an independent online news service for the Unmanned Aircraft Systems world
As the war in Afghanistan ends and new threats emerge in the Asia-Pacific region, the Pentagon is considering adapting multiple weapons for UAS, including the Cold War-era Hydra 70 rocket and the Laser Homing Attack or Anti-Tank Missile, or LAHAT, according to its latest report on the future of unmanned systems. Continue reading
Danish company, Valhalla Drone Solutions, a group of seven engineers from the University of Southern Denmark in Odense has developed a prototype Lego Mindstorms robot that automatically switches a quadrotor’s battery pack.
After a rigorous 10-month selection process involving 25 proposals from 24 states, the Federal Aviation Administration has chosen six unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) research and test site operators across the country. In selecting the six test site operators, the FAA considered geography, climate, location of ground infrastructure, research needs, airspace use, safety, aviation experience and risk.
General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc. has been awarded a $31,937,493 cost-plus-fixed-fee and firm-fixed-price undefinitized contract action (FA8620-10-G-3038 0080 09) for United Kingdom contractor logistics support (CLS) phase 1 and 2 effort consisting of urgent repairs and services, logistics support, field service representative support, contractor inventory control point and spares management, depot repair, flight operations support and field maintenance. Continue reading
Only days after Syracuse-based NUAIR won federal designation to operate one of six national test sites for unmanned aircraft, the alliance has landed its first client from private industry. Continue reading
Northrop Grumman Corporation and the U.S. Navy have completed nine initial flight tests of the Triton unmanned aircraft system (UAS), marking the half-way point in a process called envelope expansion.
A video just released by the Aerospace Robotics and Control Laboratory at the University of Illinois shows a group of ten small, highly manoeuvrable commercially available quadrotors made to act as a squadron, using autonomous control/guidance algorithms inspired from the lab’s work in distributed, cooperative control and a Vicon motion capture system.
Northland Community and Technical College in Thief River Falls now offers a one-year Imagery Analysis certificate, the first of its kind in the nation, and a two-year associate’s degree in Geospatial Intelligence Analysis. Continue reading