Research
New sensors developed by Professor Otto Gregory, of the College of Engineering at the University of Rhode Island, and chemical engineering doctoral student Peter Ricci, are so powerful that they can detect threats at the molecular level, whether it's explosive materials, particles from a potentially deadly virus or
Reports & Publications
Christiansburg, Virginia, a town of roughly 22,000 people, is the site of the most advanced residential drone delivery trial in the United States, launched by the Alphabet subsidiary Wing in October 2019. Virginia Tech researchers conducted a survey in November 2020 to assess the community’s sentiment. Wing provided
Propulsion
The hydrogen market is always associated with fuel cells and vehicles, but this is actually a tiny portion of the overall hydrogen market. In fact, to use hydrogen in fuel cells and industrial applications, it is necessary to produce hydrogen cost-effectively. The strong potential of hydrogen is driven by the
Research
New research (1) with senior private equity and venture capital professionals reveals 71% expect there to be more than 160,000 commercial air taxis operating around the world by 2050. Some 17% anticipate there will be over 200,000. The research was commissioned by Horizon Aircraft, the advanced aerospace engineering
Research
A drone slams into a windshield. The drone's shell cracks, and the windshield shudders. Pieces of a propeller snap off. But the windshield doesn't shatter. Most safe drone flights aren’t supposed to end in crashes. But this crash is unfolding in one of Virginia Tech’
Research
As an instructor at the Brazilian Air Force Academy, Flavio Antonio Coimbra Mendonça was flying in formation when one of his colleagues experienced a bird strike to the leading edge of his aircraft’s right wing. It was a relatively minor incident — not nearly as dramatic as the U.S.
Agriculture
A new Australian study found that methods of shepherding have a direct impact on animal welfare and in particular, farmers who use drones to herd their flock have less stressed sheep. Kate Yaxley from UNSW Canberra The drones emit sounds to help direct the sheep. "We measured the variations
Research
A research team at the Georgia Institute of Technology has developed a modular solution for handling larger packages without the need for a complex fleet of drones of varying sizes. By allowing teams of small drones to collaboratively lift objects using an adaptive control algorithm, the strategy could allow a
Research
Researchers from the Robotics Research Centre at the International Institute of Information Technology Hyderabad have unveiled a working prototype of a flexible drone that changes its shape to fit the size of package to be lifted. Size Matters. Ask 24-year-old robotics researcher Suraj Bonagiri and he’ll explain why. In
Research
‘‘U-SPACE INSIGHT’’, an international survey on U-space is now online. It is being conducted in the framework of the AW-Drones Project, which is funded by the European Union under the Horizon 2020 Programme. The survey has been put together with the assistance of 23 subject matter experts with complementary expertise
Commercial
Mines are still present in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and many countries through the world. Humanitarian demining is expensive, time consuming and presents high risks and threats. Besides well-developed techniques and procedures, use of biological methods is recommended. Existing bio-systems, including bee colonies, can be trained and used efficiently as
Research
Whether it’s in the wake vortex of airplanes taking off or in seemingly calm air, there are few issues more meddlesome to flight than turbulence. Not only can these “horizontal tornadoes” make air travel uncomfortable and possibly dangerous, but attempts to avoid them can consume large amounts of fuel.