What is the biggest challenge facing the UAV industry? Go to gpsworld.com/17marpoll to give us your opinion by March 22 and you’ll also be entered in a drawing to receive a $50 gift card.
Here are the possibilities on offer, plus an “other” category for you to specify something bigger if you think we’ve omitted anything.
Better quality images and video
Better, smaller, more lightweight sensors (inertial, Lidar, infrared, spectral, etc.)
Integration of other sensors with GPS/GNSS
Applications and command-control on mobile devices: smartphones and tablets
Virtual and augmented reality
Competition from satellite and aircraft imagery/mapping/other
Air traffic control and the FAA regulatory environment
Other (please specify)
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Watch this space for continuing coverage of developments in UAV navigation and related issues, with in-depth reporting from the upcoming AUVSI Xponential conference in May.
Global navigation satellite system (GNSS) technology found its way into products ranging from autonomous vehicles to wearables at this year’s Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain.
One company says it is tailoring a GNSS receiver chip to meet the demands of mobile devices that require high levels of speed and position accuracy. Thalwil, Switzerland-based u-blox said its new low-power UBX-M8230-CT GNSS receiver chip can not only be used for smartwatch development, but for tracking people, animals and assets.
“The highlight of the chip is that it has much better balance, while maintaining the accuracy of a traditional, full-power receiver,” said Florian Bousquet, u-blox market development manager. “It can work in the most difficult urban canyon environments. It works well in sports watches, smartwatches, activity trackers and other wearables — and just about anything portable that has a battery.”
Bousquet said the chip, in what the company calls a Super-E mode, uses GPS with either GLONASS or BeiDou. This mode allows batching location data on the chip, which reduces power consumption, he said.
Bousquet said the chip is available now, in an evaluation kit, for around $120. He said the chip will be manufactured in volume this summer.
It took u-blox a year-and-a-half to develop the GNSS chip, Bousquet said. “It took time for our development team to optimize the system and field test the infrastructure to make sure the product performed in different scenarios and environments.”
Another company, Racelogic, exhibited its LabSat 3 Wideband GNSS simulator, which is used by u-blox and others to help test and develop products. Some applications include drones, autonomous vehicles, survey equipment, personal monitoring devices, aerospace and end-of-the-line product testing, the company said.
The newer L2C, L5 and L1C signals give companies the opportunity to develop products that are compatible with new receivers as they come to market, said Mark Sampson, LabSat product/sales manager.
The company also showed off its SatGen v3 simulator software that allows users to create a data file to be replayed on the LabSat GNSS simulator. The software allows companies to define a complicated route, and then import it into the software.
Company tests eCall and ERA-GLONASS modules
Both the European Union (EU) and Russian Federation are requiring governments to have intelligent telematics-based safety systems. In case of a serious accident, these systems automatically call for local medical services.
Technology to meet the requirements of eCall and ERA-GLONASS include an antenna, GNSS receiver, crash sensors and other components.
To reproduce end-to-end and standard-compliant testing of the eCall and ERA-GLONASS modules, Rohde & Schwarz offers two products. One is the CMW-KA094 eCall application software. The other is the CMW-KA095 extension for ERA-GLONASS to simulate a public safety answering point (PSAP) to emulate a cellular network in a lab.
“It’s pretty important testing because of the safety of life. We have set up implementation of it in our labs,” said Christian Hof, Rohde & Schwarz senior product manager for mobile radio testers.
CMW500 simulator by Rohde & Schwarz. Photo: Rohde & Schwarz
During testing, governments and companies can use the CMW500 platform, which identifies Internet of Things (IoT) and mobile communications devices’ IP connection security issues, Hof said.
The company believes, since many IoT platforms are proprietary as standardization is still in progress, security gaps are frequently reported.
Spirent rolls out new simulator
Spirent Communications displayed its Elevate IoT Device Test Solution, a new cellular test designed to support IoT applications. These applications include end-to-end cloud server connectivity, security-vulnerability assessment and battery-life measurement.
The new unit is available through the company’s Spirent Elevate platform, which addresses areas affected when designing 3G, LTE and new narrowband wireless technologies for IoT devices.
Overall, Spirent is finding many use cases and applications in the IoT and mobile industry.
“We are finding that smaller companies developing software and services want to test GNSS, but don’t have the capabilities to do so. These could include small projects such as people and pet trackers,” said Simon Loe, Spirent’s head of marketing solutions and services. “We are trying to democratize the technology. Another trend we are seeing is growing importance on GNSS in network timing.”
Not everything is about drab simulation. Far from it. Spirent last year teamed with Aston Martin Racing to evaluate automotive technologies on the 2016 V8 Vantage GTE race cars.
This includes the accuracy and performance of GPS receivers and interference monitoring, said Julian Kemp, Spirent product manager, custom solutions.
Antenna market for IoT, autonomous vehicles robust
Taoglas is offering GNSS antennas that support IoT products, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and future autonomous vehicles, said Ronan Quinlan, company co-founder.
The company is offering lightweight antennas for mass-market unmanned UAVs, which had a growing presence at Mobile World Congress this year.
The future markets for Taoglas will be in connected and autonomous vehicles, Quinlan said. “We found out years ago that we missed out on the rise of 2G, but we did not miss the rise of 4G. The advent of 5G and GNSS will lead to the development of the autonomous vehicle,” he said.
Antenna costs associated with the rise of autonomous vehicles will have to be reduced, Quinlan said. “Some antennas that were $100 solutions have to go down to $20 solutions once they get into a car,” he said.
In other Mobile World Congress news:
Fraunhofer IIS displayed its Enhanced Voice Services (EVS), the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) communication protocol designed specifically for voice over LTE (VoLTE) services.
Telit said it is expanding its relationship with Tele2 on Pan-European long-term evolution (LTE) IoT connectivity services. Telit and Tele2 now offer custom data plans with predictable pricing, no hidden fees or roaming charges for high bandwidth IoT applications, the company said. Services include video monitoring, digital signage or real-time asset tracking.
CAD model of the antenna system: The antennas will be arranged so that the center of mass is at the center of the tube. Each antenna will be counterbalanced. (NASA)
Researchers at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center have designed an antenna-mounting platform to provide users satellite-based tracking functions for unmanned aerial vehicles. The platform integrates multiple capabilities onto one low-cost platform.
In August 2016, NASA signed a license agreement with Mobile Antenna Platform Systems Inc. to commercialize the portable antenna platform.
The platform is built to rotate 60 pounds of antennas, transmitters and receivers and eliminate the need for additional load-balancing hardware. A smaller version can be flown on a plane, greatly extending the telemetry link range without requiring more power from the aircraft.
Auto tracking software uses the target’s GPS location to coordinate and maintain a line-of-sight link as great as what the telemetry system can support.
NASA researchers originally developed the technology for use with research UAVs, which often involve multiple transmitters and receivers on the aircraft and on the ground, with multiple antennas that must be pointed at a single UAV.
The platform is a middle ground between the low-end tracking platforms that support only one antenna and expensive, high-end options designed for military use.
Besides research, the platform could be used in marine communications, satellite tracking in multiple frequencies and weather balloon tracking, NASA said.
Powered by 120 VAC, the platform moves all of the antennas simultaneously in continuous rotation in azimuth and vertical ±180°, effectively tracking a line-of-sight object up to 20 miles away or further, limited by transmit power and antenna configuration.
It is designed for use with any moving system needing to transmit large quantities of data over one or more RF links. RF signals can include video, command and control, and signals to and from the UAV as well as the research data of interest.
The platform design includes:
a horizontal bar with antenna mounts
a platform head containing the motors and gears
an antenna stand containing electrical slip rings and cables to connect to the radios, motors and external computer
a microcontroller interface to drive the motors and receive antenna commands from the software
Its user interface runs on Microsoft Windows and enables the tracking antenna to be interfaced to any ground station that can provide the GPS coordinates of the target being tracked in real time and the GPS coordinates of the tracking antenna.
Platform benefits
According to NASA, the antenna platform offers these benefits:
Portability. Lightweight components and a small profile allow the platform to be carried by a single person.
Simplicity. Its unique design eliminates the need for additional load-balancing hardware, simplifying setup.
Versatility. Up to 58 pounds (26 kg) of multiple antennas from various manufacturers in any combination (including Yagi-Uda, dish/parabolic, omnidirectional, patch/microstrip) under 10 W can be accommodated
Low Power Use: Using a smaller motor that is faster than those on other platforms requires less power to achieve continuous rotation.
Low Cost: The overall system is estimated to cost less than $5,000.
The logs contain highly detailed GPS positioning, drone battery life, camera activity and more, providing a vital record of flight activities often required for regulatory compliance and insurance.
Direct access to actual flight logs eliminates the tedious, manual data entry process for capturing flight data and enables drone operators to easily track and monitor their drone flights for regulatory compliance, insurance and fleet maintenance.
DroneDeploy’s more than 10,000 users in 130 countries can access logs of their DroneDeploy mapping flights. Leveraging their actual flight log data with DroneDeploy’s partners enables businesses to:
Automate logging and recording of all drone flights for compliance and insurance purposes
Monitor equipment performance to recommend preventative maintenance
Explore trends in flight characteristics to define best practices
“Many large companies and enterprises are looking to scale their drone program and do it efficiently,” says Jonathan Evans, CEO of Skyward. “Now, with access to DroneDeploy flight logs, Skyward customers can manage flight information across their entire fleet.”
Other solutions on the market today typically require a high cost investment and lock businesses into working with a single drone software vendor, DroneDeploy says. DroneDeploy’s offering enables businesses to select what works best for them from a selection of industry leading drone compliance, insurance and fleet management partners. This highlights DroneDeploy’s approach to addressing the needs of the commercial drone market by developing a best-of-breed offering with ecosystem partners.
The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has announced a comprehensive settlement agreement with aerial photography company SkyPan International of Chicago. The agreement resolves enforcement cases that alleged the company operated unmanned aircraft (UAS) in congested airspace over New York City and Chicago, and violated airspace regulations and aircraft operating rules.
Under the terms of the agreement, SkyPan will pay a $200,000 civil penalty. The company also agrees to pay an additional $150,000 if it violates Federal Aviation Regulations in the next year, and $150,000 more if it fails to comply with the terms of the settlement agreement.
SkyPan also agrees to work with the FAA to release three public service announcements in the next 12 months to support the FAA’s public outreach campaigns that encourage drone operators to learn and comply with UAS regulations.
The agreement settles enforcement cases involving a $1.9 million civil penalty that the FAA proposed against SkyPan International Inc. of Chicago in October 2015. It is the largest civil penalty the agency has proposed against a UAS operator.
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.”
uAvionix Corporation, an unmanned aircraft system (UAS) avionics provider, has developed and is testing a tiny ADS-B transceiver for UAVs.
Weighing less than 1 gram, a dime-sized ADS-B prototype module for drones with transmission power between 0.01-0.25 Watts could provide visibility to any aircraft equipped with ADS-B “IN” avionics from 1 to 10 miles away, and is small enough to integrate directly into professional and consumer-level drones.
uAvionix is working with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and other partners under a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) to test the unit, along with other uAvionix products.
uAvionix Ping ADS-B transceiver. Photo: uAvionix
A recent study published in January 2017 by The MITRE Corporation’s Center for Advanced Aviation System Development (CAASD) imagined a future of high-traffic densities of drones operating with ADS-B onboard, and then sought to understand the implications of that.
The study suggests that there is a nominal transmission power output between 0.01 and 0.1 Watts that when coupled with limited drone traffic densities can result in a compatible operation with the system as a whole.
“We developed this product to show the world the art of the possible,” said Paul Beard, CEO of uAvionix. “We can’t yet sell this device because the standards that were developed for ADS-B did not take into account the value of air-to-air ADS-B communications between small drones or between small drones and manned aircraft. It’s literally not legal to transmit at these low power outputs. We aim to lead the discussion and development of those standards, and will work with any regulatory body to do so.”
The u-blox ZOE-M8Q is designed for wearables, UAVs and asset trackers. Photo: U-blox
U-blox has launched a new positioning module, the ZOE-M8G. The ZOE-M8G is an ultra-compact GNSS receiver module designed for markets where small size, minimal weight and high location precision are essential.
ZOE-M8G offers exceptionally high location accuracy by concurrently connecting to GPS, Galileo and either GLONASS or BeiDou. It also provides -167 dBm navigation sensitivity, important for wearable devices, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and asset tracker applications.
The new u-blox ZOE-M8G helps simplify product designs, because it is a fully integrated, complete GNSS solution with built-in SAW-filter and Low Noise Amplifier (LNA). It can be used with passive antennas without the need for additional components, and doesn’t compromise performance.
The ZOE-M8G GNSS module measures 4.5 x 4.5 x 1.0 millimeters. Due to its small size, a complete GNSS design using a ZOE-M8G module takes approximately 30 percent less printed circuit board (PCB) area compared to a conventional discrete chip design with a CSP chip GNSS receiver.
“When you’re designing products such as smart watches, fitness trackers, asset trackers, UBI dongles and even drones, every square millimeter and every gram counts. The u-blox ZOE-M8G makes it significantly easier for product designers to achieve precise location tracking while keeping within their strict form factor and weight restrictions,” said Uffe Pless, product marketing, Positioning Product Center at u-blox.
Samples of the u-blox ZOE-M8G will be available in February 2017, and volume production will start in October 2017.
For nearly two decades, SPAR 3D has been the premier vendor-neutral event for the application of 3D technology in industry. But the surge in innovation and commercial uses for 3D technologies has brought opportunity for expansion.
In 2017, SPAR 3D will highlight cutting-edge innovation in 3D technologies from input to output, covering 3D sensing, 3D processing and 3D visualization tools. The expo and conference will take place April 3-5 in Houston, Texas.
In the exhibit hall, new products and hands-on demonstrations will be showcased.
Because of the uncanny timing and convergence of global market conditions, technology innovation, social wants and government needs, a smart cities market has exploded on a global scale that dwarfs any previous notion of the value given to the built environment.
Sometimes described as part of Big Data or the Internet of Things programs, Smart City initiatives being implemented in many urban environments around the world today require accurate and authenticated data in which to work properly, but require 3D data generation and display innovations.
Doherty will explore trends, solutions and implementations from greenfield and existing Smart Cities real estate developments from China, Australia, Saudi Arabia and the United States. He will explore the market-making abilities of Smart Cities that are developing solutions using 3D and UAVs, as well as the emerging privatization of outer space.
Sessions
Sessions will cover:
Big Data and Working in the Cloud
Wearables
AR/VR
3D Printed Buildings
3D Technology in AEC
Autonomous Vehicles
Market-specific sessions will focused on the end-to-end application of 3D tools.
Also, an “Intro to 3D Technology” track for professionals new to 3D will be offered.
For nearly two decades, SPAR 3D has been the premier vendor-neutral event for the application of 3D technology in industry. But the surge in innovation and commercial uses for 3D technologies has brought opportunity for expansion.
In 2017, SPAR 3D will highlight cutting-edge innovation in 3D technologies from input to output, covering 3D sensing, 3D processing and 3D visualization tools. The expo and conference will take place April 3-5 in Houston, Texas.
In the exhibit hall, new products and hands-on demonstrations will be showcased.
Because of the uncanny timing and convergence of global market conditions, technology innovation, social wants and government needs, a smart cities market has exploded on a global scale that dwarfs any previous notion of the value given to the built environment.
Sometimes described as part of Big Data or the Internet of Things programs, Smart City initiatives being implemented in many urban environments around the world today require accurate and authenticated data in which to work properly, but require 3D data generation and display innovations.
Doherty will explore trends, solutions and implementations from greenfield and existing Smart Cities real estate developments from China, Australia, Saudi Arabia and the United States. He will explore the market-making abilities of Smart Cities that are developing solutions using 3D and UAVs, as well as the emerging privatization of outer space.
Sessions
Sessions will cover:
Big Data and Working in the Cloud
Wearables
AR/VR
3D Printed Buildings
3D Technology in AEC
Autonomous Vehicles
Market-specific sessions will focused on the end-to-end application of 3D tools.
Also, an “Intro to 3D Technology” track for professionals new to 3D will be offered.
At its second meeting on Jan. 31 in Reno, Nevada, the Drone Advisory Committee (DAC) will continue to help the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) prioritize its efforts to integrate unmanned aircraft systems — or drones — into the national airspace.
FAA Administrator Michael Huerta announced the creation of the DAC as a federal advisory committee in May 2016, and the DAC first met in September 2016.
DAC members represent a wide array of stakeholders, including unmanned aircraft manufacturers and operators, traditional aviation groups, labor organizations, radio and navigation equipment manufacturers, airport operators and state and local officials.
The DAC’s main objective during its second meeting will be to review and potentially approve three task groups.
The first task group will review issues related to the roles and responsibilities of federal, state and local governments in regulating and enforcing drone laws. Many state and local governments have begun to enact a variety of laws about operating UAS in low-altitude navigable airspace.
The second task group will consider technological and regulatory mechanisms that would allow drone operators to gain access to the airspace beyond what the agency currently permits under the Small UAS Rule (commonly known as Part 107).
The DAC will also discuss the formation of a third task group, which will consider ways to fund the expanded provision of services needed to support UAS integration.
BlueBird Aero Systems has won a contract to supply a target variant of an unmanned air vehicle to the Israeli Air Force (IAF), to enable it to train its air defense units.
The IAF selected BlueBird’s ThunderB after it completed a series of test flights in which it reached a speed of 150 kilometers per hour and a ceiling of 15,000 feet.
The target version of the ThunderB will carry a simple optical payload.
The ThunderB is a small-sized tactical UAV (28 kilograms, 4-meter wingspan), with intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition and reconnaissance (ISTAR) capabilities previously found only in much larger UAVs, usually with weight of above 200 kilograms. It is suitable for ISTAR because of its long endurance capability (6–24 hours), its extended control range and its cooled/uncooled infrared and optional laser pointer payload.
