Sikorsky Innovations, the technology development organization of Sikorsky Aircraft Corp., has announced it has won a contract for Phase 1 of the Vertical Take-Off and Landing Experimental Aircraft (VTOL X-Plane) programme by the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). Continue reading
Category Archives: Research
Android Smartphone Used to Create SmartCopter – Low-Cost Autonomous UAS
Researchers are using a smartphone as the brains behind a small, inexpensive UAS – the phone enables it to find its way around enclosed indoor spaces without using GPS or a remote guide. Although it’s still at an early stage, the so-called SmartCopter could eventually make it safer and cheaper to scout out disaster scenes before human responders plunge in. Continue reading
Textron, Bell and AAI Launch Collaboration in Manned/Unmanned Teaming
Textron Systems and Bell Helicopter, a subsidiary of Textron Inc., have opened the Textron Systems Integration and Collaboration Lab, as well as the Bell Helicopter/AAI Unmanned Aircraft Systems Manned/Unmanned Operations (MUMO) Capability Development Lab. Continue reading
Oregon State University Studies Bat Wings for MAV Design
Light-as-a-feather, fiber-reinforced carbon composites give Roberto Albertani an edge in designing unusual aircraft: micro air vehicles that you can hold in the palm of your hand. Such fliers could respond to disasters inside buildings or collect data under tree canopies. To design them, the OSU mechanical engineer studies how they interact with the air. Continue reading
Canadian Face-Detecting UAS Respond to Voice and Gesture Commands
Researchers at Vancouver’s Simon Frasier University have developed a fleet of Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) that accept group voice commands or can be controlled silently through hand gestures. In addition, individualUAS recognize which of them their controller is speaking to via on-board face recognition cameras. Continue reading
Iran’s Life-Saving UAS Faster than Life Guard
An Iranian research lab has created a UAS to save people drowning at sea. Developed by Tehran-based RTS Lab, Pars is a multi-rotor UAS designed to carry and drop floatation aids to people in trouble. Continue reading
Transformer Unmanned System Flies, Dives and Rolls
Conceived by the Intelligent Systems, Robotics and Cybernetics unit at Sandia National Laboratories, the “Multi-Modal Vehicle Concept” would travel land, sea, and air by transforming itself to accommodate different terrains. Continue reading
Speed is the New Stealth – Lockheed Martin Skunkworks to Develop Mach 6 Hypersonic Fighter
In 1976, US Air Force SR-71 Blackbird crews flew from New York to London in less than two hours, reaching speeds exceeding Mach 3 and setting world records that have held up for nearly four decades. Today, at the birthplace of the Blackbird – Lockheed Martin’s Skunk Works – engineers are developing a hypersonic aircraft that will go twice the speed of the SR-71. It’s called the SR-72. Continue reading