A Virginia Tech Department of Aerospace and Ocean Engineering student team won First place in a NASA-sponsored competition with its design of a twin-fuselage unmanned aircraft fueled by liquid hydrogen. The annual University Aeronautics Engineering Design Challenge was sponsored by NASA and not meant to create aircraft that will be built and flown, but to spur design skills among college engineering students.
MIT Algorithm Lets UAS Monitor Health in Real-Time
The prospect of delivery UAS brings with it a few notable issues. Beyond visions of colliding rotor blades and unsolicited package drops lies another problem: the huge amount of computational power needed to take into account real world uncertainties, such as strong winds, limited battery life and navigational errors, in order to provide a reliable delivery service. This has been the focus of new study from MIT, with a team of researchers devising a new algorithm said to massively reduce the level of computation required, enabling the drone to monitor its “health” in real time. Continue reading
CAMCOPTER Helps Save Mediterranean Refugees
As part of the Migrant Offshore Aid Station (MOAS) operation the Schiebel CAMCOPTER S-100 UAS (Unmanned Air System) is helping to save the lives of refugees in the Mediterranean Sea. Desperate people fleeing conflict, economic desperation and violence in their homeland look towards Europe as a safe haven. They travel by all means possible for days or weeks on end to get to countries of transit from which they will sail out in makeshift sea craft. The lucky ones reach Europe where they can claim asylum, the unlucky ones perish.
First Ever RQ-4 Global Hawk Hits 100th Flight on NASA Mission
The first completed Global Hawk has made history again with its 100th flight in support of NASA environmental research. The milestone occurred on a flight from Edwards Air Force Base in California more than 16 years after its first flight in 1998. The aircraft is now at Wallops Island for a two month deployment to conduct hurricane research missions.
Business Booming for Fort Lauderdale Supplier
Drones have become a big business, especially in South Florida. A company in Fort Lauderdale says sales are soaring sky high and they only seem to have scratched the surface on what to use the drones for. Entrepreneur Don Scott is CEO of DSLRPros, a development, manufacturing and customizing drone company working out of an inconspicuous building off west Dixie Highway. Continue reading
Researchers Study Electronic Control of Moths
North Carolina State University researchers have developed methods for electronically manipulating the flight muscles of moths and for monitoring the electrical signals moths use to control those muscles. The work opens the door to the development of remotely-controlled moths, or “biobots,” for use in emergency response.
MIT Lincoln Lab’s Airborne Sense and Avoid (ABSAA) Radar Panel Wins R&D Award
MIT Lincoln Laboratory’s Airborne Sense and Avoid (ABSAA) Radar Panel is a stepped-notch antenna array that marks a substantial advance in the fabrication of wide-bandwidth radar systems for use aboard unmanned aerial systems (UAS). Continue reading
Israeli Hermes Shot Down Near Iranian Nuclear Facility
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard is claiming it shot down an Israeli Hermes UAS, near the Natanz nuclear facility, earlier today. The Iranian military force has not offered any further details. Neither has Israeli commented on the claim.