Students at Texas A&M University are currently developing an Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) that promises to turn the industry on its side. The multi-rotorcraft, which is still in the development stages, can fly both vertically and horizontally, making it ideal for search and rescue scenarios.
Category Archives: VTOL
Bio Drone Decomposes on Crash Landing
The first “biological drone”, an autonomous vehicle stitched together largely with materials from living things, made its inaugural flight earlier this month. Continue reading
Drone-on-a-Leash
Sergei Lupashin, who has created a clever little device called the Fotokite. Essentially, he put the camera drone on a leash. Continue reading
Camcopter Under Fire in Ukraine
The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) has announced that its recently deployed Schiebel Camcopter unmanned air vehicle was the target of anti-aircraft gunfire above Ukraine, although it managed to fly away undamaged. Continue reading
Neuromorphic Chips to Control UAS
There isn’t much space between your ears, but what’s in there can do many things that a computer of the same size never could. Your brain is also vastly more energy efficient at interpreting the world visually or understanding speech than any computer system. Continue reading
World’s First QuadCopter
In 1927 George de Bothezat told Popular Science that helicopters were “exactly where the airplane stood after the first few flights of the Wright Brothers.” What he means is that helicopters had, indeed, flown. Bothezat himself had built one that lifted off the ground while carrying the weight of four people. They just hadn’t flown well. Continue reading
Drones Attack Drone in Miami
Skymark Productions was flying one of its quadcopters in Miami Beach, Florida, when it was attacked by an angry swarm of bees. Continue reading
UAS with Brooms Keep Solar Panels Clean
Some of the best places for solar power–like the Mojave Desert, where the world’s largest solar thermal farm sprawls over 3,500 acres–also happen to be dry and dusty. Fine layers of sand or grime often stop equipment from stop working well. Now there’s a new way to keep panels clean: quadcopters that fly back and forth carrying little brushes.