During a flight in May 2009, an Edwards RQ-4B Global Hawk Block 20 remotely piloted aircraft (tail number 2016) encountered a complete spoiler communication loss and had to execute an emergency landing on the dry lake bed at Edwards Air Force Base. During landing, the aircraft sustained major damage to the right main landing gear and wing when it struck a precision approach path indicator light.
Category Archives: Applications & Testing & Experience
NASA Can Now Predict Sinkholes Before They Happen
NASA researchers have found a way to predict a sinkhole before it happens.The researchers from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California have taken thorough looks at data that will spot sinkholes as they form before the surface collapses. This will be done using a technology called InSAR or Interferometric Syntheti Aprture Radar.
Dubai Free Zone Plans Parcel Delivery by UAS
Jebel Ali Free Zone (Jafza) has planned to introduce a futuristic concept of “Delivery by Jafza” using Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS). Through this initiative, Jafza seeks to use technology to further augment its delivery system to ensure faster execution of transactions. Jafza provided a demo of the new delivery system during its annual event last week, which was held to celebrate its landmark achievements in 2013. The free zone did not disclose the date of the launch of this service. Continue reading
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Conducts First UAS Research Mission
Just weeks after its designation as one of six federally-approved test sites for unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi conducted several test flights over South Texas ranchland to continue research and training on the RS-16 unmanned aircraft system (UAS). Continue reading
DroneShield Offers Protection for Prisons
WTRF 7 News Sports Weather – Wheeling Steubenville
Four people were arrested in Georgia after smuggling in cell phones, tobacco and binoculars into a state prison by flying a drone over the prison walls and into the yard. Tobacco, cell phones and binoculars don’t seem dangerous but the contraband could have been much worst and that’s where the Drone Shield comes in. Continue reading
Fixed Wing UAS to Assess Bird Hazards on Power Lines
A team led by the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) has used fixed-wing UAS in Spain with the aim of assessing their capabilities for assessing electrocution risk for birds. Continue reading
Onboard Quadrocopter Failsafe Algorithm Demo
The Institute for Dynamic Systems and Control (IDSC), ETH Zurich, Switzerland has developed an algorithm allowing a quadrocopter to maintain stable flight despite the complete loss of a motor/propeller. In a previous video they have shown this algorithm in use, where a motion capture system was used to measure the position and orientation of the quadrocopter. Continue reading
WAVEcopter – a Fully Waterproof Quadcopter
WAVEcopter is a fully waterproof multicopter frame constructed by an enthusiast mostly from readily available and cheap electrical parts. His reasons for building it were to gain a new perspective on surfing photography, do aerial surveying of event sites, and to satisfy his general fascination with robotics and aviation. Continue reading