US-based photo service Cooliris wants to bring dramatic aerial photos instantaneously into the hands of consumers via private groups so users can share them on their iPhones or iPads. Cooliris has announced a partnership with UAS manufacturer Aibotix, becoming the first consumer photo application to integrate with UAS. Continue reading
Category Archives: VTOL
Bordeaux Classified Vineyards Invest in UAS Technology
Bernard Magrez is to roll out newly-developed vineyard UAS in his four classified Bordeaux estates – Pape Clement, La Tour Carnet, Fombrauge and Haut Peyraguay – before eventually extending them to his entire portfolio of Bordeaux properties, and those in the south of France. Continue reading
What Makes the Quadcopter Design So Great for Small UAS?
There are many misconceptions surrounding quadcopters and multirotors. The single main reason that they are popular for small UAS is mechanical simplicity. It’s worth pointing out that a quadcopter is LESS stable than an equivalent regular helicopter (and I’ll explain why in a sec), and is also LESS efficient than an equivalent regular helicopter. Continue reading
DJI Innovations’ S1000 Monster 8-Rotor to Carry Hollywood-Quality Cameras
At CES on Sunday, China’s DJI Innovations showed off its forthcoming S1000, an 8-rotor UAS that was built specifically to carry Canon’s 5D Mark II or Mark III. For those not familiar with camera gear, that’s a setup capable of shooting feature films or documentaries. Continue reading
Parrot Launches MiniDrone & Parrot Jumping Sumo at CES
Parrot‘s been offering up relatively small updates to its AR.Drone line each year at CES, and while the quadcopter is, without question, one of the most immediately recognizable in the space, we’ve been waiting to see a genuinely fresh take on the product. Continue reading
Automated UAS Battery Changer – Lego Prototype from Valhalla
Danish company, Valhalla Drone Solutions, a group of seven engineers from the University of Southern Denmark in Odense has developed a prototype Lego Mindstorms robot that automatically switches a quadrotor’s battery pack.
SWARM Flight of Small Quadcoptors Interacting with Humans
A video just released by the Aerospace Robotics and Control Laboratory at the University of Illinois shows a group of ten small, highly manoeuvrable commercially available quadrotors made to act as a squadron, using autonomous control/guidance algorithms inspired from the lab’s work in distributed, cooperative control and a Vicon motion capture system.
Russian Helicopters Demonstrates Rotary UAS for Airborne Forces
Russian Helicopters, the holding that produces rotorcraft in Russia, has shown a demonstrator future rotary-wing unmanned aircraft system to the country’s Airborne Forces (VDV), the company announced last week. Continue reading