an independent online news service for the Unmanned Aircraft Systems world
A defective pitch-rate controller led to a QRF-4C Phantom II crash just eight seconds after take-off from Tyndall Air Force Base, Fla., July 17, 2013, according to an Air Combat Command Accident Investigation Board report just released. Continue reading
Effective Feb. 7, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) lifted the temporary grounding of its entire Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) fleet — an order that was put in place on Jan. 24 “out of an abundance of caution” following an Office of Air and Marine flight crew having had to ditch one of CBP’s multi-million dollar Predators in the Pacific Ocean at about 11:15 PM PST” on Jan. 27. Continue reading
Parrot AR Drone just published this video of a demonstration of a futuristic piloting mode with the next Bluetooth 4.0 Low Energy product from Thalmic Labs. Continue reading
Hunting Anubis is a single/multiplayer combat flight sim focusing on near future UAS warfare. Currently in a free, open Beta period. Dogfight enemies fully autonomous or remotely manned in the endless fight for the skies of the 21st century. Many features are planned and in production for Anubis, and new Beta builds will be uploaded monthly. Release is currently scheduled for Late 2014. Continue reading
The Patrouille Acrobatique de France (French pronunciation: [patʁuj akʁɔbatik də fʁɑ̃s], French Acrobatic Patrol), also known as the Patrouille de France or PAF, is the precision aerobatic demonstration team of the French Air Force. Continue reading
EnsoMOSAIC photogrammetry software now supports multispectral imagery collected by the Tetracam Mini-MCA 4, 6 or 12 –band and other similar cameras, and hyperspectral imagery of Rikola cameras up to 32 bands. The Rikola camera is the world’s smallest and lightweight hyperspectral frame camera suitable both for fixed wing and rotary wing UAS.
In the Philippines, UNTV, a broadcasting company, is going to deploy UAS for news reporting.The network reports that it has already used its DJI Phantom for a number of news reports, including providing aerial video footage of areas hit by typhoon Haiyan, and even in daily traffic reporting. Continue reading
Kwid is an SUV concept unveiled at the Delhi Motor Show. Renault says the ‘Flying Companion’, which takes off on its missions from the rotating rear portion of the Kwid’s roof, can be flown manually from a tablet inside the car, or will operate its own pre-programmed flight sequence. Continue reading