An interesting flying robot has been created called Gimball that is specifically designed to be able to crash and recover quickly. The creators of the robot designed it to be used in situations that might be hazardous for humans. The flying device has a spherical roll cage mounted on pivots that allows the helicopter to stay upright, as well as to handle cramped spaces where other aircraft would likely crash. Continue reading
Category Archives: Non-Military & Commercial UAS
DJI Phantom Video of New York Public Library
Seems like most likely the first UAS ever flown inside the NY Public Library. If you haven’t been there, go. Everyone in the video was involved in the shoot and lots of safety precautions were taken and no books were harmed in the making of this video. Continue reading
Flying an AR Parrot with Google Glass is “Like Being a Bird”
The walls of Fredia Huya-Kouadio’s apartment are scuffed up. They’ve got black marks all over them, from the times his AR Parrot has crashed into them. But these days, it happens much less often: Huya-Kouadio has successfully managed to fly it using just Google Glass. Continue reading
IMINT and Elbit Field Test Skylark with New Software for First Responders
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The Swedish software company Imint and the Israeli Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) provider Elbit Systems UAS division field tested new software in live flights north of Uppsala. The flights with the Elbit Skylark I-LE mini-UAS and Imint’s Vidview software took place on October 7th-9th, 2013. Continue reading
Aerial Photographers Publish First Drone Art Book
Elevated Element, the husband and wife aerial photography team of Terry & Belinda Kilby have released a book, “Drone Art: Baltimore.” The artists use custom built unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) to capture images of iconic sites around the Baltimore region from a fresh, bird’s eye perspective. An exhibition opening and book signing will be held Friday, Oct. 25, 2013 at 5:30 pm on the observation deck of the World Trade Center in Baltimore’s Inner Harbor. The show will hang through November. “Drone Art: Baltimore” is a collection of beautifully composed fine art aerial photographs, and describes how the authors’ passion took flight. Continue reading
Public Safety Award for sUAS Programme in Canada
Earlier this week, two members of the Halton Regional Police Service were bestowed with a prestigious award during the 2013 International Association of Chiefs of Police Conference in Philadelphia.
The “Excellence in Police Aviation” award, sponsored by Bell Helicopter, was accepted by Detective Dave Banks and Constable Andrew Olesen for their efforts in the concept, research, formation and operation of a small Unmanned Aircraft System programme for the police service. Continue reading
PETA Launches UAS Fleet to Monitor Hunters
The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) has launched a project to use hobby-class UAS to monitor hunters and capture any “illegal or cruel hunting practices.” Continue reading
UAS Maps Lost Pyramids In The Andes
Using a small, hand-launched, Unmanned Aircraft Sytem (UAS) equipped with a downward facing camera and a sophisticated autopilot system, archaeologist Mark Willis documented the site of the Pyramids of Zuleta as it has never been seen—from extremely low altitude and at high resolution. Continue reading