The key challenge in developing a “sense-and-avoid” system has been developing technology that can reliably detect the presence – and the course – of other aircraft and to engineer it into a package small enough and light enough for UAS. Researchers at the University of Denver’s Unmanned Systems Research Institute may have the answer.
Category Archives: Applications & Testing & Experience
Australians Develop ‘Projector Drone’
Melbourne-based company, I-Drone, has developed the ‘Projector Drone’ which is capable of beaming news, games and advertising over the walls of buildings. The proof of concept aircraft is able to fly for 12 minutes at a time, features its own on-board data storage and a 500 lumens projector. Continue reading
Pix4D Creates High-Precision 3D Modelling using Consumer Grade Cameras
Pix4D’s pre-summer challenge was to create a highly accurate and very dense 3D model of Chillon Castle (Château de Chillon), Switzerland’s most visited historic monument. The 3D point cloud integrates the indoor and outdoor structures of this highly complex architectural object with a resolution of up to 5mm and is based on both aerial and terrestrial images acquired with DJI Phantom 2 Vision, GoPro Hero 3+, Canon 6D and Sony alpha 7r cameras with Fisheye lenses. Continue reading
McCain Foods to Deploy UAS to Monitor Potato Crops
The world’s largest producer of French fries is using the technology to pick up information from its potato fields. “We can integrate a lot of different data streams from drones and field sensors and package it into a system to help benefit growers and companies like McCain,” says Peter Goggin of Resson Aerospace.
French Harfang Completes Command Handover Tests
A French Air Force-led team has demonstrated the mid-flight handover of the command and control of a Mali-based Harfang to the aircraft’s base in Cognac, France, during an hour-long demonstration on 17 June.
UK Royal Navy Completes First Flight of ScanEagle UAS
Just 7 months after the Ministry of Defence ordered the system from Boeing Defence UK, ScanEagle took off from HMS Somerset in the Gulf. The system, which can be launched by a pneumatic catapult from Royal Navy and Royal Fleet Auxiliary vessels, is unarmed and used for real-time intelligence-gathering and reconnaissance only.
Allied Drones Debuts Twin Rotor HL12 “Iris” UAS
The newest UAV from Allied Drones is the HL12 “Iris”, a twin rotor craft that is designed to be 30% more efficient than helicopter-styled UAVs, and can be switched between gas or electric power on the same airframe. Continue reading
Global Hawk First Flight from Misawa
The RQ-4 Global Hawk made its first operational flight out of Misawa Air Base on June 6. The flight marked two milestones: the first time an RQ-4 mission has flown out of Japan, and the first operational mission flown out of a jointly-used civilian and military airfield. Continue reading