U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and independent scientists gathered this month in Auburn, Maine, to evaluate the use of sensor-mounted unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), or drones, to gauge stream stage, velocity, bathymetry and discharge. The technology is being evaluated and modeled to determine whether it will support the fast, accurate and safe measurement of rivers, especially when they are flooded or contain floating trees, ice or other debris. Continue reading
Category Archives: Research
Caltech’s ‘Neural Lander’ Uses AI to Land Drones Smoothly
DARPA Selects Six Teams for Wearable Neural Interface Project
DARPA has awarded funding to six organizations to support the Next-Generation Nonsurgical Neurotechnology (N3) program, first announced in March 2018. Battelle Memorial Institute, Carnegie Mellon University, Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Palo Alto Research Center (PARC), Rice University, and Teledyne Scientific are leading multidisciplinary teams to develop high-resolution, bidirectional brain-machine interfaces for use by able-bodied service members. Continue reading
Hummingbird Flying Robot Using AI
Purdue University researchers have engineered flying robots that behave like hummingbirds, trained by machine learning algorithms based on various techniques the bird uses naturally every day. Continue reading
NMSU Student Project Improves UAV Flight Time
A research project in the College of Engineering at New Mexico State University is focused on increasing the endurance of UAS, or unmanned aerial systems. Continue reading
Airlander to Develop Electric Propulsion Technologies
A partnership of Hybrid Air Vehicles (HAV), Collins Aerospace, and the University of Nottingham (UoN) has won grant funding in excess of £1m from the UK Aerospace Research and Technology Programme to develop electric propulsion technologies using Airlander 10 as the initial platform. The project, named E-HAV1, will deliver a full-sized prototype 500kW electric propulsor for ground testing and technologies ready for future productionisation. Continue reading
Supersonic UAVs Under Development in Canada
Unmanned aerial vehicles flying at supersonic speed will be launched this summer at CFB Suffield, says Atlantis Research Laboratories’ Avro Division in Medicine Hat. The Avro Mark X, with the appearance of a sleek jet, is 22 feet long, weighs a thousand pounds and can carry a load of 500 kilograms. Continue reading
Black Swift S2 to Study East Greenland Ice-Core
Black Swift Technologies(BST), a specialized engineering firm based in Boulder, CO, announced that its advanced aerial research platform, the Black Swift S2 UAS, will be deployed in the coming months by the Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research (INSTAAR),part of the University of Colorado Boulder, to conduct high-altitude high-latitude atmospheric research studies in Greenland. This work is supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and is part of the larger international East Greenland Ice-Core Project (EastGRIP) Continue reading






