Tag: New Jersey

Seen & Heard: Karma drone down, GLONASS guides missiles

“Seen & Heard” is a monthly feature of GPS World magazine, traveling the world to capture interesting and unusual news stories involving the GNSS/PNT industry.

Photo: Karma drone/GoPro

Bad karma

The GoPro Karma drone has been grounded since the new year began, reports The Verge. Multiple owners say their Karma controllers are flashing errors about not receiving a GPS signal, and that they can’t calibrate the compass. They’re not able to fly the drones even after disabling GPS. A GoPro spokesperson told The Verge that it is “actively troubleshooting” the issue.

Going wild at the casino

A Waze ad in January misdirected drivers headed to Atlantic City’s Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa into New Jersey’s Pine Barrens. Jackson Township police helped numerous motorists stuck on unpaved roads about 45 miles from the casino, which is just off the Atlantic City Expressway. The address on the ad was correct, but the location pinned with the ad is actually in the Colliers Mills wildlife area.

Photo: Rock penguins/Charles Bergman/Shutterstock.com

Feed the birds, not the mice

Irish structural engineer John Houston used a Trimble R10 GNSS receiver and Centerpoint RTX to help mitigate a serious threat to Gough Island’s birds. The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds seeks to eradicate invasive mice left from 19th-century ships. The survey will help locate temporary infrastructure for workers to distribute poisoned bait to kill the voracious rodents, which feed on two million defenseless eggs and chicks each year. Though 1,000 kilometers from the nearest reference station, Houston achieved centimeter accuracy on all survey points. See the monster mice here.

Photo: U.S. Marines at Al Asad Air Base in 2018. (Cpl. Jered T. Stone/Marine Corps)

Missiles guided by GLONASS

According to Israeli military intelligence website DEBKAfile, Russia gave Iran access to GLONASS to target the U.S. base in Iraq on Jan. 8. The strike injured 34 American soldiers. DEBKAfile reports that Russia-provided GLONASS access allowed Iranian missiles to hit with an accuracy of 10 meters at the Ain Assad base in western Iraq. “According to Russian sources, 19 missiles were fired from the territory of Iran, 17 of which hit the targets,” DEBKAfile said.

February 4, 2020
FAA tests FBI drone detection system at JFK

The United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and its government partners are expanding research on ways to detect “rogue” drones around airports. Together, they are evaluating drone detection technology at John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) in New York.

Over the last two years, the FAA has received numerous reports from pilots and residents about unmanned aircraft systems — UAS, or “drones” — around some of the nation’s busiest airports, including JFK.

“We face many difficult challenges as we integrate rapidly evolving UAS technology into our complex and highly regulated airspace,” said Marke “Hoot” Gibson, FAA senior advisor on UAS integration. “This effort at JFK reflects everyone’s commitment to safety.”

Terminal 6 at JFK Airport. (Photo: New York Photo Gallery)

Beginning May 2, the FAA conducted evaluations at JFK to study the effectiveness of a Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) UAS detection system in a commercial airport environment. Five different rotorcraft and fixed-wing UAS participated in the evaluations, and about 40 separate tests took place.

The JFK evaluation involved extensive government inter-agency collaboration, and cooperation from industry and academia. The tests expanded on research performed earlier this year at Atlantic City International Airport.

In addition to the FAA and the FBI, the agencies combining forces in this research included the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Department of Justice, Queens District Attorney’s Office and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. DHS and the FBI want to identify unauthorized UAS operators for law enforcement purposes, and the FAA’s mission is to provide a safe and efficient airport environment for both manned and unmanned air traffic.

“We applaud the FBI and FAA for their efforts to detect and track unmanned aerial systems (UAS),” said Thomas Bosco, Port Authority aviation director. “We look forward to supporting continued U.S. government efforts to identify and deploy countermeasures to neutralize the threat posed by rogue UASs.”

The team evaluating the FBI’s detection system also included contributions from one of the six FAA-designated UAS test sites. The Griffiss International Airport test site in Rome, New York, provided expertise in planning the individual tests as well as the flight commander for the tests and two of the UAS used.

The FY 2016 Appropriations law mandates that the FAA continue research into detection of UAS in airport environments. The agency is continuing to formulate an inter-agency strategy to evaluate detection systems in a variety of airport environments.

May 17, 2016
Drones Could Assist Lifeguards in Rescues, Shark Sighting

Lifeguards in the United States are testing how drones may help save lives in coastal waters. Cameras on drones can spot sharks from above, and drones are able to reach struggling swimmers faster than lifeguards to deliver life preservers.

In Seal Beach, Calif., lifeguards are using the flying device to monitor sharks. “It’s an extremely valuable tool for our water observation,” said Joe Bailey, chief of Seal Beach’s Marine Safety and Lifeguard Department, told the Los Angeles Times. The Seal Beach Marine Safety Department purchased a DJI Phantom 3 drone to monitor sharks off the coast. Safety officials fly the device at least twice a week to track juvenile great white sharks.

Meanwhile, lifeguards in Long Branch, N.J., are testing using drones to get life preservers out to swimmers in the ocean faster than a lifeguard could reach them. It would not replace the rescue work done by lifeguards in the water, however, who would still swim or row out to a victim. But it would buy a struggling swimmer extra time.

The Phantom 3 in flight at a press event.

“This is not to cut back on any lifeguards. This is a lifeguard’s tool to help move them along a lot faster in making the save, getting a life preserver out to a person,” said Michael Sirianni, president of the Long Branch City Council, told the Asbury Park Press.

The drones would be especially helpful when conditions are extreme, such as big surf and high winds that make it difficult to reach someone stranded. The drones could fly out a mile or two to reach distressed stand-up paddle boarders, kite surfers or capsized boats. Its camera could help locate submerged persons quicker, while microphones and speakers could enable lifeguards to talk to a person in the water.

July 9, 2015