Australian company Flirtey teamed up last year with fellow Australian startup Zookai, promising schoolbooks delivered by drone. Almost twelve months on, CEO Matt Sweeney has secured a partnership to conduct high-tech testing at the University of Nevada, Reno (UNR) and is eyeing off New Zealand as a testbed to grow his business. Continue reading
Category Archives: VTOL
DJI Phantom Films Apple’s New Cupertino Campus
This video was recently posted to YouTube, showing aerial images of Apple’s new “under construction” campus in Cupertino, California. It reveals the scale of the facility, which is truly massive. Continue reading
Ducted Fan Hexpuck – or Flying Saucer ?
The new Hexpuck UAS by Ashima Devices are launched by hand and recovered by hand. You just press the “come back” button on your touch screen pad and it comes back. “It’s not something like you set on the ground and it has little legs on it,” said Larry Lambert, Ashima co-founder and vice president. “It’s like a flying saucer.
China Issues First Airworthiness Certificate for V750
China’s unmanned helicopter, the V750, will receive an airworthiness certificate from Civil Aviation Administration next month. It will be the first such certificate issued by the country to a UAS.
Scion UAS Demonstrates Autonomous Takeoff and Landing from a Moving Platform
Scion UAS recently demonstrated autonomous takeoff and landing from a moving platform. The SA-400 Jackal landed smoothly on a 16ft x 20ft trailer being towed along a runway at speeds up to 10 knots. More than 10 landings and takeoffs were performed including straight-line approaches and 45-degree approaches to simulate ship-based operations. Continue reading
CAMCOPTER Helps Save Mediterranean Refugees
As part of the Migrant Offshore Aid Station (MOAS) operation the Schiebel CAMCOPTER S-100 UAS (Unmanned Air System) is helping to save the lives of refugees in the Mediterranean Sea. Desperate people fleeing conflict, economic desperation and violence in their homeland look towards Europe as a safe haven. They travel by all means possible for days or weeks on end to get to countries of transit from which they will sail out in makeshift sea craft. The lucky ones reach Europe where they can claim asylum, the unlucky ones perish.
Malloy Aeronautics Hoverbike on Kickstarter
An interesting Kickstarter project aims to jump-start sales of a drone version of a fully-functional hover bike. The quadcopter drone acts as a proof of concept for the full-sized manned vehicle, with proceeds from the crowdfunding effort intended to fuel the continued development of the final vehicle. With more than a week remaining before the Kickstarter campaign concludes, its funding goal has been exceeded and development is moving forward at pace. Though the manned Hoverbike is what tends to garner the most attention, the one third scale drones are actually the focus of the Kickstarter effort.
Drone-Vertising – Only in Russia
Russian creative agency Hungry Boys created a new advertising technique for noodle company Wokker, which incorporated unmanned aerial vehicles. The aim was to draw potential customers’ attention and raise the number of orders from a number of local business centers. Continue reading