Although already deployed on operations to meet urgent needs, the Northrop Grumman MQ-8B Fire Scout unmanned surveillance helicopter has reliability and sustainability problems that have delayed its regular fielding. Continue reading
Category Archives: Applications & Testing & Experience
UAV Navigation Tests ‘Sea-Skimming’ Flight Control
UAV Navigation, a developer of flight-control avionics and motion sensors for unmanned aircraft, said it demonstrated its LCAPautopilot system in a “sea-skimming” target UAS designed to mimic the threat of an incoming missile. Continue reading
X-47B Hoisted On Aircraft Carrier Deck for Testing
[youtube sP3BaiigImg nolink]
The U.S. Navy’s new bat-winged experimental UAS has been delivered to an aircraft carrier deck to undergo handling tests aboard the ship. Continue reading
Galileo Group Completes NASA UAS Missions to Collect Hyperspectral Environmental Science Data over Florida Keys
Galileo Group, Inc., announced that it has completed UAS flight operations and hyperspectral data collections for a series of missions supporting a NASA sponsored project to map sea grass beds and coral reefs in the Florida keys.
Oklahoma sUAS Tests Incorporate Privacy Protections
To bolster privacy protections, the Department of Homeland Security’s tests of small unmanned aircraft systems (sUAS) at Ft. Sill in Oklahoma uses test subjects and specific sites for initial photographic and monitoring capabilities and other techniques, according to the agency. Continue reading
Quadrocopters Using Radio-Based Local Position Measurement
[youtube TWPWzOrUYtE nolink]
Ars Technica Futurelab Germany is using a system developed for tracking sports players to position their quadrocopters. It offers a much higher degree of accuracy than GPS based systems and works indoors or outside. Continue reading
US Air Force Research Lab Incorporates Solar Cell Technology into Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems
An Air Force Research Laboratory partnership with UES, Inc. and Microlink Devices, Inc., has integrated new lightweight, flexible, high-efficiency solar panels onto a small unmanned aircraft system (SUAS) platform. Continue reading
US Navy & Northrop Grumman Conducting Triton Ground Testing
Northrop Grumman Corporation and the U.S. Navy have added a second Triton unmanned aircraft to ground testing efforts in late September – part of an initial step in preparation for flight operations. Continue reading