Business
Volz is expanding its market foothold to optionally piloted vehicles (OPV). Several electro-mechanical clutches available for Volz products starting with the DA 26 Volz cover a wide range of OPV applications. A servo from Volz excels due to the simplicity of its design while simultaneously maximizing positioning force, reliability
Electronic Sub-Systems
Sentera LLC and the University of Minnesota College of Science and Engineering have developed a high-precision autopilot toolkit for use with unmanned aerial systems (UAS). The toolkit’s hardware and software are now available under a broad open-source license. The UAS Autopilot Development Toolkit integrates into current and
Electronic Sub-Systems
The Australian Maritime Safety Authority’s (AMSA) four new Challenger 604 jet search and rescue aircraft which begin to enter service in August 2016 will have an unprecedented ability to visually detect and track objects and people in the water, thanks to prime contractor Cobham Aviation Services’ selection of Sentient
Electronic Sub-Systems
Garmin International Inc., a unit of Garmin Ltd. has announced the selection of the GSX 70, a full-featured solid-state weather radar by Northrop Grumman for the U.S. Air Force fleet of RQ-4 Global Hawk unmanned aircraft systems (UAS). Equipped to fly at a maximum altitude of
Military
DJI has unveiled the Manifold, an embedded computer for drones that offers more powerful hardware and runs on Ubuntu Linux. The updated platform has stricter flight controls and more attention to detail. "Designed for developers, the Manifold's built-in Ubuntu operating system supports CUDA, OpenCV, and ROS,
Commercial
Known for its key role in the smartphone industry, Qualcomm is now looking to expand their horizons by making a new chip reference design aimed at making drones cheaper for everyone. Qualcomm's SoC (system on a chip) design will also be used for future drones. SoCs are efficient
Electronic Sub-Systems
With the goal of achieving autonomous flight of these aerial vehicles, the researcher José Martínez Carranza from the National Institute of Astrophysics, Optics and Electronics (INAOE) in Mexico, developed a vision and learning system to control and navigate them without relying on a GPS signal or trained personnel. Mexican José
Electronic Sub-Systems
The comment period on the US Federal Register is about to close on a potential navigation backup system for GPS that could be very useful for unmanned systems. Enhanced Loran or eLoran is an invigorated version of the old Loran system formerly operated by the Coast Guard. The new system,
Electronic Sub-Systems
A company in Germany is offering a new solution to the problem of drone collision: a collision avoidance unit which works with different sensors, does not need GPS-positioning and can be fitted into almost any rotary wing or multirotor platform. Drones have already become an important tool for many
Business
The US Navy has awarded nine companies a spot on a maximum $99 million set of contracts to provide software development and other services for the Naval Air Systems Command’s Strike Planning and Execution Systems, which supports a number of air, sea and ground missions. Work under the indefinite-
Testing
General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. has announced a major technological advancement related to the integration of RPA into international and domestic airspace. GA-ASI successfully flight tested a pre-production Due Regard Radar (DRR), marking the first fully functional air-to-air radar on a RPA that meets the requirements
Business
Mountain Secure Systems (MSS), a subsidiary of Phillips Service Industries (PSI) and supplier of rugged electronic solutions, announced that it has recently shipped an order of removable, ruggedized solid state drives (SSDs) to a leading defence contractor, which will be integrated into a pod system for the MQ-9 Reaper.