Sikorsky Aircraft, a subsidiary of United Technologies Corp., has unveiled a major research program — designated MATRIX Technology — to develop, test and field systems and software that will improve significantly the capability, reliability and safety of flight for autonomous, optionally piloted, and piloted vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft. Continue reading
Category Archives: Electronic Sub-Systems
Northrop Grumman Partnered with Wind River to Deliver the Software Platform for X-47B
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Northrop Grumman partnered with Wind River to deliver the software platform for the U.S. Navy’s X-47B Unmanned Combat Air System demonstration aircraft. Tighe Parmenter, manager of X-47B Navy UCAS business strategy and development, discusses how they relied on Wind River and the X-47B Joint Industry Team (JIT) to deliver this system. Continue reading
Low Cost RTK GPS Receiver Launched on Kickstarter
Swift Navigation, a Santa Cruz, CA based startup, is launching a new GPS receiver product via the crowdfunding website Kickstarter. Continue reading
No More Waypoints: AEVO GmbH Demonstrates Fully-Autonomous Guidance for UAS
The Guidance part in “GN&C” typically relies on sequences of pre-defined waypoints. But now the German company AEVO GmbH has demonstrated a new guidance and control software that autonomously guides UAS to perform complex tasks (e.g. target surveillance, obstacle avoidance). Continue reading
General Dynamics Mediaware Teams with Sentient to Enhance Situational Awareness from Airborne Surveillance
General Dynamics Mediaware and Sentient Vision Systems Pty Ltd. have created a technical partnership which combines Sentient’s Kestrel Land and Maritime target-detection software with General Dynamics Mediaware’s D-VEX next-generation tactical video-exploitation system. Continue reading
Georgia Tech Researches Sense-and-Avoid
It looks like a hobbyist’s model of a single engine Piper Cub, with a four-stroke engine and an eight-foot wingspan. But researchers at Georgia Tech have loaded its cockpit with an autopilot and no small measure of artificial intelligence. Continue reading
Google Ventures Bets $10.7M on UAS App Ecosystem Developer
Google Ventures and Andreessen Horowitz Wednesday announced a $10.7 million investment in Airware, a company that is creating a common platform for UAS that will allow developers to create industry-specific applications for unmanned aircraft without worrying about the specific underlying hardware. The company is run by Jonathan Downey, 29, who wants to be the Bill Gates of the commercial UAS industry. Continue reading
Epson Announces Two New Inertial Measurement Units for Industry
Epson Electronics America (EEA) has developed two products, the M-G550-PC and the M-G550-PR, for its inertial measurement units (IMU) range. The new products will be on display at Sensor + Test 2013, the world’s largest international fair for sensors to be held from May 14th – 16th in Nuremburg, Germany. The new 6-DOF*2 IMUs, which have gyroscopic sensors on three axes and accelerometers on three directions, also have built-in support for two widely used industrial interfaces: the CAN*3 protocol in the case of the M-G550-PC and the RS-422*4 in the case of the M-G550-PR. Continue reading