Scaled Composites has announced the rollout and first flight of its most recent project, experimental aircraft Model 401. Scaled worked with a proprietary customer to build two vehicles to demonstrate advanced, low-cost manufacturing techniques and to provide aircraft for research flight services to industry partners and the United States government. Continue reading
Autonomous Power Line Detection and Avoidance Capability Patent for UAS
Electrical power lines pose a serious crash hazard to helicopters and other air-based vehicles, especially small aerial vehicles, such as unmanned aircraft systems (UAS). This is because power lines are so widespread, hard to see, and strung at roughly the same height above the ground at which these aircraft fly. Continue reading
DARPA – Teams Encouraged to Share Innovative Ideas for Swarm Systems
DARPA’s OFFensive Swarm-Enabled Tactics (OFFSET) program envisions future small-unit infantry forces using small unmanned aircraft systems (UASs) and/or small unmanned ground systems (UGSs) in swarms of 250 robots or more to accomplish diverse missions in complex urban environments. Continue reading
Swedish Drone Ban Lifted
In the autumn of 2016, the Swedish Supreme Administrative Court ruled that a camera mounted on a drone is considered a CCTV camera for purposes of the Swedish Camera Surveillance Act (2013:460). The judgment meant that using a drone equipped with a camera, where the camera will be directed at a place to which the public has access, requires a license from the County Administrative Board. Continue reading
Consortiq Delivers UK First for BVLoS Operations
Consortiq has completed the delivery of a beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) drone training course to the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI), in what is believed to be the first example of routine training of this type undertaken outside of segregated airspace for emergency services in the UK. Continue reading
Rajant Mesh Drones Reduce Response Time for Triggered Home Alarm System
Rajant, a provider of private wireless networks, successfully conducted tests that show the national average time for authorities to respond to a verified home alarm – seven minutes – can be drastically lowered if alarm companies use unmanned aerial systems (UAS, or drones), to supplement their current infrastructure. Continue reading
New Chinese Fixed-Wing UAVs on Display
Twin-Tailed Scorpion
Chinese research and production company Tengoen Technology showed a new family of unmanned aerial vehicles at the recent 14th China-ASEAN Expo held in Nanning, China. Tengoen unveiled two fixed-wing UAVs—the TA001 “Striking Hawk” and the TB001 “Twin Tailed Scorpion”—and two rotary wing (VTOL) UAVs called the HA001 “Featherless Arrow” and the HB002 “ Xiao Li Guang.” Continue reading
3D Printed Titanium Mach 0.8 Rocket Powered Drone
3D printing gives manufacturers the power to create parts that cannot be built cost-effectively with other processes. In this video, Mark Kirby, manager of additive manufacturing at Renishaw Canada, shows off a special project for a North American aerospace customer: the Firefly, a 3D printed titanium rocket-powered drone that can fly at nearly supersonic speeds, with onboard telemetry and a spring-released wing. Continue reading