Military
The US Navy is soliciting bids for the Autonomous Aerial Cargo/Utility System (AACUS), an unmanned vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) programme designed for autonomous cargo resupply to isolated units. The Office of Naval Research (ONR) is executing the programme on behalf of the US Marine Corps, which routinely deploys
VTOL
A camera-equipped Aeryon Scout flew over Nome this week to help a Russian fuel tanker, the Renda, get a perspective on the sea ice near the town’s harbour. The Renda is sailing to Nome to deliver fuel. The town’s supply is expected to run out before spring. The
Commercial
Yellowtail Aviation, an unmanned aerial inspection company, has announced Aero-Eyes, an unmanned aircraft inspection service for wind turbine blade inspection,which uses the cbyerquad platform from Australia’s Cyber Technology. Yellowtail’s Aero- Eyes UAS are fitted with high-definition, high-resolution video, still and in some cases thermal imaging cameras. Remotely
VTOL
The smartphone-controlled Parrot AR.Drone quadcopter, first shown at CES in 2010, is getting several updates that are being announced at this year's conference. The biggest changes for the AR.Drone 2.0 are hardware and software improvements to make the device easier to fly. Better location and
VTOL
KIPPENBERGER DRONE SHOWREEL 2011 from christopher kippenberger on Vimeo. This video of the Nürburgring car racetrack in Germany was produced by German firm Kippenberger, which is looking to bring affordable airborne videos to the car scene. Renting a helicopter for the day can cost up to $50,000 before the
Military
The US Army Contracting Command, Fort Dix, NJ, on behalf of U.S. Army Logistics Innovation Agency (LIA) issued an RFI on Cargo Unmanned Aircraft Systems. The US Army is interested in exploring future (7-10 years out) capability concepts for Cargo Unmanned Aircraft Systems. Information gained from the future concepts
Military
The US Army is using a hybrid-type acquisition approach to develop a helicopter-like, Vertical-Take-Off-and-Landing Unmanned Aircraft System with a so-called ARGUS wide-area surveillance sensor suite designed to beam back information and images of the surrounding terrain, service officials said. Beginning in May or June of 2012, the Army will deploy
VTOL
The US Marine Corps flew two unmanned K-MAX helicopter test flights out to one of the forward operating bases in Afghanistan without a load on December 15 and 16. Lockheed Martin’s Jeffrey Brown teold Aviation Week. “These flights were test flights in preparation for sustained operations.” Built as a
VTOL
Sweden's CybAero AB, in collaboration with the Norwegian Coast Guard and Coastal Agency, has conducted a series of flights with its unmanned helicopter, the APID 60, in winds up to gale force. The flights took place over the Arctic Ocean, near the Norwegian village of Vardø, on behalf
VTOL
Schiebel’s CAMCOPTER S-100 is the only UAS taking part in the flight displays at the LIMA (Langkawi International Maritime and Aerospace) Exhibition from 6th to 10th December 2011. The CAMCOPTER S-100 unmanned helicopter was first and only UAS ever to fly at the Paris Air Show in 2009. Subsequently,
Commercial
The Chair of Architecture and Digital Fabrication at the FRAC Cultural Centre in Orléans, France has commissioned a 3 month exhibition entitled "Flight Assembled Architecture". It runs from 01.12.2011-26.02.2012 and claims to be the first architectural installation to be built dynamically by flying machines
News
High-end real estate agent Stephen Shapiro, is now using video taken from a small hexrotor unmanned helicopter to sell expensive homes in Southern California. In this tough economic market selling a home formerly owned by a star can even be a tough sell. To the person with $25 million to