Tag Archives: Titan Aerospace

UAV036 No Fly Zones for UAVs

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DJI: No FLY Zones

Phantom firmware update addresses safety concerns, FAA files appeal brief in Trappy case, a search and rescue team fights to use quadcopters, 33 organizations appeal to the FAA, machine guns versus drones, Google beats out Facebook for atmospheric satellites, and a drone pilot is charged with a felony.

The News:

Chinese manufacturer programs Phantom drones with no-fly zones to protect Australian airports

DJI Innovations is introducing a firmware update to the Phantom 2 quadcopter “to increase flight safety and prevent accidental flights” in around 350 “No Fly Zones” world-wide. The update downloads a global GPS database of restricted locations. If the Phantom has a sufficient GPS signal, it will not fly into the restricted area.

The airport list includes Category A for large international airports with a 5 mile safety zone. In the first 1.5 mile radius, you will be unable to take off. From 1.5 miles to 5 miles from the airport, there is an increasing height limitation – 35 feet at 1.5 miles to 400 feet at 5 miles.

Category B features a 0.6 mile safety zone radius, and is intended for smaller airports. Inside that zone, you will be unable to take off.

If you approach a safety zone from outside the radius, you receive a warning. If you accidentally fly into a safety zone, and then your Phantom acquires a GPS signal the Phantom lands immediately inside the no-takeoff area, and descends to the specified maximum height in the height-restricted area.

FAA Files Appeal Brief In Closely-Watched Drone Pilot Case

The FAA has filed its appeal brief in their case against Raphael Pirker, which they lost in a ruling by an NTSB judge. Two issues are raised by the FAA in the brief:

1. The judge erred in determining that Pirker’s small drone was not an “aircraft,” as defined by the Federal Aviation Regulations (FARs).

2. The judge erred in determining that the small drone’s operation was not subject to the FARs.

Search teams that rely on drones run afoul of FAA

The Vernon Parish, Louisiana Sheriff’s Office asked Texas EquuSearch for help in finding the missing James Stephens, and they put out a call for searchers on foot and ATV.

The group has used small drones for searches since 2005, and has located the bodies of 11 missing persons. Texas EquuSearch founder Tim Miller, in referring to the FAA prohibition said, “We’ll go by some of their rules, but certainly not all of them. There is a possibility he (Stephens) could be still be alive out there, so yes we’re going to use it.”

AMA and AUVSI lead 33 organizations in calling on FAA to expedite rulemaking for Unmanned Aircraft Systems [PDF]

The Academy of Model Aeronautics (AMA), the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI), and 31 other organizations sent a letter to the FAA “encouraging the agency to expedite the rulemaking process for unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) operations in the U.S. airspace. The letter also calls on the FAA to allow the limited use of small UAS for commercial purposes before the final rulemaking is completed.”

The letter states, “The time for resolution has come, and we cannot afford any further delays. The technology is advancing faster than the regulations to govern it. While the FAA has indicated its intention to appeal the Pirker decision to the full National Transportation Safety Board, we strongly encourage the FAA to simultaneously expedite its small UAS rulemaking and issue notice and public comment as soon as possible.”

Stunning video of machine guns shooting at target drones shows how difficult hitting a remotely piloted aircraft can be

When David Cenciotti posted images in The Aviationist of a small drone believed to be used by the U.S. Army in Pakistan and Iraq, some thought these UAVs would be an easy target for small arms fire. So a group at a shooting range in Arizona thought they’d test the theory with automatic weapons. They weren’t very successful.

Google Grabs Drone Company and Google Bought a Drone Company, Which Isn’t At All Creepy, Nope

We thought solar-powered UAV-maker Titan Aerospace was getting bought by Facebook. We were wrong and it now looks like Google is picking them up.

Titan UAVs can stay aloft for 5 years, making them a good platform to deliver Internet access to remote locations. Google already has its “Project Loon” which is balloon-based. And the Titan “atmospheric satellites” might also support Google Maps.

Police: Ohio Man’s Drone Hindered Medical Chopper

A hobbyist who flew his $4,000 hexacopter over a crash scene has been charged with a felony. Authorities say he was told to stand down but did not when a medical helicopter was about to land. He’s facing a felony charge of obstructing official business, and misdemeanor charges of misconduct at an emergency and disorderly conduct.

Video of the Week: Prototype Quadrotor with Machine Gun

Mentioned:

UAV029 Delivering the Internet via UAV

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Titan Aerospace

Facebook buys a drone company, having enough communications and data bandwidth, an international UAV test consortium announced, UAV training at Roswell, busting FAA myths about UAVs, FAA authority to regulate UAS questioned, privacy questions flare down under, and Russia building Israeli UAVs.

Breaking news: Commercial Drones Are Completely Legal, a Federal Judge Ruled

The News:

Facebook Follows Amazon, Google Into Drones With $60 Million Purchase

Facebook is reportedly purchasing Titan Aerospace for $60 Million. Titan Aerospace makes high altitude solar-powered UAV’s that they refer to as persistent solar atmospheric satellites.™

Facebook is a partner in Internet.org, along with Samsung, Ericsson, MediaTek, Nokia, Opera and Qualcomm. Their objective is to bring everyone in the world with a smartphone into the “knowledge economy” by making Internet services 100 times more affordable.

Accomplishing that means reducing the volume of data served by ten times, and reducing the cost to serve that data by ten times. That’s where Titan comes in.

Drones seen driving spectrum sharing technologies

We talk a lot about the UAS regulations the FAA needs to establish, but there is something else that has to be figured out. All those military and commercial UAVs slated to cloud our skies need com links, and that means enough spectrum has to be available.

International Consortium of Aeronautical Test Sites For UAVs Announced In Quebec

An International Consortium of Aeronautical Test Sites has been created to share information on operational safety, flight regulations, and operational experiences.

This is intended to enable development, testing, and certification of Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) and Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS). The Consortium also looks to support creation of international standards for UAS/RPAS construction. Other centers are expected to join the Consortium.

The Consortium was announced by the UAV test and service centre (CESA) in France, the Oklahoma State University – University Multispectral Laboratories, the National Aeronautical Centre in Wales, and the Unmanned Aerial System Centre of Excellence in Quebec, Canada.

Roswell selected as drone plane training center

Strategic Aerospace International is setting up a drone pilot training center in Roswell, New Mexico, starting with 30 Air Force academy graduates in a three month program. SAI has the curriculum at 48 colleges and universities, but needs the airspace to fly the UAVs. They’ll use the Northrop Grumman SandShark UAS.

Busting Myths about the FAA and Unmanned Aircraft

The FAA wants to dispel some of what they consider to be “misconceptions and misinformation” about UAS regulations. Things like control of airspace, what commercial flights are allowable, and can the FAA police all this? So they’ve published a list of seven myths and the “real” facts.

Myth #1: The FAA doesn’t control airspace below 400 feet
Fact: They do.

Myth #2: Commercial UAS flights are OK if I’m over private property and stay below 400’.
Fact: A 2007 Federal Register notice says no.

Myth #3: Commercial UAS operations are a “gray area” in FAA regulations.
Fact: There is no gray.

Myth #4: There are too many commercial UAS operations for the FAA to stop.
Fact: The FAA is watching and has appropriate enforcement tools

Myth #5: Commercial UAS operations will be OK after September 30, 2015.
Fact: Congress mandated that the FAA come up with a safe integration plan by that date. Regulations, policies, and standards will come incrementally.

Myth #6: The FAA is lagging behind other countries in approving commercial drones.
Fact: The U.S. is not like the rest of the world. We have a very busy airspace and we need to get this right.

Myth #7: The FAA predicts as many as 30,000 drones by 2030.
Fact: That’s an old outdated number. Now the FAA estimates 7,500 sUAS by 2018

Free the Beer Drones: Maybe the FAA doesn’t have the authority to regulate unmanned aerial vehicles.

The author believes the U.S. Code and regulations that give the FAA authority, do not define UAVs, so they have no authority. And even if the FAA does have authority, it has not published the documents required to regulate UAVs. Regulatory and statutory law requires public scrutiny and input, and the FAA hasn’t done that.

AFP using drones to investigate major crime as questions raised over privacy

A parliamentary inquiry is looking at drones and their use by the Australian Federal Police (AFP). The AFP maintains use has been limited, like at crime scenes, and admits that covert surveillance would require a warrant. But the Office of the Privacy Commissioner says it has been getting inquiries from the public about the use of drones.

Warplanes: Russia Builds Israeli UAV

After seven years of negotiations and trials, Russia has begun production under license of the Israeli Searcher 2 UAV.

Video of the Week:

Autonomous drones flock like birds

Mentioned:

Williams Foundation calls for fast-tracked UAVs

 

UAV 003 Hurricanes, Fires, and Drones! Oh My!

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Latitude Engineering Hybrid Quadcopter

A quadcopter that is also a plane, chasing storms (and other things) with disposable UAV’s, using UAV’s in place of satellites, and a tiny town that wants to pay you to shoot down drones.

The News:

Whaddaya get when you cross a quadcopter with a plane? The HQ UAV

For take-offs, landings and hovering, the Latitude Engineering HQ utilizes four horizontally-mounted propellers – just like a regular quadcopter. These are each driven by an individual electric motor, all four of which receive their power from two 5-cell 11,000 milliamp-hour lithium-polymer battery packs.

Cheap, Disposable Drones Are the New Storm Chasers

Some environments are simply hazardous for flying: wildfires and volcanic eruptions are examples. These are perfect opportunities for drones to provide the kind of observation you’d like to avoid with a manned aircraft.

The DataHawk from the Research and Engineering Center for Unmanned Vehicles at the University of Colorado Boulder is to be used to measure Arctic Ocean ice melt. This will actually be flown to a spot on the ocean, then float like a buoy and drop sensors into the water to make measurements.

The University of Queensland in Australia designed a $50 plane made from biodegradable paper. The electronics are printed directly onto the body of the plane, which has small voice-coil actuators for steering.

The Samara prototype, also from the University of Queensland, falls slowly and transmits data by radio, and works like a Maple seed.

Solar-powered Solara UAV could stay aloft for years

The Titan Aerospace has designed the Solara UAV to stay aloft for 5 years at 65,000 feet as an “atmospheric satellite.” These have solar cell covered wings over 160 feet across.

Colo. ordinance would OK shooting down drones and FAA Warns Colorado Town Against Drone Hunting

Deer Trail, Colorado, population 559, want you to shoot down drones and the License is only $25.00. Shoot down a drone and you’ would earn a $100 bounty. Not all residents agree, and citizens get to vote on the proposal in October. The Federal Aviation Administration regulates the U.S. airspace and has issued a statement warning people that shooting drones could result in fines and prosecutions.