GPS World

Tag: UAV

  • UAV achieves full-speed autonomous landing

    UAV achieves full-speed autonomous landing

    In the most critical phase of the landing maneuver, the UAV flight control system must compensate for the accelerated air flow above the ground vehicle. (Photo: DLR)
    In the most critical phase of the landing maneuver, the UAV flight control system must compensate for the accelerated air flow above the ground vehicle. (Photo: DLR)

    Moving at 75 kilometers an hour (47 mph) an unmanned, electric, autonomous aircraft settled gently on the roof of a moving car.

    Scientists from the German Aerospace Center (DLR) Institute of Robotics and Mechatronics combined robotics and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to develop a system where a fixed-wing aircraft automatically lands on a moving ground vehicle.

    The DLR system is designed for commercial applications such as remote sensing and communication. It could be applied to ultra-lightweight solar aircraft that complement traditional satellite systems in the stratosphere. Or, it could support crisis management, such as aiding disaster-communications networks or providing data on climate change.

    Losing weight

    Ultralight solar aircraft can reach more than 20 kilometers in altitude. The weight factor is crucial to how long the ultralight can stay in the air.

    The Demonstrator Platform Penguin BE UAV is equipped with redundnant landing hardware. (Photo: DLR)
    The Demonstrator Platform Penguin BE UAV is equipped with redundnant landing hardware. (Photo: DLR)

    By omitting the traditional landing gear, the dead weight of these UAVs can be significantly reduced. This allows more load capacity, greater range and better performance. A lighter craft also increases payload capacity, creating more space for scientific instruments.

    In flight tests on an airfield in Swabia Mindelheim-Mattsies, the DLR system was successfully tested with a 3-meter, 20-kilogram, electric fixed-wing UAV. A net was provided on the roof of a car, along with optical markers. The UAV can position itself up to half a meter over the 4 x 5 meter landing platform. The optical multi-marker tracking system detects the landing apparatus and determines the relative position of the ground vehicle with high accuracy. The computer-controlled landing is then carried out.

    Movement of UAV and the vehicle are adjusted with the help of special algorithms. With the car and the UAV moving at the same speed, the landing is more like a settling, making the landing safer and easier. Though designed for both autonomous car and UAV, a driver remained in the car for safety during the tests. A robotic vehicle without a driver will be tested next.

    The work was supported by the EU project EC-Safe Mobile Support and complement the activities of the Flight Robotics Group.

    In the semi-autonomous landing vehicle, the driver receives control commands via a graphical display. The crosshairs indicate the location of the UAV. (Photo: DLR)
    In the semi-autonomous landing vehicle, the driver receives control commands via a graphical display. The crosshairs indicate the location of the UAV. (Photo: DLR)

  • FAA expands drone detection Pathfinder initiative

    The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is expanding the part of its Pathfinder Program that focuses on detecting and identifying unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) flying too close to airports.

    On Monday, the FAA signed Cooperative Research and Development Agreements (CRDAs) with Gryphon Sensors, Liteye Systems Inc. and Sensofusion. The FAA will evaluate procedures and technologies designed to identify unauthorized UAS operations in and around airports. This research effort, part of the FAA’s Pathfinder Initiative, addresses one of the significant challenges to safe integration of UAS into the nation’s airspace.

    “Sometimes people fly drones in an unsafe manner,” said Marke “Hoot” Gibson, FAA Senior Advisor on UAS Integration. “Government and industry share responsibility for keeping the skies safe, and we’re pleased these three companies have taken on this important challenge.”

    “Gryphon Sensors, LLC is excited to collaborate with the FAA on utilizing technologies that detect, track and identify errant or hostile UAS in and around our nation’s airports and sensitive areas.  Detecting these threats is challenging because most of them are very small, fly low to the ground and can be pre-programed to fly autonomously,” said Gryphon Sensors President Tony Albanese.

    “Our AUDS team is very excited to join the FAA’s efforts to counter rogue UAVs,” stated Thomas Scott, President of Liteye Systems. He added, “As the legitimate use of unmanned vehicles becomes more prevalent in many industries, unfortunately this large number of aircraft also makes them readily available for illicit use. With the right technologies we can assist the UAV operator to conduct his mission, while protecting against those who wish us harm.”

    “We first developed the technology to detect, locate, track and gain control over UAS three years ago as a military project and operated it with three European armies under NATO,” said Sensofusion CEO Tuomas Rasila. “Fast forward to the present time, and AIRFENCE is now protecting various customer sites in Europe, including prisons, high profile government buildings, police, and military sites. Since the technology is software based, it improves with over-the-air updates, ensuring that we are always ahead of the commercial UAS market.”

    The companies’ prototype UAS sensor detection systems will be evaluated at airports selected by the FAA. The agency and its federal government partners — particularly the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) — will work with the companies to study how effective their respective technologies are, while ensuring they do not interfere with the safety and security of normal airport operations.

    The CRDAs with Gryphon, Liteye and Sensofusion expand upon collaborative efforts with industry to develop system standards to identify unauthorized UAS flights near airports, which could pose a hazard to manned aircraft. The agency has seen a steep increase in reports of small UAS close to airports over the last two years.

    The FAA has also partnered with DHS and CACI International on similar research to explore how that company’s prototype detection technology may help detect UAS.

    The FAA supports DHS in an inter-agency effort to meet the threat of unauthorized UAS from a “whole of government” perspective. Other participating federal agencies include: the Department of Defense, Department of Energy, U.S. Secret Service and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

  • FAA establishing advisory committee on UAV integration

    Speaking today at Xponential, the AUVSI annual conference in New Orleans, FAA Administrator Michael Huerta announced the agency is establishing a broad-based advisory committee that will provide advice on key unmanned aircraft integration issues. He also announced plans to make it easier for students to fly unmanned aircraft as part of their coursework.

    Huerta said the drone advisory committee is an outgrowth of the successful stakeholder-based UAS registration task force and the MicroUAS aviation rule-making committee.

    Those panels were set up for a single purpose and for limited duration. In contrast, the drone advisory committee is intended to be a long-lasting group. It will help identify and prioritize integration challenges and improvements, and create broad support for an overall integration strategy.

    “Input from stakeholders is critical to our ability to achieve that perfect balance between integration and safety,” Huerta said. “We know that our policies and overall regulation of this segment of aviation will be more successful if we have the backing of a strong, diverse coalition.”

    Huerta said he has asked Intel CEO Brian Krzanich to chair the group.

    Student UAS operation

    Huerta also announced the FAA will start allowing students to operate UAS for educational and research purposes today.

    As a result, schools and students will no longer need a Section 333 exemption or any other authorization to fly provided they follow the rules for model aircraft. Faculty will be able to use drones in connection with helping their students with their courses.

    “Schools and universities are incubators for tomorrow’s great ideas, and we think this is going to be a significant shot in the arm for innovation,” Huerta said.

  • IMSAR sells UAV detect-and-avoid radar tech to Fortem

    IMSAR LLC, manufacturer of miniaturized synthetic aperture radar (SAR), is selling its detect and avoid radar technology to Fortem Technologies. The technology powered IMSAR’s previously announced family of collision-avoidance radar designed for the commercial unmanned aerial systems (UAS) market.

    The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) requires an aircraft operating in civil airspace to be able to “see and avoid” other aircraft. Collision-avoidance systems seek to meet this requirement by allowing UASs to detect other airborne objects, predict potential midair collisions, and automatically maneuver the UAS to avoid catastrophes.

    A radar-based sense-and-avoid solution for small UAS was previously not viable because of high cost, weight and complex technology and algorithms required. Fortem’s product will enable small UAS to avoid mid-air collisions with manned or unmanned aircraft as well as targets that lack a transponder, such as cranes, paving the way for the integration of UAS into civil airspace worldwide.

    “Radar is ideally suited because it operates effectively in darkness, cloud cover, fog, smoke and precipitation,” said Britton Quist, IMSAR’s CTO.

    According to Ryan Smith, CEO, IMSAR, key development milestones have been met allowing the spin out of sense and avoid to Fortem Technologies. Adam Robertson, vice president of IMSAR, will be leaving to join Fortem Technologies after nine years at IMSAR.

    Fortem Technologies has announced product availability in July 2016.

    Fortem and IMSAR products are on display May 2-5 at the Xponential show in New Orleans, Booth 134.

  • IMSAR sells UAV detect-and-avoid radar tech to Fortem

    IMSAR LLC, manufacturer of miniaturized synthetic aperture radar (SAR), is selling its detect and avoid radar technology to Fortem Technologies. The technology powered IMSAR’s previously announced family of collision-avoidance radar designed for the commercial unmanned aerial systems (UAS) market.

    The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) requires an aircraft operating in civil airspace to be able to “see and avoid” other aircraft. Collision-avoidance systems seek to meet this requirement by allowing UASs to detect other airborne objects, predict potential midair collisions, and automatically maneuver the UAS to avoid catastrophes.

    A radar-based sense-and-avoid solution for small UAS was previously not viable because of high cost, weight and complex technology and algorithms required. Fortem’s product will enable small UAS to avoid mid-air collisions with manned or unmanned aircraft as well as targets that lack a transponder, such as cranes, paving the way for the integration of UAS into civil airspace worldwide.

    “Radar is ideally suited because it operates effectively in darkness, cloud cover, fog, smoke and precipitation,” said Britton Quist, IMSAR’s CTO.

    According to Ryan Smith, CEO, IMSAR, key development milestones have been met allowing the spin out of sense and avoid to Fortem Technologies. Adam Robertson, vice president of IMSAR, will be leaving to join Fortem Technologies after nine years at IMSAR.

    Fortem Technologies has announced product availability in July 2016.

    Fortem and IMSAR products are on display May 2-5 at the AUVSI Xponential show in New Orleans, Booth 134.

  • FLIR launches radiometric thermal camera for commercial drones

    FLIR launches radiometric thermal camera for commercial drones

    FLIR Systems Inc. has announced the FLIR Vue Pro R, the latest member of FLIR Vue thermal imaging camera series for commercial drones.

    FLIR-Vue-Pro-RThe new Vue Pro R adds radiometric functionality to the Vue Pro camera, giving drone operators the ability to save the pictures for post-flight image analysis and accurately measure the temperatures of individual image pixels.

    The camera was introduced at AUVSI’s Xponential 2016 trade show, being held this week in New Orleans.

    The Vue Pro R retains all of the capabilities in the standard Vue Pro model but adds calibrated radiometric imaging that allows it to capture the temperature data of every pixel in an image. When saved in Radiometric JPEG format, still images can be imported into FLIR Tools software for detailed analysis and reporting.

    FLIR Tools, a free download on FLIR.com, lets drone operators adjust settings including object emissivity, background temperature, target distance, relative humidity, thermal sensitivity as well as assigning various color palettes for each image.

    The Vue Pro R records digital thermal video, along with radiometric thermal still images, to an on-board micro-SD card. For applications such as electrical inspection, infrastructure assessment, and precision mapping, this on-board recording allows operators to capture high-quality thermal data for post processing and analysis.

    FLIR-Vue-Pro-R-radiometric“Without a doubt, radiometry is the most popular feature drone operators have requested, and we’re delivering that with Vue Pro R,” said Jeff Frank, FLIR’s Senior Vice President for Product Strategy. “FLIR has pioneered thermographic cameras for more than 50 years and our expansion of high-performance capabilities like radiometry to drone operators is another example of our ability to provide state-of-the-art thermal technology to people that need it.”

    An updated mobile app with advanced radiometric functions uses the camera’s Bluetooth interface to connect to iOS and Android devices, making camera set-up and configuration easy. Through the app, operators can configure functions to ensure the best imagery possible for their conditions without having to connect the camera to a computer.

  • Canadian UAVs partners with Measure for U.S. and Canadian drone services

    As part of its effort to deliver cost-effective actionable data to enterprise customers, Measure, a drone operator in the United States, has partnered with Canadian drone company Canadian UAVs. Together, the two companies will use drone technology to provide real-time data analysis to businesses in both the U.S. and Canada.

    “Measure can now truly offer cross-border drone services,” said Measure CEO Brandon Torres Declet. “As a result of this partnership with Canadian UAVs, we can deliver cost-effective, actionable data to businesses across all 50 states and 10 provinces.”

    The partnership between Measure and Canadian UAVs provides businesses with real-time response capability. With Canadian UAVs use of helicopters, fixed-wing aircraft and drones, Measure can now fly anywhere in Western Canada to acquire data for enterprise customers. Both companies conduct flights that are safe, legal and insured using only licensed pilots.

    “Measure has a great depth in expertise regarding the American market, as well unprecedented approvals from the FAA,” said Canadian UAVs President and CEO Sean Greenwood. “Teaming up ensures our customers have clarity and piece of mind when it comes to trans-border operations.”

  • Commercial drone services could reach $8.7 billion annually by 2025

    According to a new report from Tractica, by the end of the next decade, annual revenue from drone-enabled services will be more than double the revenue from sales of commercial drone hardware units themselves.

    The market intelligence firm forecasts that global commercial unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) services revenue will grow from $170 million in 2015 to $8.7 billion by 2025.

    UAVs are gaining significant traction in a variety of industries, including oil and gas, insurance, public safety, film and media, and agriculture. While the number of drones being shipped for commercial markets is often the most visible trend, the largest revenue opportunity in the sector lies in the various services that these drones will enable.

    The largest service applications will be mapping, aerial assessment and prospecting, but smaller opportunities for drone services will also include disaster relief, early warning systems, data collection and analytics, environmental monitoring, package delivery, and filming and entertainment.

    “Commercial drone operators around the world are quickly realizing the potential for UAVs to be harnessed for a variety of services in a more efficient manner than can be achieved using conventional means such as satellites or aircraft,” said managing director Clint Wheelock. “Most commercial applications for drones are related to aerial imaging or data analysis, taking advantage of low-cost components and ever-increasing sensor capabilities.”

    Wheelock added that, while regulatory and business barriers remain to the more widespread use of drones for commercial purposes, the path ahead is becoming steadily clearer as business models and policy frameworks continue to be refined in countries around the world.

    Tractica’s report, “Drones for Commercial Applications,” examines the market trends and technology issues surrounding the commercial drone industry and presents a comprehensive analysis of the drivers and inhibitors of market development, the regulatory landscape, business models and supply chain considerations.

    The report includes a 10-year forecast for drone hardware unit shipments and revenue, segmented by industry, airframe type and world region, in addition to drone-enabled services by application area. An Executive Summary of the report is available for free download on the firm’s website.

  • Quanergy announces new lidar sensor at Xponential

    Quanergy Systems, a provider of lidar sensors and smart sensing solutions, is offering a new sensor.

    Quanergy's S3 lidar sensor
    Quanergy’s S3 lidar sensor

    The S3-Qi is a miniature solid-state lidar sensor that is 15 percent the size of the previous solid-state model, the S3. Quanergy is displaying the new sensor along with its other products in Booth 767 at AUVSI’s Xponential May 3-5 in New Orleans.

    The S3-Qi, offered four months after the original S3, has a smaller 1 inch by 1.5-inch footprint, weighs about 100 grams and has low power consumption. The small form factor, combined with a cost-effective design, makes the S3-Qi well suited for applications such as drones, intelligent robotics, security, smart homes and industrial automation.

    Mass production of the S3-Qi is targeted for the first quarter of 2017.

    “We are excited to raise the bar, once again, with the expansion of our product portfolio,” said Louay Eldada, Quanergy CEO. “We continue to push the boundaries on behalf of our customers. The S3-Qi is a testament to our focus on the user and our investment in innovation for game-changing smart sensing solutions offered at price points that make their use ubiquitous. In drones, payload and battery runtime benefit greatly from our compact sensors.”

    Quanergy’s lidar sensors have applications in more than 30 market verticals including security, transportation, terrestrial and aerial mapping, and industrial automation.

  • Echodyne offers detect and avoid radar for small UAS

    Echodyne offers detect and avoid radar for small UAS

    echodyne-saa-auvsiEchodyne today announced the development of MESA-DAA, an Airborne Detect and Avoid (DAA) radar for small to medium-sized unmanned aircraft systems (UAS).

    Echodyne made the announcement at AUVSI’s Xponential 2016 trade show and conference.

    The small, lightweight and low power DAA radar will operate at K-band and be capable of rapidly scanning a broad field of view in azimuth and elevation at ranges out to 3 kilometers. MESA-DAA is based on Echodyne’s patented Metamaterials Electronically Scanning Array (MESA), which offers breakthrough cost, size, weight, and power (C-SWAP) improvements over traditional electronically scanning array technology.

    The MESA-DAA radar is scheduled for release at the end of 2016 and will be an evolution of the MESA-K-DEV radar, which Echodyne released today.

    “Detect and avoid is the single biggest technical hurdle to opening up the National Airspace System to UAS,” said Jim Williams, former head of the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) UAS Integration Office and current Principal at Dentons US, LLP and Echodyne advisor.

    uav-Echodyne-W“NASA, the FAA, industry and academia have spent years studying the DAA problem and have determined radar is by far the best sensor, if not the only sensor, capable of providing the all-weather, long-range, and broad field of view scanning that is necessary for safe, highly reliable DAA. MESA-DAA technology may well represent the key to safely opening up airspace for beyond visual line of sight operations.”

    Detect and Avoid Requirement

    One of the FAA’s central aircraft operating rules is that pilots maintain vigilance so as to see and avoid other aircraft. To fulfill this requirement, UAS need to remain within visual line of sight of their pilot.

    Although the regulations for UAS are still in development, there is widespread acceptance that for UAS to fly beyond line of sight of their operator, they will need DAA sensors and systems that safely replace the pilot’s see and avoid capability. This DAA capability will need to detect both cooperative objects (those transmitting their position with a transponder) and non-cooperative objects (aircraft without transponders, birds, etc.).

    Radar is the only sensor capable of reliably performing DAA in all weather conditions and at the ranges, broad fields of view and scanning speeds necessary for safe operation of UAS in the NAS. Radar is the only sensor that directly measures the position of an object (such as range, azimuth, elevation) as well as its relative speed of approach (via Doppler).

    “We believe MESA-DAA will be a critical technology for safely opening up the National Airspace System to small UAS for beyond visual line of sight operations,” said Eben Frankenberg, founder and CEO of Echodyne. “Radar is the sensor of choice for DAA, but existing radar technology is too slow, too bulky and too expensive to provide DAA radar capabilities on small UAS. The C-SWAP characteristics of MESA and our DAA radar are completely unparalleled and uniquely well suited for small UAS.”

    In the April 7 “FAA Aerospace Forecast,” the FAA reports that it has already granted more than 4,000 Section 333 Exemptions for commercial UAS operations, clear evidence of the high demand for UAS applications. The FAA forecasts that sales of commercial small UAS could exceed 600,000 for 2016 and grow to 2.7 million by 2020, noting that “the overall demand for commercial UAS will soar once regulations more easily enable beyond visual line of sight operations and operations of multiple unmanned aircraft by a single pilot.”

    MESA-DAA Specifications. MESA-DAA is based largely on Echodyne’s existing MESA-K-DEV radar. Package size and weight are expected to be less than MESA-K-DEV, especially if the unit is placed inside the UAS. Range is expected to be 3 kilometers, and scanning speed is expected to be 1 Hz for the entire field of view and as fast as 10 Hz for updating locations on previously detected objects. The field of view for a single unit is expected to be ±60 degrees in azimuth (120 degrees total) and ±45 degrees in elevation. Multiple units can be combined if greater field of view is desired.

    MESA-K-DEV. Echodyne also announced availability of MESA-K-DEV, an ultra-low C-SWAP, fast electronically scanning radar based on its patented MESA. The radar operates at K-band. The fully self-contained and packaged unit measures 22 by 7.5 by 2.5 centimeters and weighs 820 grams.

    Unlike conventional mechanical apertures that steer a radar beam using motorized gimbals, Echodyne’s MESA requires no moving parts to steer its beam. And unlike phased array radars or active electronically scanning array radars that require complicated and expensive transmit/receive modules — including phase shifters, amplifiers, circulators and low noise amplifiers behind every single antenna element — MESA uses a simpler meta-materials architecture. The net effect of this simplified architecture is lower cost, size, weight and power.

  • Arcturus VTOL UAS deployed with the Mexican Navy

    Arcturus VTOL UAS deployed with the Mexican Navy

    Arcturus-Jump-WArcturus UAV reports the Mexican Navy has deployed its T-20 Jump fixed-wing vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) UAV for unspecified operations in Mexico. The customer took delivery of the VTOL system in March.

    The announcement was made at AUVSI’s Xponential 2016.

    The T-20 Jump is a VTOL variant of Arcturus UAV’s catapult launched T-20 platform. It operates without any special launch or recovery equipment. Gross payload capacity is 60 pounds.

    The Mexican Navy configuration with an electro-optics and infrared (EO/IR) sensor has approximately 15 hours of endurance and a 75-mile data-link range. An EO/IR and EW capable version offers 11 hours of endurance. Mexico has operated a fleet of catapult launch T-20s since 2014.

    Arcturus has proposed the T-20 Jump VTOL platform for MEUAS III, the United States Special Operations Command‘s (USSOCOM’s) worldwide UAS services contract. Arcturus has also proposed a heavy fuel version of the T-20 Jump for the Royal Australian Navy’s Tactical Unmanned Aircraft Program.

  • SimActive releases new version of Correlator3D for photogrammetry

    Photogrammetry software company SimActive is releasing a new version of Correlator3D with a redesigned aerial triangulation (AT) module.

    Correlator3D is a patented end-to-end photogrammetry solution for the generation of high-quality geospatial data from satellite and aerial imagery, including UAVs.

    The tie point extraction and bundle algorithms have been enhanced, along with the added capability to address problematic input data (such as low overlap projects).

    The release features an alignment tool that automatically registers new projects to older mosaics and DEMs. It removes the need for recollecting ground control points (GCPs). In addition, a new semi-automatic workflow was developed for GCP tagging.

    “Our significant R&D efforts on the AT are due to its substantial impact on all subsequent results,” said Louis Simard, CTO of SimActive. “As such, the release vastly improves and simplifies the entire production chain.”

    For a live demonstration at AUVSI’s Xponential 2016 (May 2-5 in New Orleans), visit booth 260 or send an email to [email protected].