A new study, commissioned by the American Red Cross, calls drones one of the most promising and powerful new technologies to improve disaster response and relief efforts. Continue reading
Belgian Police Acquire UAS After Testing
Belgian Police Authority, MidLim, announced that they will be using a new Altura Zenith unmanned aerial system (UAS) to complement their operations in the Limburg region. They praise the Altura Zenith for its reliability, stability and versatility after deploying it 70 times to search for missing persons, monitor traffic and use for crowd control. Continue reading
Workhorse Shorlisted for US Postal Service
The US Postal Service has narrowed down the companies bidding to build the next generation of its delivery vehicles – and one of them is offering up an all-electric truck that doubles as a drone launcher.
Scientists Use UAS to Map Ocean Trash
A group of scientists is taking the problem of plastic pollution in the oceans by land, sea and air. While Marco Simeoni, the president of the Race for Water Foundation and his team spend 300 days in a yacht collecting samples of all the plastic pollution found in the ocean, a drone is flying over uninhabited beaches collecting images of converging garbage on its shores.
MIT Swarming Quadcopter can Float on Water
Researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have created a drone that can float on water and communicate with other drones via the cloud. Continue reading
AMA Provides sUAS Education Online
The Academy of Model Aeronautics (AMA), an organisation that promotes the development of model aviation, has announced the latest addition to its AMA Flight School online learning centre: small Unmanned Aircraft Systems (sUAS) education with partner Fly Robotics.
Israel Seeks Larger Brigade-Level UAV
The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) has revived a plan to acquire a larger brigade-level unmanned air vehicle than its battalion-level Elbit Systems Skylark I-LE, according to sources. Continue reading
Successful First Flight for NASA’S X-56A Multi-Utility Technology Testbed
Researchers at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center, Edwards, California, successfully conducted the agency’s first flight of the X-56A Multi-Utility Technology Testbed (MUTT) on April 9. The 20-minute flight marked the beginning of a research effort designed to yield significant advances in aeroservoelastic technology using a low-cost, modular, remotely piloted aerial vehicle.