Aviation regulators say there are safety risks as an increasing number of unmanned aerial vehicles known as drones take to New Zealand skies. Drones were developed principally for military use, but now civilians are using the same technology for mapping, surveying and filming. But its not as easy as it looks, as flight paths and buildings often intersect, with...
The first images that I saw of this Lego quadrocopter frame raised a smile. On contacting Ed Scott, C#/C++ developer by day and Lego flying robot wrangler by night I was impressed. I also recognised a pattern, last week one of my sUAS was engaged in parachute dropping duties for my sons 9th birthday party. Credit must go to...
This one has, well legs. Look out for similar projects perhaps dropping off the walking part which would then walk into a building or to the edge of something to perch and stare. The Hex coming back to pick it up or resupply it with power later. Most certainly a worthy entrant to our UAVs Got Talent section. It...
How do you get video of a ship that’s partially sunken and tilted to one side? CBS’s answer: a drone. The producer of a 60 Minutes story on the Costa Concordia that aired this week used a drone to get to some hard-to-reach spots. CBS hosts the video from 60 Minutes Overtime, which shows how a story is put together behind the...
Since 2005, Inmotion Media Transfer has seen their business of digitizing home movies for DVD steadily grow through the years. However, another aspect of their business–first class video production services–has grown dramatically as well, and now Inmotion has taken the next logical step and spun off a sister company, Zero Gravity Productions. Tim Bogenn, the founder of Inmotion/Zero Gravity, is excited...
In Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, BP conducted pilot testing of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle technology to enhance pipeline inspection and safety. Equipped with high-resolution cameras, the Aeryon Scout VTOL UAV provides visual inspections of equipment, helping crews assess and respond to maintenance needs. The small rotor-wing aircraft is flown from a hand-held tablet computer. BP Alaska conducted the trials in cooperation with the...
The BIRD Multi University Research Initiative project envisions getting mini Unmanned Aerial Vehicles to autonomously navigate through densely cluttered environments, like forests, autonomously. Towards this end, CMU is working on reactive controllers and receding horizon control. Reactive Controller using DAgger We use imitation learning to train the drone to learn the expert’s control inputs iteratively; we evaluate a number...
by Martin Williams, DPW West A NEW venture founded by ex-Army officers has taken-off. Founded in 2011 by Chris Blackford and James Harrison, two former British military personnel who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, Sky-Futures has gone from strength to strength. The duo, based in London, have opened a new base in Colwyn Bay and visited Conwy Gold Club...
Development of the Flying-Dock, a novel concept in the field of Unmanned Aerial Systems, is well under way. This innovative system renders feasible a massively increased range for autonomous aerial vehicles via air-to-air refuelling, thus greatly expanding the operational envelope and functionality of mUAVs. The concept of air-to-air refuelling has greatly expanded the operational envelope of fighter jets by...
Aeryon Labs partner Datron World Communications helps clarify the capabilities and roles of the Scout sUAS (small Unmanned Aerial System) for public safety use including protecting first responders from potentially hazardous environments such as chemical spills or dangerous tactical situations (raids, barricades, and hostage situations), and assisting with search-and-rescue operations. [Source: San Diego Channel 6 News | San Diego's Sheriff's Department...
