In a move that Disney says could advance entertainment as well as advertising, the media powerhouse has filed a patent application for a “projection assembly for use with an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV),” according to a copy of the filing.
FAA Reauthorization Act – UAS Provisions
Members of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and Aviation Subcommittee announced the introduction of the Aviation Innovation, Reform, and Reauthorization (AIRR) Act (H.R. 4441). The AIRR Act is a six-year reauthorization of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). While the proposed reforms to air traffic control garnered the most attention in the media, the AIRR Act also addressed efforts to integrate civil unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) into the National Airspace System (NAS). Continue reading
IAI and Hankuk Carbon Team to Develop VTOL Unmanned Systems
Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) and Korean composite manufacturer Hankuk Carbon will form a joint venture to new vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) unmanned air vehicles. Continue reading
US Congress Report Details Deficiencies in UAV Testing
Unmanned aerial vehicles, from large, long range aircraft to small tactical drones, have been a reliable tool for the military for years, but they still have weaknesses, according to the annual report to Congress by J. Michael Gilmore, director of the Defense Department’s office of Operational Test & Evaluation (OT&E). Here’s a summary of what OT&E had to say about some of the military’s most common UAVs. Continue reading
US Military Tests Robo-Parachute Delivery without GPS
Recent tests of the U.S. Army’s Joint Precision Airdrop System (JPADS) have been trying new navigational software—developed by the Draper Laboratory in Cambridge, Mass., and other companies—to achieve GPS-style accuracy with images alone.
EASA Recommendations for UAS Airspace Integration
The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) has issued a technical opinion on the future of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) in the skies over the European Union (EU), dividing them into three classes, and issuing 27 recommendations for their safe operation in EU airspace. Continue reading
Drone Detector Detects Drones Before Take-Off
It was the summer of 2014 and two Microsoft veterans, Phil Wheat and Zain Naboulsi, were chatting about drones. They knew the small gizmos were going to be ubiquitous in the near future and, after several hours of discussion, they realized that the potential for malevolent use was high. Continue reading
MQ-1B Predator Accident Report Released
An accident investigation board found that a remotely piloted MQ-1B Predator that was intentionally crashed into an uninhabited area of the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility on May 27, 2015, suffered an engine failure due to loss of coolant. Continue reading