As crews advanced against a giant wildfire around Yosemite National Park, fire commanders said they would maintain use of a Predator UAS to give them early views of any new flare-ups across in the remote and rugged landscape. Continue reading
Category Archives: News
Florida Tests UAS to Control Swamp Mosquitos
Seeking a high-tech edge in the daily battle to beat back the black salt marsh mosquito, the Florida Keys Mosquito Control District has begun testing a next-generation UAS developed by Prioria, a Gainesville robotics company. Continue reading
Hexacopter Crashes into Crowd at Virginia Bull Run
A hexacopter carrying a camera crashed into the grandstand at Virginia Motorsports Park at The Great Bull Run in Dinwiddie, Virginia on Saturday. The event promised to bring “the Spanish tradition of the running of the bulls to the United States!” Continue reading
Using Google Glass to Control a UAS
Google Glass developer Blaine Bublitz has actually come up with a way to control a Parrot AR Drone with his Google Glass wearable device. After some successful early tests controlling a connected ground-based robot with Glass-controlled head movements, Bublitz decided to up the stakes and try the same dynamic with a flying robot. Continue reading
Infrared Camera Fits in a Smart Phone
FLIR, a manufacturer of infrared sensors, has married a smartphone to its state-of-the-art thermal camera in a concept it displayed at last week’s Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI) expo in Washington, D.C. Continue reading
Hybrid Quadcopter Can Land on Helo Pad
The Hybrid Quadcopter UAS has the extended air endurance of a Predator but can take off like helicopter from the back of a frigate. No wonder the U.S. Navy has expressed interest in this unmanned helicopter–airplane hybrid from Latitude Engineering, a small company from Tucson, Arizona.
US Air Force Report on Unmanned Aircraft Due in September
The head of the US Air Force’s remotely piloted aircraft (RPA) Capabilities Division expects a major review to be complete by the end of September. Continue reading
Textron Unveils Battlehawk Loitering Munition
Textron Defense Systems unveiled a small UAS with an added special surprise—it’s also a flying hand grenade. Designed to be carried by an infantry squad, the BattleHawk is an approximately five-pound collapsible UAS with an onboard video camera, all packed in a spring-loaded launch tube.