UAS VISION
an independent online news service for the Unmanned Aircraft Systems world
Conventional drones use visual sensors for navigation. However, environmental conditions like dampness, low light, and dust can hinder their effectiveness, limiting their use in disaster-stricken areas. Researchers from Japan have developed a novel bio-hybrid drone by combining robotic elements with odor-sensing antennae from silkworm moths. Continue reading
The Federal Aviation Administration receives thousands of complaints every year about the characteristic loud buzzing produced as drone propellers slice through the air. That noise is an issue in other countries, too: Canada and England, for instance, report a sharp uptick in similar complaints over the last several years. Continue reading
A robotics laboratory at the National University of Defence Technology (NUDT) in central China’s Hunan province has developed a mosquito-sized drone for covert military operations. Continue reading
An autonomous drone carrying water to help extinguish a wildfire in the Sierra Nevada might encounter swirling Santa Ana winds that threaten to push it off course. Rapidly adapting to these unknown disturbances inflight presents an enormous challenge for the drone’s flight control system. Continue reading
A groundbreaking development by Professor Fu Zhang and researchers from the Department of Mechanical Engineering of Faculty of Engineering at the University of Hong Kong (HKU), has enabled drones and micro air vehicles (MAVs) to emulate the flight capabilities of birds more closely than ever before. Continue reading
A research group led by Takayuki Matsumuro, a researcher at the Wave Engineering Laboratory of the Advanced Telecommunications Research Institute International (ATR) in Japan, has developed a new technology for wirelessly transmitting power to drones in flight.
In a series of recent tests in New Mexico, the Persistent Optical Wireless Energy Relay (POWER) program achieved several new records for transmitting power over distance. The team recorded more than 800 watts of power delivered during a 30-second transmission from a laser 8.6 kilometers (5.3 miles) away. Continue reading
Chinese government scientists have released the results of a weather modification experiment in the dry western region of Xinjiang. A fleet of cloud seeding drones increased rainfall by over 4 per cent across more than 8,000 sq km (3,089 sq miles) in a day, according to the project team led by Li Bin, senior engineer with the China Meteorological Administration (CMA). Continue reading