UAS VISION
an independent online news service for the Unmanned Aircraft Systems world
China’s aerospace engineers boast the “Caihong” is the world’s largest solar-powered drone, dwarfing NASA’s Pathfinder series that never made it into mass production. The prospect of the drone leading in disaster monitoring is in the horizon. Continue reading
A diagram shows how an Amazon drone could land on a sloping surface while keeping its main frame level, thanks to telescoping landing legs. (Amazon Illustration via USPTO)
Amazon’s inventors are taking a page from Inspector Gadget’s playbook to design drones with adjustable landing legs and reconfigurable propellers. Those two design tricks are the focus of patents issued today. It’s hard to say whether they’ll become features on Amazon’s delivery drones, still in development. Continue reading
The Volanti from Sydney-based Carbonix is a carbon composite drone with a 2.7-m (9-ft) wingspan that uses a multirotor system for VTOL, then transitions to horizontal flight as a push-prop fixed-wing once in the air. It flies for over two hours on electric power or seven with a gas pusher, and Carbonix hopes it will fill the industrial-grade niche in between hobby and military UAV gear.
The head of the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) has said that the government will introduce new rules to regulate China’s drone industry as unregulated flights have been causing problems. Continue reading
This database is comprised of a country directory with summaries of national drone laws. The objective is to provide humanitarian and non-humanitarian actors with a database of relevant national regulations, additional resources, and links to original regulatory documents to ensure that drones are deployed safely and in compliance with national regulations. Continue reading
“Who is that, and are they allowed to be here?”
We’ve hit a snag in the progression of new drone regulations, and it’s not related to the current political environment regarding curbing new regulations. There is a big technical hurdle to overcome before the industry can move on – and there is a legislative deadline of July 2017 to solve it. Continue reading
Conservation drones will soon hover over select tiger reserves in India, marking the beginning of significant technological intervention in wildlife conservation. Continue reading
Commercial drone delivery promises to be the future of getting packages to consumers in the most efficient manner possible. But, privacy and security concerns may be holding back more widespread adoption of the technology. Continue reading