Testing
Newport Beach, California’s XAir Unmanned Aerial Systems, has built a prototype fixed-wing drone that it says harnesses wind power to keep it in the air for hours at a time. Although the 24-ounce aircraft employs a small solar panel to power up its electronics and its onboard battery, its
Testing
Using a fleet of readily available consumer drones, AdNear – a Singapore-based location-marketing firm – is able to determine a cell phone’s location as well as its movement by collecting signal strength and other wireless data from passersby below. With this data in hand, AdNear could then deliver hyper-targeted ads and
Testing
Battelle, a technology research and development organisation, has successfully performed a wind tunnel test on its new in-flight ice protection system for unmanned aerial vehicles, and ultimately other aircraft. Battelle’s HeatCoat technology was integrated with representative wing and engine inlet test articles, and then placed into a leading aircraft
Regulations
The TEMPAERIS consortium has demonstrated the capability to integrate a remote controlled aircraft into civilian air traffic. This evaluation was performed around Bordeaux-Merignac airport, between February 2-6 as part of SESAR RPAS (Remotely Piloted Aircraft System) demonstration projects. The TEMPAERIS consortium is led by DSNA, the French ANSP, together with
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 for “Due Regard” operations
Military
General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. has announced the successful first endurance flight of Predator XP, an advanced derivative of the mission-proven MQ-1 Predator RPA that has accumulated over two million flight hours since 1994. The flight launched on February 6 and landed on February 8 during a 40-plus hour flight
Testing
Swiss company Flyability is travelling home from Dubai $1 million richer after winning the "Drones for Good" international competition, on February 7. Gimball is described as the first "collision-tolerant drone," utilizing a rotating spherical outer cage that means it can be used safely in close proximity
Transport
A quadcopter built by a Nagoya-based company has completed a trial run to see if unmanned aircraft can be used to transport goods from Kagawa Prefecture to an island in the Seto Inland Sea. “In the long run, we would like to use drones to transport emergency medical supplies and
Commercial
A restaurant chain in Singapore has demonstrated flying helicopter drones being used to deliver food and drinks from the kitchen, right to customers' tables. Timbre, a live music bar and restaurant chain that was the first restaurant in Singapore to roll out iPads at every table to speed up
Testing
Turkish Aerospace Industries has begun flight testing of the Block B variant of its Anka medium-altitude, long-endurance unmanned air vehicle, local news sources have reported. A $300 million order for ten of the type in 2013 saw the Turkish air force become the first customer for the UAV. These will
Transport
Alibaba, the Chinese online marketplace, is conducting a three-day test to deliver packages using quadcopters within an hour. The initial scope of Alibaba’s experiment is small. The company’s online Taobao bazaar is inviting 450 shoppers in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou to try parcel deliveries by drones. They will
Testing
CybAero received an order from China Customs for three systems in January 2014. These systems are to be stationed on three new vessels China Customs will be commissioning in 2015. CybAero commenced factory testing on the first system on February 2nd. The purpose of the factory testing is to verify