Category Archives: Non-Military & Commercial UAS

Photo Service Cooliris Brings Real-Time UAS Photos to User Groups

AibotUS-based photo service Cooliris wants to bring dramatic aerial photos instantaneously into the hands of consumers via private groups so users can share them on their iPhones or iPads. Cooliris has announced a partnership with UAS manufacturer Aibotix, becoming the first consumer photo application to integrate with UAS. Continue reading

Small UAS Probes Antarctic Ice With Radar

YakA group of researchers from the Center for the Remote Sensing of Ice Sheets at the University of Kansas is right now at the sub-glacial Lake Whillans field camp on the Whillans Ice Stream in Antarctica. The team is testing a system they’ve devised that includes a 100-watt ice-penetrating radar carried aboard a small unmanned aircraft system. Continue reading

DJI Innovations’ S1000 Monster 8-Rotor to Carry Hollywood-Quality Cameras

S1000At CES on Sunday, China’s DJI Innovations showed off its forthcoming S1000, an 8-rotor UAS that was built specifically to carry Canon’s 5D Mark II or Mark III. For those not familiar with camera gear, that’s a setup capable of shooting feature films or documentaries. Continue reading

UAS to Help Pygmy Rabbit Research

PygmyRabbitIn mid-January, scientists from four universities will fly small, unmanned aircraft systems over sagebrush habitat near Magic Reservoir to obtain information about the habitat needs of pygmy rabbits. The pygmy rabbit has been considered for listing as an endangered species since 2003, when the Hailey-based Western Watersheds Project and several other conservation groups filed a petition with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. In 2010, the agency rejected the petition on the grounds that it did not have enough data to decide whether the species warranted listing, but a spokesman told the Idaho Mountain Express at that time that the rabbits’ sagebrush habitat was clearly shrinking. Continue reading