Portugal-based startup Quarkson has just announced a successful test flight of its SkyOrbiter LA25 platform. Continue reading
Category Archives: Applications & Testing & Experience
Aerial Refuelling Test of X-47B Imminent
A test to prove an autonomous unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) can be refuelled in flight could happen by the end of this month, according to officials with Naval Air Systems Command.
First Solar-Electric UAV Enters Production
A new solar-electric aircraft has entered commercial production and is getting ready for its first delivery. Named the Silent Falcon, the UAS is produced by Albuquerque, New Mexico-based Silent Falcon UAS Technologies (SFUAS), a former subsidiary of Bye Aerospace, which specializes in alternative energies for aviation application that is also involved with Aero Electric Aircraft Corp., the developer of the Sun Flyer. For the Silent Falcon, SFUAS is also working in close collaboration with Ascent Solar Technologies, a company that produces very thin, lightweight solar cells. Continue reading
Augmented Reality Images from UAS
Sysveo, a French company that builds drones, has received European Space Agency (ESA) support to develop a patent it purchased a few years back, which looks at interactive broadcasting of images.The company is working on software that would allow drones to include augmented reality 3D images in the videos they shoot while flying over a given location.
Facebook Announces First Unmanned Flight
Mark Zuckerberg announced on Facebook (where else?) on March 26th that the company had successfully completed its first test flight of its unmanned aircraft in the UK.
Drones Hold Great Promise For Medical Applications
In some remote parts of the world, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are already being field-tested for medical uses. Drones successfully delivered small aid packages after the Haitian earthquake in 2012, and in Papua New Guinea, Doctors Without Borders used them to transport dummy TB test samples from a remote village to the large coastal city of Kerema.
Swedish SWAT Team Considers Drones for Special Operations
Swedish police are testing the use of drones, with a special emphasis on SWAT and possible search and rescue operations. It’s unknown how many drones the police in Sweden plan to order, but they would be used in select cases, with testing beginning sometime this summer.
nEUron Flight Tests Move to Italy
Testing of the pan-European nEUron unmanned combat air vehicle demonstrator is due to move to Italy following the completion of French testing of the aircraft. Following 100 test flights by Dassault Aviation in France, during which the sensor, data-link and stealth characteristics of the demonstrator were tested, responsibility for the six-nation nEUron aircraft will be transferred to Alenia Aermacchi ahead of a follow-up test phase by Saab in Sweden.