A new three-year project will see Queensland-based university QUT joining an international biosecurity research programme involving unmanned aerial systems (UAS). The project will see UA (unmanned aircraft) fitted with new high-tech imaging equipment to test how effective they are in identifying pests and diseases in horticultural and grains industries. Continue reading
Category Archives: Research
Blue Bear Furthers UAV Automation Research
Blue Bear Systems and the University of Bristol have introduced a new concept that automates unmanned air vehicle (UAV) flight for use in challenging conditions. Dubbed Smart Boomerang, the system comprises two cameras and a mobile phone-derived computer that enables UAVs to learn a route and be able to automatically retrace its path. Continue reading
Indian Students Develop QuadCopter with Facial Recognition
A group of students at SRM University in Chennai, India, led by Sobin Santhosh, final year student in the Aerospace department have designed and implemented an autonomous copter equipped with an automatic face and person recognition system in a day. They have trained their intelligent software to detect a person irrespective of his/her attire, face orientation, posture and/or background. Continue reading
Homemade Inflatable UAS Reaches Speeds of 120mph
A Chinese engineer obsessed with the idea of reinventing the airship has unveiled an ‘indestructible’ inflatable plane that can be folded up and put in a suitcase when not needed. He says his plane could be used for a variety of missions and, what’s more, it won’t break if it falls out of the sky. Continue reading
Mobile Phone-Detecting UAS Pioneered for Disaster Relief
Sentinel Air is planning to co-develop an airborne wireless sensor that can detect mobile phone signals belonging to disaster victims. The company has teamed up with European disaster relief firm Disaster Tech Lab to develop and test the sensor, which will be mounted on an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) made by Sentinel Air.
Lockheed Martin and Warsaw University Test Autonomous Control Sytem
In collaboration with Lockheed Martin, a team of research students and staff from Warsaw University of Technology successfully demonstrated the first phase of flight test and integration of unmanned aircraft platforms with an autonomous mission control system. Continue reading
UTSA Researchers Study Brain Signals to Operate UAS
With sensors covering his head, University of Texas at San Antonio graduate student Mauricio Merino concentrates hard as a camo-colored drone hovers with a soft hum in the middle of a campus research lab. For now, fellow graduate student Prasanna Kolar stands nearby to operate the unmanned aerial vehicle through a cell phone app — gently commanding it left and right. But the goal is to create a process for a human to control the movements of groups of drones with only a thought, said Daniel Pack, chairman of UTSA’s electrical and computer engineering department.
MIT Algorithm Lets UAS Monitor Health in Real-Time
The prospect of delivery UAS brings with it a few notable issues. Beyond visions of colliding rotor blades and unsolicited package drops lies another problem: the huge amount of computational power needed to take into account real world uncertainties, such as strong winds, limited battery life and navigational errors, in order to provide a reliable delivery service. This has been the focus of new study from MIT, with a team of researchers devising a new algorithm said to massively reduce the level of computation required, enabling the drone to monitor its “health” in real time. Continue reading