MicaSense, a sensor and information company has raised $2M in Series A funding from Parrot. MicaSense delivers a fully integrated hardware solution for agricultural remote sensing from any unmanned aerial platform, tightly coupled with cloud-based analytics to provide crop health information to growers. The funding will enable MicaSense to expand its engineering and manufacturing capabilities to support a growing network of customers worldwide.
US Navy’s Robo-Shark
The American military does a lot of work in the field of bio-mimicry, stealing designs from nature for use in new technology. After all, if you’re going to design a robot, where better to draw inspiration than from billions of years of evolution? The latest result of these efforts is the GhostSwimmer: The Navy’s underwater drone designed to look and swim like a real fish, and a liability to spook the bejeezus out of any beach goer who’s familiar with Jaws.
EMSA Picks Life Ray for European Maritime Surveillance System
The new unmanned aerial system AR5 Life Ray, developed by technological Group TEKEVER, was selected by the European Space Agency (ESA) and the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) to create the first European maritime surveillance system composed of UAS. Continue reading
Israel to Issue RFI for Personal UAS
Israel’s military is preparing to issue a request for information (RFI) for a so-called “personal UAS” for use by infantry soldiers.
RPAS VLL Operation Coordination System Receives Award
On 11 December 2014, Flight Plus, Luciad and VITO were recognised at the 2014 SESAR (Single European Sky ATM Research) SWIM Master Class “Best in Class Awards” which took place in Brussels. During four months, 81 international teams competed to become the 2014 SWIM “Best in Class”.
L-3 SCM to Provide Communications Link for Desert Hawk III
L-3 Southern California Microwave (L-3 SCM) has announced that it has been selected by Lockheed Martin’s Mission Systems and Training (LM MST) business to provide its MICRO Secure Digital Data Link (MICRO SDDL) as the secure command & control and ISR communications backbone for the U.K. Ministry of Defence’s (MOD) digital Desert Hawk III DDL small unmanned aircraft system (SUAS) platform.
NASA Begins Flight Testing of Shape-Shifting Wings
NASA’s green aviation project, together with the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) and FlexSys, Inc, is one step closer to demonstrating technology that could make future airliners quieter and more fuel-efficient with the successful flight test of a wing surface that can change shape in flight. Continue reading
Chinese Air Force Shoots Down Unauthorised Flights
A drone without an operating license that was shot down by the PLA Air Force in Beijing has brought light to the need for tightened regulations on privately-owned drones and other devices.