On 30 December 2015, Urban Aeronautics’ AirMule completed its first autonomous, untethered flight at Megiddo airfield in northern Israel. Continue reading
Category Archives: Applications & Testing & Experience
Robotic Falconry – Drone Catcher System
Mo Rastgaar, an associate professor of mechanical engineering at the Human-Interactive Robotics Lab (HIRoLab) at the Michigan Technological University, has been working on a drone catcher, which could pursue and capture rogue drones that might threaten military installations, air traffic, sporting events—even the White House. Continue reading
Georgia Tech Tested UAV Swarm
Georgia Tech Research Institute and the Maneuver Center of Excellence have worked together in the past for various academic projects and services, along with agencies such as Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and U.S. Army Tank Automotive Research, Development and Engineering Center, said Harry Lubin, chief of the experimentation branch at the Maneuver Battle Lab.
Chinese Amphibious UAV Conducts Maiden Flight
A China-made large amphibious UAV – “U650” – successfully conducted its maiden flight in the heavy fog and strong crosswinds above the waters in east China’s Jiangsu province in early December. The test flight lasted for 30 minutes. Continue reading
EDA Project to Reduce Vulnerability of Lightweight UAV Structures
The BaToLUS project, Battle Damage Tolerance for Lightweight Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) Structures, brought about a successful development of new rapid prototype modelling capabilities. Continue reading
Lockheed Martin Conducts Collaborative Unmanned Systems Demonstration
Lockheed Martin demonstrated its ability to integrate unmanned aircraft system (UAS) operations into the National Airspace System (NAS) using its prototype UAS Traffic Management (UTM) capabilities. During the demonstration on Nov. 18, the Stalker XE UAS provided data and a precise geolocation to the unmanned K-MAX cargo helicopter, which conducted water drops to extinguish a fire, while the UTM tracked the UAS operations and communicated with Air Traffic Control in real time. Continue reading
MQ-8C Fire Scout Concludes Operational Assessment
The U.S. Navy and Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) completed a successful land-based operational assessment (OA) with the unmanned, autonomous helicopter MQ-8C Fire Scout, at Naval Base Ventura County, Point Mugu, Nov. 20. The OA demonstrated the endurance and sensor integration capabilities on the new MQ-8C airframe.
Flexrotor Finds Fish on US Coast Guard Trial
“We panned the camera out over the Chesapeake, and there they were, four-and-a-half kilometers away” recalls Aerovel’s Tad McGeer. “It was our first day of demonstrating Flexrotor for the US Coast Guard.” Flexrotor, Aerovel’s exceptional unmanned aircraft, has caught the Coast Guard’s attention with its unique combination of small size, light footprint, VTOL, long endurance, and economy. “They asked us to come to the Potomac so they could see it for themselves.” Continue reading