Games maker PIXYUL plans on UAS-sourcing and mapping the entire planet, one square kilometer at a time. The UAS are equipped with digital HD cameras and their data will be processed with 3D software to render into in-game terrain. If that sounds overly ambitious, it is. And that’s why it won’t be happening all at once and will be combined with procedural generation for certain parts of the world, such as the major oceans and restricted areas that will never be accessible to UAS. Continue reading
Category Archives: Non-Military & Commercial UAS
UAS Surveys Flooding in Somerset, UK
As the UK government declares the extensive flooding of the Somerset Levels as a major incident, calling in the assistance of the army and red cross to reach some of the marooned villages, a UAS was deployed to survey the damage. Continue reading
UAS Precision Agriculture Services Expand in the UK
A conference on agricultural UAS at Harper Adams College n the UK last week was certainly well-attended. But will these high-tech/high-price pieces of equipment prove to be the answer to arable farmers’ crop surveillance needs? Continue reading
UAS Helps Firefighters Fight Dangerous Fire
When a fire broke out a Branford quarry Thursday, Fire Chief Jack Ahern knew it would be a fire with complications, because the quarry housed explosives for a blasting company.“We didn’t know exactly at the time if it was near the explosives, but we always plan for the worst case, and in this case, it ended up being a good thing,” said Chief Ahern. Continue reading
Applanix Conducts Successful Test flight of Professional Mapping UAS
Applanix Corporation and American Aerospace Advisors have completed a successful series of test flights of AAAI’s RS-16 platform equipped with Applanix’ DMS-UAV aerial photogrammetry payload. This is the first successful mission for a long-endurance UAS capable of producing professional-grade, directly georeferenced mapping imagery for civilian applications such as pipeline monitoring, power line and emergency response mapping. Continue reading
Fin Whale Filmed by Phantom
NOAA whale-watching guidelines suggest that boaters remain 100 yards from whales, but they’re only guidelines. So far, guidelines pertaining to the use of UAS for photography have not been drawn up. But NOAA officials will be discussing this issue in upcoming meetings, an agency spokeswoman said. Continue reading
NASA Deploys Global Hawk To Guam to Study Climate Change
NASA is deploying the uncrewed Global Hawk research aircraft to Guam for the Airborne Tropical Tropopause Experiment (ATTREX). Continue reading
Swedish Police Request UAS for Accident Investigations
The Swedish police have said they would like to use UAS to collect evidence at the sites of accidents, but with several high-profile cases of potential abuse, the authorities feel uneasy about the accessibility of equipment that collects overhead footage. Continue reading