Unmanned Aerial Vehicle The latest drone news
Credit: U.S. Marine Corp
A brand new U.S. Marine Corps challenge reveals promise as the following step in drone evolution – remodeling surplus army helicopters into autonomous drones.
Last week, the USMC accomplished a profitable demonstration of the Autonomous Aerial Cargo/Utility System, a challenge that transformed a decommissioned UH-1H Huey helicopter right into a semi-autonomous plane piloted remotely by an infantryman utilizing a handheld pill.
Developed by veteran drone firm Aurora Flight Sciences in partnership with the Office of Naval Research, AACUS supplies an answer to what Marine officers have dubbed an “urgent needs statement” – the potential to ship provides to troops deployed in a rugged panorama like a desert or mountains with out the necessity to threat the lives of a flight crew.
“This is more than just an unmanned helicopter. AACUS is an autonomy kit that can be placed on any rotary-wing platform and provide it with an autonomous capability,” mentioned Walter Jones, ONR govt director.
AACUS is semi-autonomous – most Marine drone methods require a educated floor operator to transmit flight instructions to unmanned plane. In the current take a look at, the transformed Huey obtained solely two transmissions – flight permission and the drop zone information.
“The system then did the mission planning itself, charting the optimal route to the destination, avoiding obstacles and no-fly areas and picking the best landing spot near the troops it was supporting,” a Marine assertion famous. Aurora trainers simply taught two Marines with zero drone expertise to function the system in just a few hours.
Noting the AACUS represented “great capability,” Lt. Gen. Robert Walsh, commanding normal Marine Corps Combat Development Command, added “It’s up to us to determine how to use it.”
AACUS is one more profitable drone challenge for the Corps. In August, the USMC introduced a profitable take a look at of recent drone tech that employs 3D printing. In partnership with Autodesk, the challenge developed “Scout,” a tiny, mounted wing drone that may be assembled from Four-5 components in three minutes and carried into the sector through backpack.
For Aurora, the AACUS challenge represents a win for the corporate following a current business settlement with Boeing. Aurora is probably one of many oldest drone firms in operation, deploying greater than 30 drone fashions since its founding in 1989. The new partnership with Boeing will end in new drone methods for business and army functions.
