Researchers in Korea have made a new algorithm for enabling a single robotic unmanned aerial vehicle to herd a flock of birds away from a designated airspace. This novel approach allows a single autonomous quadrotor drone to herd an entire flock of birds away without breaking their formation. Continue reading
Category Archives: Research
Asia’s First Fully Solar-Powered Quadcopter Drone
A team from the National University of Singapore (NUS) has achieved a major step forward in stretching the capabilities of quadcopter drones by powering the flight solely by natural sunlight. A first in Asia, the current prototype has flown above 10 metres in test flights – higher than a typical three storey building – utilising solar power with no battery or other energy storage on board. Continue reading
GPS Denied Navigation for UAS Using Aviation Transponders
Researchers at the University of Washington have developed a new method that gives aircraft a backup system in case GPS fails: An antenna on the ground that can tell a drone where it is. The team successfully tested their system in June. Continue reading
NASA Awards $2.3 Million in Grants to Minority Serving Institutions to Expand STEM Education
NASA’s Minority University Research and Education Program (MUREP) Aerospace Academy (MAA) has selected seven Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs) for cooperative agreement awards totalling nearly $2.3 million. Continue reading
Embry-Riddle UAS Team Tracks Shoreline Erosion
Along the shorelines of Menard-May Park in Edgewater, Florida this week, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), or drones, flew high above the water capturing high-resolution images and video of this area of Mosquito Lagoon, which is part of the Indian River Lagoon system. Continue reading
Ohio Federal Research Network Awards $6M for UAV Innovations
The Ohio Federal Research Network (OFRN) awarded $6.3 million to four teams in support of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) research and development (R&D). Funding was awarded under OFRN’s Sustaining Ohio’s Aeronautical Readiness and Innovation in the Next Generation (SOARING) initiative, OFRN’s third round of R&D funding. Continue reading
ManTech Awarded $45M for Technical Support of Next Generation Systems in Unmanned Aircraft
ManTech has announced a four-year $45 million task order awarded by the U.S. Air Force Installation Contracting Agency (AFICA) under the DoD Information Analysis Center’s (DoD IAC) Defense Systems Technical Area Task (DS TAT) Multi-Award Contract (MAC). Continue reading
DARPA Gives Small Autonomous Systems a Tech Boost
DARPA’s Fast Lightweight Autonomy (FLA) program recently completed Phase 2 flight tests, demonstrating advanced algorithms designed to turn small air and ground systems into team members that could autonomously perform tasks dangerous for humans – such as pre-mission reconnaissance in a hostile urban setting or searching damaged structures for survivors following an earthquake. Continue reading