinel) Mission.

Falcon UAV Supports Colorado Flooding Until Grounded by FEMA

The Falcon UAV was providing valuable aerial imagery of the recent tragic Colorado floods. However, FEMA (the Federal Emergency Management Agency) has arrived with conventional manned aircraft and the Falcon was ordered to stand down.

Multirotor Crashes into Crowd in Spain and Pirate Party Crashes Spy Drone in Front of German Chancellor Angela Merkel

A hexacopter comes down into a packed crowd in Spain, allegedly injuring several people. Meanwhile, in Dresden, Germany at a political party campaign rally, another copter came down in front of the podium.

UAV 002 Sense and Avoid

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NASA's Langley Research Center Cirrus SR-22

Guest Jamie Dodson is Foreign Intelligence Officer, and Senior Technology Protection Engineer for the US Army Aviation & Missile Command. He has over 30 years of experience in Intelligence Operations for the US Military, having served with Special Operations, Army Aviation, Airborne Infantry, and Military Police. He is also author of the award winning Nick Grant Adventures series. Find him on Facebook.

The News:

‘Sense and Avoid’ Technology Evaluated in Weeklong Flight Tests

Unmanned aircraft have to know how to avoid other aircraft, but especially other unmanned aircraft. To test Sense and Avoid software developed by the MITRE Corp., the University of North Dakota and Draper Labs, NASA’s Langley Research Center has conducted flight demonstrations with a Cirrus SR-22 and a Cessna 206 through the Limited Deployment-Cooperative Airspace Project (LD-CAP). The system uses ADS-B (automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast) as the sensor.

T-20 UAV  Reaches high Altitude Mark

The Arcturus T-20 Unmanned Aerial Vehicle has been flown to an altitude of 23,500′ MSL. The primary mission of the T-20 is intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance: aerial mapping, drug interdiction, border patrol, force protection, search and rescue, as well as military ISR.  The T-20 is also being studied for use in fighting wild fires.

4.)  Drones to protect Baltimore and DC and Don’t Be Alarmed by the Drone Blimps Hovering Over D.C. They’re Here to Stop Cruise Missiles

Two Raytheon JLENS (Joint Land Attack Cruise Missile Defense Elevated Netted Sensor)  helium-filled aerostats are planned to provide Washington, DC with protection against threats such as cruise missiles, high-speed attack boats, armed drones, planes, tanks, and trucks. Guest Jamie Dodson played a role in the JLENS program.

The Killing Machines by Mark Bowden a national correspondent for The Atlantic.

This well done article is balanced and presents the history and current issues associated with military drone strikes. Highly recommended regardless of your position on this issue.

Recorded 22 August 2013