The U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has awarded LiquidPiston Inc., an advanced internal combustion engine technology company, an additional $2.5 million to continue development of its 30kW X4 rotary diesel engine prototype, bringing DARPA’s total funding of the engine technology to $6M. Continue reading
MIT Chip Upgrade Helps Miniature Drones Navigate
Researchers at MIT, who last year designed a tiny computer chip tailored to help honeybee-sized drones navigate, have now shrunk their chip design even further, in both size and power consumption. Continue reading
500 km/h RC Plane
Pentagon Bans Marines from Using COTS Quadcopters
The US Marine Corps has shelved several new, small drones – at least temporarily – amid a Pentagon ban and assessment on the cybersecurity of commercial, off-the-shelf, unmanned aerial systems, a service spokesman told USNI News. Continue reading
Ohio to Integrate Drones into Transport Infrastructure
Ohio may soon be using unmanned aerial systems to communicate with smart vehicles and transportation infrastructure to monitor traffic and roadway conditions. Continue reading
100m Flying Height Best for Forest Analysis
Scientists with the New Hampshire Agricultural Experiment Station at the University of New Hampshire recently analyzed effectiveness of Unmanned Aerial Systems – that’s drones, to you and me – to collect meaningful information about the health and status of forests. Continue reading
SRC Partners with Xcel Energy on Drone Detection
SRC, Inc., has announced a partnership with Xcel Energy to deploy state-of-the-art drone detection technology to protect critical infrastructure. Under this partnership, SRC and Xcel Energy will collect actionable data on the low altitude airspace not only for a critical energy center, but also for an airport, railway, inland waterway, sporting arena and state capital. Continue reading
GA-ASI Gets $39M MQ-9 Reaper Marine Corps Services Contract
General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc., Poway, California, has been awarded an undefinitized contract action with a not-to-exceed value of $39,566,023 to provide additional unmanned air system intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance surge support for Marine Corps Task Force Southwest operations in the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) area of operations (AOR) using contractor-owned/contractor-