Drone

Courtesy of the FAA The FAA is tapping a select squad of drone experts to weigh in on pilot testing and certification. The federal agency last week announced the selection of 12 corporations and groups to advise the agency in developing “test administration requirements for the recreational Unmanned Aircraft Systems …

Courtesy: NOAA Drones may someday become the first line of defense in hurricane forecasting. A NOAA research paper in Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society reveals that disposable UAS could be used to gather data from a hurricane’s lower eyewall – the most dangerous part. “It’s where the storm draws …

CompTIA is a name that many have heard of, even if they aren’t sure what they do.  As the world’s largest tech trade association – and the second largest certifying body – CompTIA has been smoothing the way for new technologies to establish training and certification standards for years.  Now, …

What makes Skyryse different than other autonomous VTOL projects is that the company’s tech is meant to be added on to existing aircraft rather than building something entirely brand-new. Powering the autonomy in the tests Skyryse conducted is its custom “Flight Stack,” which consists of a set of tools currently …

A new “high performance” spy drone, dubbed the Ultra Long Endurance Aircraft Platform (Ultra LEAP), was recently tested at the US Air Force’s Edwards Air Force Base in California. Adapted from commercially available parts, the Ultra LEAP stayed aloft for two-and-a-half days without refueling, longer than most of the Pentagon’s …

Courtesy of Citadel Defense Counter-drone provider Citadel Defense continues to reach new heights with key American agencies. The California-based company has completed a six-month deployment of its anti-drone solutions for three undisclosed agencies, according to a recent Citadel press release. The company adds that the deployment meets “regulatory, safety and critical …

France’s Azur Drones offers a truly autonomous, drone in a box solution for security.  It’s a powerful and sophisticated system designed to secure critical infrastructure – and with European approval to fly autonomously beyond visual line of sight, Azur is poised to be Europe’s leading player in security drones. Azur …

Sometimes, it’s nice to see humans working with machines. This week, WIRED Transportation took you to Austin, where professional drone racers—yes, they exist!—raced against robot-directed ones on a complicated course. Sure, there was a winner in the end: the human racers. But Lockheed Martin, which sponsored the race, is hoping …

It’s morning in Berkeley, California, and the Kiwibots are heading off to work.  These four-wheeled robots navigate sidewalks and even crosswalks taking food to hungry college students. “This is the future,” said Kiwibots CEO Felipe Chávez. It’s a real-world test of robot delivery that sometimes collides with reality.  Correspondent John …

This story about plans from Uber to conduct trials of commercial passenger drone technology by Kathryn Breakwell first appeared in the October 2019 edition of Australian Aviation. A rendering from Uber of a Skyport landing and departure point. (Uber) It may seem like a flashback scene from the animated sitcom …