Grand Sky Airfield Operations, a 217-acre UAS test facility in North Dakota, has selected Harris Corporation to provide an advanced solution to support beyond-visual-line-of-sight (BVLOS) unmanned aerial systems (UAS) flight operations, reducing the need for chase planes to provide constant visual surveillance during flight. Grand Sky tenants will have the ability to conduct BVLOS UAS flights, enabling commercial and government operators to deploy their technologies, test and conduct operations. The announcement was made during AUVSI’s Xponential.
Harris will provide a customized RangeVue sense-and-avoid solution that delivers real-time situational awareness of surrounding unmanned and manned aircraft traffic, with multi-sensor surveillance for cooperative and non-cooperative vehicles. airspace situational awareness tool designed specifically for test-range operations for unmanned air systems (UAS). RangeVue puts real-time NextGen surveillance data, obstacle data, flexible background maps and weather information in the hands of the people who are actually in the field testing and validating UAS missions. The solution will cover the 217-acre unmanned aircraft business and aviation park located on Grand Forks Air Force Base, North Dakota.
It will enhance Grand Sky’s infrastructure for safe and efficient BVLOS UAS operations and testing, ensuring the FAA’s stringent safety requirements are met and eliminating the need for expensive chase planes to track UAS entering, exiting or operating within Grand Sky’s 60 nautical-mile radius airspace.
Harris’ Grand Sky solution will combine available surveillance sources — including Grand Forks AFB’s radar feed, locally installed ADS-B Xtend and FAA NextGen surveillance data — into a single stream that offers area coverage and airspace visualization for drone operators. Xtend supplements the FAA’s existing ADS-B nationwide network operated by Harris, which provides precise and reliable satellite-based surveillance for the nation’s air traffic control system.
As UAS operations become more complex and are increasingly used for both commercial and recreational purposes, UAS traffic management systems, or UTM, are necessary to seamlessly integrate UAS into the airspace and existing air traffic management systems. ICAO will solicit proposals for a global framework for UTM ahead of its Drone Enable UAS Industry Symposium, which will take place in Montreal, Canada in September.
“ICAO is the natural agency to be gathering together the best and brightest from governments and industry to define the problem so that global solutions can be proposed, debated and agreed,” said Leslie Cary, remotely piloted aircraft systems program manager at ICAO.
An operational UTM will ensure the safe and efficient use of the airspace as UAS operations become more complex, such as with established navigation routes and point-to-point route segments requiring specific equipage requirements. UTM will integrate UAS into the existing airspace infrastructure to ensure the continued safety of the airspace.
“Collaboration between stakeholders is key to addressing complex issues such as UTM,” added Brian Wynne, president and CEO of AUVSI. “AUVSI is pleased ICAO is taking steps to explore solutions for UTM that will allow companies to operate globally under the same standards, reducing barriers to innovation and improving safety and security for all aircraft – both manned and unmanned. We look forward to working with ICAO to draw awareness and facilitate industry engagement in the RFI process.”
This e-newsletter marks the sun setting on the career of GeoIntelligence Insider columnist and contributing editor Art Kalinski, long active in geospatial circles. Art is handing the journalistic reins to William Tewelow, a former intelligence specialist with the U.S. Navy. He also served a special assignment at the U.S. Department of Transportation and is currently a manager with the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The following discussion muses about the direction of our geospatial tradecraft in the coming years.
Tewelow’s Geointelligence column will alternate monthly with Mike Jones’ Defense PNT column. Every issue of this newsletter also brings you the latest news on both expanding fronts, hardware and software, in the defense and security realm.
Passing the torch
A conversation between retiring GeoIntelligence editor Art Kalinski, GISP, and his successor, William Tewelow, GISP.
Counter-drone technology research and operation efforts are helping to prepare for the potential threat of drone swarms. This Lockheed Martin concept is explored in “Technology That Counters Drone Swarms.” (Image: Lockheed Martin)
Art: A factor of life is that you just can’t predict with certainty where technology is headed or what the issues will be. Several weeks ago I attended a UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) users group that seemed like a glimpse of the Wild West. I thought the key discussion topics would be the latest technology which seems to change almost weekly. That was not the case. The key discussions were the same as the early days of GIS: legal liability, jurisdictions, data ownership, administrative issues and so on, as the FAA changes the rules and regulations. I began to see that there will be more employment opportunities for lawyers than techies and pilots.
Although most of the attendees at the conference were geospatial/first responder users, I’ve learned of a growing community of non-traditional users such as power line inspectors and even tower painters. Yes, a tower painting company using tethered UAVs to paint in dangerous locations such as bridges, tanks and towers. At first I thought that would be difficult but by using a tethered system, heavy batteries are eliminated and bigger UAVs will permit heavier hoses, etc. Although the FAA had little interest in tethered balloons and UAVs, that could change as the size, altitude and potential crash radius expands.
This is just one example of how our technology is moving in many unplanned directions, everything from UAVs with new ways of collecting imagery to more exotic topics such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, augmented reality, virtual reality (VR) and gamification. The entire trade craft is evolving in ways I don’t think anybody could have predicted just a few years ago, much less a decade ago. It will be interesting to see where it goes.
William: You mentioned several new technologies mixing things up. Small sats are also making a significant impact. They are game changers. Imagine the traditional 2D satellite imagery base map. With the tech we have now 3D base maps are possible and have been for a long time with DEMS. Now, small sat imagery can be overlaid atop the 3D basemaps providing fresh imagery with periodicities of 24 hours or less, including multi-spectral. I’ve even seen small sat video overlays. That’s game changing.
Art: Not only small sats but the work being done with drone swarms is an exciting new area. If data needs to be collected in a hostile area or if flight clearance in a busy air corridor was limited, a swarm of maybe 100 drones could capture a wide swath of data at high resolutions, with multiple spectrums in very short order.
Virtual reality and augmented reality are two areas which have always intrigued me and they are coming to fruition. When I started out in GIS, I told people working for me to do the best we could building our regional database because at some point we would have construction workers wearing goggles that will augment the reality of what they are seeing with GIS data. That day is here and people are finally starting to do that. So, the entire concept of AR (augmented reality) and VR I find extremely exciting.
William: Yes, absolutely, in fact I believe they used drone swarms in the hostage situation in Algiers in 2014. And you are right. VR and AR use for first responders is especially critical. Say you’re a disaster relief person at night in a smoke-filled building. Night vision and thermal vision reach a practical limit. However, combining the vision devices with AR you may be able to navigate through the environment well enough. AR shows at least what should be there so accurate and timely data is critical. I can see this is where things are headed. Additionally, more mundane tasks such as design and modifications of structures could be enhanced. Work is already being done using AR and VR to facilitate the design process.
Art: VR started as fun and games but to me serious use VR is where the new and exciting action will be for geospatial practitioners. Virtual trainers I saw recently included small arms and artillery trainers for the military to a less exciting but equally impressive virtual trainer to teach arc welding and even spray painting a car. Significantly more critical was a VR surgical trainer where the muscle learning and hand eye coordination required is significant. It’s obviously quicker, easier and cheaper to practice virtually than on a real human or real equipment and the VR environment is just one short step away from surgical robots operating in remote locations.
William: Right, and you are touching on gamification, where VR can be used to train toward certain results. Take the military, for example, gamification can save all manner of resources – bullets, people, buildings the environment. Additionally, users can also scale up or down. The VR environment doesn’t just mean roads, maps or mountains. You can get down to a micro level.
Art: It’s interesting you mention that. One aha! moment I had years ago was at the first Esri User Conference in San Diego. I went through the map gallery. A lot of examples of different uses for GIS were on display and one person had created a map of the human circulatory system using ArcView Network Analyst. Looking at it I thought, of course, whether its blood vessels or interstate highways, it’s a network; so, this individual was using a geospatial tool to map the entire blood vessel network.
William: We are now in the realm of nano technology, where things are small enough to work on blood cells. Imagine steering straight towards a cancer cell by pinpointing a location in relation to the body.
Art: It’s almost like the movie “Fantastic Voyage” except in a virtual environment.
William: Yes. Being able to put the nano technology right where it needs to be means entering an age of focused medicine so that a pill releasing nano particulates doesn’t impact the whole body just the area needed. That’s another discussion in itself. Of course, all of that will have to be controlled, mapped and understood in terms of what it’s doing and where it’s going in relation to the body.
Art: One area that is very concerning to me is cyber. All of this stuff we’ve talked about is very vulnerable whether stealing data or doing damage to a society. Thwarting those threats is getting into machine learning, AI and other topics bordering science fiction.
William: Yes, and you are getting into artificial intelligence. IBM, Google, Amazon, Facebook, Microsoft and our three letter agencies are all investing into the world of Geospatial AI. I am not sure where GeoAI will end up but we can already see some hints. The amount of geospatial data is overwhelming and imagine the explosion happening with IoT. How will all that be managed? GeoAI will do pattern recognition so in effect GeoAI is assisted intelligence.
As an example let’s consider a high profile event. There are 1000’s of parameters that need to be tracked such as surveillance cameras, social media feeds, a suite of sensors, etc. Identifying critical patterns is crucial so Geospatial Assisted Intelligence can monitor the parameters of the event then notify the analyst when a triggering event occurs. That’s where the technology is going where it has to go.
Art: One has to have a truly dizzying intellect to keep track of all aspects of our technology. At the last NGA (National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency) conference, Director Cardillo talked extensively about open systems and open sources which are growing directions for the agency. I believe it’s good to get away from everything being “inside the tent” and taking advantage of the extensive capability in the broad geospatial community. The stated goal is to be able to develop needed geospatial tools, in an unclassified environment, not in months or weeks but literally in minutes to provide those tools to analysts in the field. Things have come so far from the day I was just happy to get a pen plotter to print a simple map.
William: It really is mind boggling. I was there when full motion video began and that was dynamic 2D imagery but then it made the jump to 3D dynamic imagery and my circuits fried. I still have a hard time comprehending all the data crunching that goes into it and it is now almost standard. The future is amazing. That is the direction I want to continue to explore.
With a legacy of delivering reliable, robust, and highly accurate small Unmanned Aircraft Systems (sUAS), NASA has awarded Black Swift Technologies (BST), a specialized engineering firm based in Boulder, Colorado, the contract to develop and deliver a purpose-built scientific platform to explore volcanoes in order to improve air traffic management systems and the accuracy of ashfall measurements.
BST will deliver to NASA a tightly integrated sUAS solution consisting of an airframe, avionics, and sensors specifically designed to measure selected gases and atmospheric parameters including, temperature, pressure, humidity, and 3D winds as well as more advanced measurements such as particle sizing and trace gases.
Based on BST’s commercially available SuperSwift airframe and SwiftCore Flight Management System—which have been proven in the field to provide a cost-effective, powerful, and easy-to-operate—the SuperSwift XT [figure 1] is specifically engineered to meet the demands of high altitude flights through strong winds and damaging airborne particulates typical of nomadic scientific field campaigns in harsh environments.
“NASA and similar scientific agencies require deliverables with a high degree of accuracy and reliability,” emphasizes Jack Elston, Ph.D., CEO of Black Swift Technologies. “The SuperSwift XT will be designed to collect data in harsh environments and will enhance the performance and utility of NASA’s Airborne Science fleet.”
Member organizations of NASA’s Airborne Science Program can all benefit from the measurements provided by this system in various atmospheric conditions using different sensor payloads which, by design, are easily interchangeable. The sUAS will provide targeted, in situ observations from previously inaccessible regions that can significantly advance NASA’s goal of safe, efficient growth in global aviation by aiding in the collection of scientific data from which predictive Volcanic Ash Transport and Dispersion models (VATD) can be used to inform air traffic management systems.
Leveraging BST’s proprietary Mission Planning Software, scientists can program the SuperSwift in minutes to calculate the area under review and then begin collecting data for immediate analysis and decision making. With its intuitive tab-driven interface, flight planning is simple and easy to accomplish.
Mission monitoring and mapping is all done from a handheld Android Tablet loaded with BST’s SwiftTab software. Gesture-based controls enable users to confidently deploy their SuperSwift with minimal training while being able to collect data over geography that is topically diverse with confidence.
The existence of a sUAS capable of carrying the necessary instruments routinely through harsh environments adds an invaluable contribution to the calibration and validation of data collected from ground- and satellite-based methods. The flight envelope, concept of operations (CONOPS), and rugged nature of the SuperSwift XT will permit researchers to collect data previously unobtainable through traditional data collection methods or existing sUAS.
This includes gathering difficult to obtain data sets such as from volcanic plumes shortly after eruption (i.e., particle size-frequency distribution, vertical ash concentration distribution, SO₂ flux, etc.).
The innovations of the SuperSwift XT, including the total sensor suite, can be utilized for scientific research by federal and state public agencies and other state-funded laboratories to collect data on coherent atmospheric structures such as smog, volcano plumes, wildfire smoke, chemical fires, forest humidity, etc.
Commercial applications for private industry exist as well, such as utilizing the SuperSwift XT to assess the composition, and relative danger, of chemical fires at refineries or the chemical composition of smokestack exhaust.
A drone that weighs less than 50 pounds can provide fully functional 4G cellphone service.
Virginia-based Fenix Group has partnered with Martin UAV, a Texas-based manufacturer of rugged utility drones, to launch an under-55-pound drone capable of providing fully functional 4G cellphone service.
While Fenix Group plans to issue its first production units to the U.S. Department of Defense and first responders, it anticipates demand from telecommunications providers, oil and gas companies, and crisis response units worldwide.
It also could mean connectivity in remote parts of the world.
In addition to providing a coverage area on the ground, the payload is also able to stream encrypted video from the drone’s camera system to anyone on the network. In the future, soldiers, search and rescue teams, and first responders will have access to drone video from their phones.
The Fenix team also enabled Internet access so that command centers could access the feed from anywhere in the world.
On March 15, drone-maker MMC strung power lines across the Ragged Mountain in Thailand using its Spider drone and specialized wire-pulling tools.
The project was carried out for EGAT (Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand) and served as a transnational demonstration for MMC. By cooperating with MMC, EGAT hopes to use professional drones to string more lines helps the nation in its quest for 100 percent electrification in Thailand.
In recent years, the Thai government has increased the investment in the development of power projects to meet the requirement of its rapid economic growth. The traditional method of stringing power lines using human labor doesn’t fit with the green economy and humanism, wasting time, human resources and sacrificing the environment, EGAT said.
Ultra stable for low jitter and phase noise applications
The RHT1490 series of high-frequency and low-jitter ultra-stable TCXOs are available in frequencies from 50 MHz to 204.8 MHz. It delivers telecommunications-grade stability with a low real mean squared (rms) phase jitter of <200 fs (12 kHz–20 MHz). The platform’s frequency output enables lower system jitter, allowing communication system architects to optimize noise budget and performance. It can serve as a reference clock for SyncE and packet clock requirements (ITU-T G.826x and G.827x). It works with both discrete and integrated IEEE 1588 solutions, providing medium-term stability for low loop bandwidth applications. Its ultra-low noise floor performance, combined with system phase locked loop filtering, helps achieve very low system clock rms jitter numbers required by reference clocks of physical layer devices for high -speed interfaces (40 G and 100 G applications).
The 50-channel 8835 GPS reference clock serves satellite communications, defense and wireless applications. It has extreme power and interoperability options while maintaining GPS accuracy and reliability. Tracking GPS, the clock exhibits a frequency accuracy of <1 x 10-12 and a 1 PPS accuracy with <50 nanoseconds real mean squared. The proprietary oscillator steering discipline algorithm can enhance the rms accuracy of either the double-oven crystal oscillator or optional enhanced rubidium oscillator for greater depths of accuracy. It operates from –30° C to +60° C with a terminal node controller GPS receiver port.
The Algiz 8X ultra-rugged tablet computer is built for field workers who require a powerful, portable computer for mobile tasks. It offers communication features such as LTE and dual-band WLAN, along with an 8-inch projective capacitive touchscreen for outdoor use. Enabling glove mode or rain mode allows for operation in changing weather. The chemically strengthened glass survives an impact test in which a 64-gram steel ball is dropped on the screen 10 times from a height of 1.2 meters. The Algiz 8X has optional active capacitive stylus. Built-in features include Windows 10 Enterprise LTSB; u-blox GPS and GLONASS; WLAN a/b/g/n/ac; BT 4.2 LE; a rear-facing 8-MP camera with autofocus and LED flash; and 4G/LTE.
The X-52 entry-level machine control system for excavation features the new intuitive MC-X1 controller, compatible with all brands and models of excavators. Its reliable and rugged TS-i3 tilt sensors detect the precise positioning of the boom, stick and bucket at all times. Later this year, the X-52 will be upgradeable to a full 3D system with GNSS. The X-52 not only allows operators to work faster and with better accuracy, but also promotes a safer work site by keeping grade checkers out of the trenches. The system is designed to pair with the GX-55 touchscreen control box to offer sunlight-readable indicate grade reference in any climate.
Integrated display and keypad for configuration without controller
The Precis-TX204 receiver is a light-weight, rugged, all-in-one GNSS receiver with a built-in centimeter-accuracy RTK engine, onboard storage and versatile connectivity. The built-in battery can support up to 10 hours of continuous field work. Up to 16-GB SD card support makes field work easier, and the rugged enclosure enables the receiver to work in harsh environment. The receiver is designed for infrastructure applications such as providing differential data or logging observations; centimeter-level position and velocity information; precise tracking for internet of things; precise navigation for UAV and robotics. It supports GPS L1 and L2, and BDS B1 and B2.
The CMA-6024 aviation GPS/SBAS/GBAS sensor, featuring an embedded VHF data broadcast (VDB) receiver, is a complete, self-contained, fully certified, precision approach and navigation solution certified to Design Assurance Level A (DAL-A). Designed as an easy-to-integrate solution for all aircraft, the plug-and-play standalone unit requires no specialized installation or integration support. The new CMA-6024 provides a navigation solution that is fully compliant with automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast (ADS-B) and Required Navigation Performance (RNP). The CMA-6024 includes SBAS Localizer Performance/Localizer Performance with Vertical Guidance (LP/LPV) and GBAS GNSS Landing System (GLS) GAST-C/D precision approach guidance for all aircraft. Built on the success of the CMA-5024, the CMA-6024 is the next step forward, adding a complete GBAS/GLS solution. All CMA-5024 receivers can be upgraded to a CMA-6024.
Alternative to paper logs streamlines fleet management
The GPS Insight Hours of Service solution has a feature set designed to streamline fleet management and ensure Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) compliance. Hours of Service bundles an Android tablet hardwired to a GPS tracking device. The ruggedized Electronic Logging Device (ELD) tablet features an intuitive user interface to ensure ease of use for all drivers. The management portal is web-based, secure and accessible via PC, tablet and smartphone. Features include messaging between drivers and dispatch; audible and visual directions using designated truck-specific routes; and e-logs combined with GPS monitoring, alerting and reporting. The GPS Insight Hours of Service Solution offers a simple alternative to paper logs and provides many benefits beyond compliance.
Rugged platform designed for aerial inspection, data collection
The Matrice 200 drone series (M200) is built for professional users to perform aerial inspections and collect data. The folding body is easy to carry and set up, with a weather- and water-resistant body for field operations. It offers DJI’s first upward-facing gimbal mount, for inspecting the undersides of bridges, towers and other structure. It is compatible with DJI’s X4S and X5S cameras, the high-powered Z30 zoom camera and the XT camera for thermal imaging. A forward-facing first-person-view camera allows a pilot and camera operator to monitor separate images on dual controllers. Obstacle avoidance sensors face forward and up and down, and it has an ADS-B receiver for advisory traffic information from nearby manned aircraft.
PCI Geomatics’ STAX UAV image alignment and analysis tool.
Designed to ease image alignment
The STAX UAV image alignment and analysis tool provides automated tools for aligning and analyzing UAV imagery without a full photogrammetric software suite. STAX was built to address the challenges of collecting and aligning multiple UAV surveys of the same location over time. By automating the alignment process, UAV operators can reduce or eliminate the use of ground control points that are traditionally installed and measured in survey sites. Relative corrections can be applied by using one of the surveys in a stack as a reference. Alternately, a highly accurate reference image of similar resolution over the area of interest can be used to automate the image alignment process. Once multi-pass UAV surveys have been aligned, customers can accurately make comparisons between surveys to measure changes over time or perform feature extraction. STAX provides tools to calculate vegetation indices as well as visualization and basic cartographic capability. Stacked data sets
can be exported for deeper analysis.
Enables long-endurance missions for very small UAVs
The miniature, lightweight BlackRay 72Ka terminal enables long-endurance missions for very small UAVs. The ultra-compact airborne SATCOM terminal for unmanned aircraft systems delivers exceptional throughput for its size. Tactical, long-endurance unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) are commonly used to gather and send intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance information to ground stations in real time. Reliable, high-performance satellite communications are crucial for ensuring uninterrupted broadband connectivity in beyond line-of-sight missions. Weighing less than 5 Kg, the BlackRay 72Ka combines high performance and throughput with minimal footprint.
Long endurance aircraft equipped for military applications
The carbon-fiber HyDrone 1800 is designed for use in tough conditions. The drone is wind-resistant, rain-resistant, cold-resistant and lightweight. Its hydrogen fuel-cell technology provides a flight endurance of 4 hours — 50+ hours when combined with MMC tethered technology. The HyDrone 1800 achieves extended flight time while maintaining altitude limits of 4,500 meters with a payload capacity of up to 5 kg. Constructed for safety and durability, an auxiliary lithium battery starts the fuel cell and provides a backup power source. Hydrogen drones can be flown in extreme temperatures from –10° C to 40° C. Payloads include a thermal imaging camera, low light camera, laser equipment or zoom camera, making the system suitable for many military applications such as intelligence gathering, border patrol, aerial fire support, laser designation or battle management services to tactical military operators. MMC also offers packaged solutions in target acquisition and reconnaissance technology (ISTAR).
Navmar Applied Sciences Corp. (NASC) and UAV Turbines Inc. (UAVT) have announced plans for a joint flight demonstration of NASC’s TigerShark aircraft with a UAVT micro-turboprop propulsion system.
First flights are scheduled before the end of the year. This will mark the first time that a Group 3 UAV (medium endurance and size) is powered by a micro-turboprop engine with a new recuperator design that significantly increases engine efficiency, the companies said.
CAD Representation of the UAVT UTP50R Turbobrop Propulsion system to be demonstrated in flight in the NASC TigerShark XP. (Credit: UAV Turbines Inc.)
“We are delighted to partner with one of the leading UAV aircraft system developers and be able to access their expertise on these first flights of our proprietary micro-turboprop propulsion technology,” said UAVT President Kirk Warshaw. “The opportunity to work with NASC’s TigerShark speeds development significantly, and we look forward to the time when the technology itself becomes the standard propulsion system for Group 3 and 4 UAVs.”
“Where many major companies have tried and failed, we were pleasantly surprised at the significant engineering milestones achieved by the UAVT team, technical coordination between our teams and the ability to monitor UAVT’s prototypes in operation during the past year were instrumental in giving us confidence to participate in the flight demonstration program using the TigerShark aircraft,” said NASC president Tom Fenerty. “This first step is a big one, but as micro-turbine technology becomes the standard for UAVs, the missions will change and the support provided to our warfighters will be greatly enhanced.”
“The benefits of turbines were clear to the air transport industry when turbojets first came into service in 1958, and they quickly dominated the industry,” Warshaw said. “The same advantages of high reliability, long life, smooth quiet operation, and the use of safe heavy JP fuel have long made turbine propulsion desirable for UAVs, although no one until now has produced a viable system. Development of turboprops for UAVs presented extreme challenges due to the high temperatures and physical forces involved in obtaining sufficient power from very small systems. UAVT has spent seventeen years and tens of millions of dollars to overcome these challenges and achieve reliable solutions.”
Both Navmar Applied Sciences Corporation and UAV Turbines Inc. are privately held. This joint project is funded by NASC and UAVT outside of any government program or agency affiliation.
A fourth speaker has joined the panel of the free April 20 webinar, “From Flying Drones to Doing Business,” addressing UAVs in business applications. Francois Gervaix, product manager of surveying for senseFly, will address the business benefits of high precision GNSS, covering: high precision in photogrammetry drones, survey-grade accuracy, workflow flexibility and time/cost savings.
Webinar attendees will have the opportunity to ask direct questions of the speakers, both upon registration and during the live event. Register for free at env-gpsworld-integration.kinsta.cloud/webinar.
Gervaix joins a panel consisting of Gustavo Lopez, product manager GNSS solutions for UAV applications for Septentrio; Jan Leyssens, managing director of sales and business development for Airobot; and Zak Kassas, assistant professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of California, Riverside.
Other subtopics to be covered include the integration of various surveying and mapping sensors aboard a UAV platform; meeting safety demands for UAVs by providing intelligent safety components, specifically designed for drones, and in facilitating end-users’ success in completing their missions; and exploiting long-term evolution cellular signals for accurate and resilient autonomous vehicle navigation in the absence of clear GNSS signals.
Gervaix is a qualified geomatics engineer who has worked for Leica Geosystems and as a professor at the Technical University for Applied Sciences Western Switzerland. In 2010, he launched project R-Pod, Photogrammetry on Demand, before founding Easy2map, a drone-based photogrammetry service provider. He joined senseFly in February 2016. He is also president of the Swiss Society of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing.
A speaker from UAV manufacturer senseFly will appear on the free April 20 webinar, “From Flying Drones to Doing Business,” addressing ease of use for the user in business applications. The Switzerland-based company specializes in professional-grade UAVs for survey, mapping, precision agriculture and asset inspection. The company recently became the first drone operator to be granted anytime Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) authorization in Switzerland.
Photo: senseFly
The webinar will cover a broad range of issues concerning sensor integration aboard a flying platform, and in particular their use for commercial purposes. Webinar attendees will have the opportunity to ask direct questions of the speakers, both upon registration and during the live event. Register free at env-gpsworld-integration.kinsta.cloud/webinar.
The senseFly speaker (name to be announced soon) will join a panel that consists of:
Gustavo Lopez, Product manager GNSS solutions for UAV applications, Septentrio; Jan Leyssens , Managing Director, Sales & Business Development, Airobot; and Zak Kassas, Assistant Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of California, Riverside.
Further speaker details:
Lopez: Septentrio is an leader in bringing high end GNSS technology when accuracy and reliability matters. Gustavo Lopez is Product manager for UAS applications at Septentrio. Since joining the company, he has held a number of R&D and product management roles. Gustavo holds a Bachelor of Computer Science degree from Monterrey’s Technology Institute and an MBA from United Business Institute
Leyssens: Airobot specializes in meeting safety demands for UAVs by providing intelligent safety components, specifically designed for drones, and in facilitating end-users’ success in completing their missions. Leyssens has Masters’ degrees in avionics, electrical engineering and business administration.
Kassas will present the research material from his cover story in the April issue of GPS World: “LTE Steers UAV — No GPS? No Problem! Signals of Opportunity Work in Challenged Environments.” Long-term evolution cellular can be exploited for accurate and resilient autonomous vehicle navigation in the absence of clear GNSS signals. Simulation and experimental results demonstrate that GPS-like performance can be achieved in the absence of GPS signals when cellular pseudoranges aid an inertial navigation system.
Bye Aerospace has announced an engineering, development and production collaboration with SolAero Technologies Corp. to put SolAero’s solar cell technology on Bye’s solar-electric unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), StratoAirNet.
The StratoAirNet. Photo: Bye Aerospace
The StratoAirNet family of UAVs is intended to provide persistent intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) to support commercial and government security requirements. The initial medium-altitude StratoAirNet 15 proof-of-concept prototype is nearing completion and undergoing final assembly.
Potential commercial-mission applications for StratoAirNet include communications relay, internet, mapping, search and rescue, firefighting command and control, anti-poaching monitoring, damage assessment, severe weather tracking, agriculture monitoring, mineral source surveying, spill detection and infrastructure quality assessment.
The solar-cell preliminary design review was recently completed with SolAero engineers. Preliminary flight tests were then conducted on a smaller scale test wing. Following measurements and fit checks, whole-wing solar cell tests will commence on the 15-meter wingspan StratoAirNet prototype.
Photo: Bye Aerospace
Since 2001, SolAero products have powered 170 successful space missions with zero on-orbit failures. SolAero holds the world record for efficiency of space solar cells, with more than 50 patents and disclosures with its 33 percent efficient IMM technology. This solar cell technology achieves the highest commercially available performance level, offering a density exceeding 350 watts per square meter under standard conditions, increasing further under high-altitude, low-temperature conditions, the company said.
“SolAero is one of the world’s leading providers of advanced space solar power solutions,” said George Bye, CEO of Bye Aerospace. “The efficiencies of their solar cells will make the benefits of StratoAirNet even more compelling, allowing the airplane to fly at higher altitudes with almost unlimited flight endurance. We appreciate SolAero’s collaboration with our team and look forward to working together to demonstrate a remarkable pseudo-satellite aircraft capability that many have said is unachievable.”
“We are very excited about our partnership with Bye Aerospace and the future opportunities of the solar-powered StratoAirNet family of UAVs,” said Brad Clevenger, CEO of SolAero Technologies. “The combination of our heritage high-efficiency solar cell technology and integration expertise with the wide range of capabilities of the StratoAirNet UAV family will help to usher in a new era of middle and high altitude commercial and defense applications.”
