Accidents
Drawing upon its work integrating unmanned air vehicle use into the UK Air Accidents Investigation Branch’s (AAIB) wreckage assessments, Cranfield University is in discussions with international bodies exploring the use of the technology for post-crash analysis. The accident laboratory at Cranfield has been working on safely integrating UAVs
Business
Thales has won a contract to deliver Fulmar Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) to Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA). Fulmar, a small fixed wing UAS, is to be installed on six New Generation Patrol Crafts (NGPC), being constructed by Destini Shipbuilding and Engineering Sdn. Bhd. The maritime design of Fulmar allows
Research
Guoquan Huang, assistant professor of mechanical engineering at the University of Delaware was recently awarded a two-year grant from the National Science Foundation to design resource-aware, attack-resilient, consistent MAV navigation. The $166,000 award will enable Huang, whose expertise lies in robotics, to develop consistent state estimation
Business
Sharper Shape has announced US$3.25 million in new funding (€2.9 million) led by Straightforward Capital, a European venture capital firm with thorough experience in the energy sector. In addition to financing from Straightforward Capital, the funding includes strategic investment from partners of an Australia-based global performance
Law Enforcement
EU border patrol agency Frontex announced Friday that it is in talks with industry for using remotely piloted aircraft for maritime surveillance, adding drones to its existing portfolio of satellite and sensor technologies for monitoring vessel traffic and migrant flows. "While at the moment there is no European legislation
Testing
NASA and its partners, General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc., Honeywell International and the RTCA Special Committee (SC)-228, are validating and advancing technologies that will assist the Federal Aviation Administration as they develop the regulations to allow integration of Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) into the National Airspace System (NAS). The
Propulsion
A paperlike battery electrode developed by a Kansas State University engineer may improve tools for space exploration or unmanned aerial vehicles. Gurpreet Singh, associate professor of mechanical and nuclear engineering, and his research team created the battery electrode using silicon oxycarbide-glass and graphene. The battery electrode has all the
Commercial
Government-owned Australia Post has announced its plans to trial the use of remotely piloted aircraft (RPA) -- or drones -- to deliver small parcels around the country. According to the postal service, the closed-field trial, which is slated for later this year, is an important next step in testing the
Business
Washington has vetoed any further sales of Israeli-made unmanned air vehicles to Russia. For several months Russian companies have contacted Israeli manufacturers in an attempt to reach joint venture agreements. However after checking with the Israeli defence ministry about the potential of formalising any such pact, it became obvious
Commercial
The Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI) has released an interactive analysis that finds 38 types of business operations have been approved by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to fly unmanned aircraft systems commercially in the National Airspace System (NAS). According to the report that analyzed more than 3,
Business
Cambridge based radar technology company Aveillant has announced the sale of its Gamekeeper drone detection radar to provide security and privacy over Monaco. As part of a strategic partnership with JCPX Development, the system will be installed at a site in the principality later this year as the core element
Military
The US Air Force is to integrate the Northrop Grumman AN/AAQ-28(V) Litening targeting and designation pod onto the General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc MQ-9 Reaper unmanned aircraft system (UAS) to demonstrate the capability, it was disclosed on 12 April. A pre-solicitation notice posted on the