“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.
Integrity sits safely on Mars following an in-flight anomaly. (Photo: NASA)
PNT Issue Rocks Ingenuity
The Mars drone Ingenuity uses an inertial measurement unit (IMU) to track position, velocity and attitude. The IMU works with the rotorcraft’s navigation camera, which feeds images into the system. About 54 seconds into Ingenuity’s sixth flight on May 22, a glitch in the pipeline of images delivered by the camera caused Ingenuity to buck. The glitch caused a single image to be lost, resulting in all later navigation images being delivered with inaccurate timestamps. Ingenuity’s navigation system attempted to correct itself due to “phantom errors,” but the copter still managed to land within 16 feet (5 meters) of its target location. The Perseverance rover snapped an image of its flying companion the next day. The timing vulnerability is being addressed.
The versatility of the ZEB-Horizon device enabled the Deep Time team to map the complex and challenging environment. (Photo: GeoSLAM)
Measuring Deep Time and Space
Geospatial 3D mapping specialist GeoSLAM provided the technology to scan one of Europe’s largest caves as part of the Deep Time isolation study. For 40 days, 15 participants set up camp in the Lombrives cave in southwestern France with no clocks or sunlight, and zero contact with the outside world. Conducted by the Human Adaptation Institute, the experiment aimed to gain insight into human adaptability to isolation. For their first task, the “deeptimers” used the ZEB-Horizon to conduct a digital scan of the 3-km Lombrives cave — a system consisting of both narrow passages and expansive chambers up to 70 meters in height, formed more than 125 million years ago.
Photo: Nearmap
Avengers Assemble!
On June 4, Disney unveiled its Avengers Campus at its California Adventure park. Aerial image provider Nearmap, which has been flying over Disneyland and California Adventure twice a year since 2014, shared a bird’s-eye view of the park’s new area, which replaced “A Bug’s Life.” Nearmap also shared images comparing the crowd size in 2019 before COVID-19 to the reopening limit of 25% capacity in April.
Photo: Geoscience Australia
Tasmania First
As part of the Positioning Australia program, Geoscience Australia is building new GNSS ground stations. The first new station was recently completed outside the town of Derby, Tasmania. This new station joins 10 existing stations in Tasmania, providing widely available GNSS-based precise positioning signals. To access the service, users can connect to a service provider offering a fully supported service with system integration; users with specialized equipment and the technical expertise to integrate GNSS positioning can connect directly to the station via Geoscience Australia’s GNSS Data Centre.
Skyward, a Verizon company, has announced its integration with Pix4D, a photogrammetry software suite for drone mapping. The partnership gives customers the ability to turn drone data into 2D maps and 3D models.
Enterprises and drone pilots can now plan flights, receive FAA approval to fly in controlled airspace (LAANC), fly with Skyward’s InFlight ground control station, and process data using Pix4D from within the Skyward platform.
Skyward Mapping & Modeling, powered by Pix4D, enables customers to create, view, measure, and export 2D orthomosaic maps and 3D photogrammetric models right from Skyward’s web app. With the processing power of Pix4D, Skyward customers can get business-ready data sets through a seamless plan, fly, process workflow.
The 2021 Right-of-Way Asset Mapping Exchange is an interactive online Virtual Conference Experience focusing on innovation in asset inventory and mapping that supports all phases of infrastructure lifecycles. It takes place July 13 and is free of charge.
The event provides hands-on actionable information on a variety of current and emerging technologies. Via presentations, discussions and one-on-one meetings, the event gives those who attend an opportunity to learn from and engage with technology and experts in a wide range of disciplines, and some of their key clients, as well as peers and colleagues.
Moderator of the event is Matteo Luccio, GPS World editor in chief. Speakers include:
Brian L. Soliday, chief revenue officer, VoxelMaps
Why ROW Asset Mapping?
Right-of-way (ROW) corridors, especially in urban areas, are densely populated by many public and private infrastructure features — overhead electric and telephone wires, street-level parking meters, signage, traffic sensors, underground fiber-optic cables, water mains, natural gas pipes and sewers. They are constantly changing environments, as additional poles, signs and conduits are installed and old ones are replaced with newer ones to restore service after storm damage.
Yet public works and utility managers, engineers and planners need to know what each stretch of each ROW corridor contains at any given moment, especially as they work to make our cities “smarter.” Hence, the Sisyphean task of mapping these assets.
Fortunately, the technology to map ROW assets is rapidly improving. Platforms for data collection include vehicles driving at normal traffic speeds, UAVs and manned aircraft. Sensors include digital cameras, lidar scanners and ground-penetrating radar.
Visualization tools include augmented reality, virtual reality, mixed reality and models ranging from small 2D and 3D ones of individual features up to digital twins of buildings and, eventually, entire cities. Increasingly, the tedious work of identifying and classifying features is being delegated to automated feature extraction software, a form of artificial intelligence.
The conference will discuss
Comparing 2D and 3D visualization tools.
Explaining the benefits of 3D models as an advanced spatial analysis tool for urban planning.
Exploring the future of smart cities and digital twins.
A light equity study and pole inventory in the context of the transition to LED lighting.
How a two-man team can capture 500 miles worth of utility data in two weeks.
1Spatial is making complex workflows easier to manage with the latest releases of its core products 1Integrate and 1Data Gateway. 1Spatial is a global geospatial software and solutions company.
1Data Gateway 2.4 now has an extended REST API enabling automated submission of data from other applications, while maintaining access control and security of the data supply chain. Submission metadata can be passed back into 1Integrate sessions for downstream processes and analysis. 1Integrate 2.10 can also be configured to “fast-track” certain sessions onto higher priority engines, ensuring important submissions are not left queuing behind other routine jobs.
“Even though 1Data Gateway is primarily a user portal to our rules engine, the addition of the Submission API will allow our customers to integrate the power of 1Data Gateway into automated workflows and access the rich statistical data collected from the submissions,” said Ricardo Cifres, 1Data Gateway product manager.
UK Contract Awarded
Following a competitive tender and in collaboration with Version 1, a global IT services and solutions company, has signed a multiyear contract with the United Kingdom Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) to provide a managed service for the Rural Payments Agency’s (RPA) Rural Payments Service and Land Management System (LMS).
The contract will provide a recurring managed service enabling DEFRA and the Rural Payments Agency to deliver its current Basic Payment and Countryside Stewardship Schemes. In addition, the new contract enables 1Spatial and Version 1 to support RPA and DEFRA through Agricultural Transition.
1Spatial has worked with RPA over the past five years to support and develop its Land Management System, an ecosystem of IT components, processes and data, including 1Integrate software. The LMS is RPA’s key control system used as a remote-sensing monitoring tool and to master the land registration data used for subsidy-scheme validation and agricultural policy implementation.
The stated goal of a recently published RAND study was to answer a question from Congress about what should be done to back up and complement the nation’s GPS. One of its findings was that the government should consider investing in a national timing network.
Yet the study’s report emphasizes the wrong things, according to some. So much so that it is working against establishment of a timing network to reinforce GPS.
Report Misleading
“The main thrust of the study’s report is that we don’t need another GPS-like, system,” said Pat Diamond. “That has always been fairly obvious. I don’t know anyone who has ever advocated for duplicating GPS.” Diamond is CEO and founder of a network company and is a member of the president’s National Space-based Positioning, Navigation, and Timing (PNT) Advisory Board.
“By pounding so hard on the ‘don’t duplicate GPS’ drum, RAND hides its more important findings,” he said. “The public message comes across as there is no need to do anything.”
Diamond thinks the study should have better highlighted the things the federal government should do. “That is really the question Congress wanted answered,” he said.
RAND’s study supports four federal initiatives that “… appear to be cost-effective or close to cost-effective.” Included are a “timing-only” GPS-backup and support of high performance “geographically limited” systems.
Timing Essential, GPS Backup Needed
Cover: NSTAC
GPS timing signals are used in a wide variety of technologies including cell phones, IT networks, digital broadcast, first responders’ hand-held radios, and to synchronize electrical grids. Yet these signals from space are weak and easily disrupted.
A timing backup for GPS is also a long-standing recommendation of the president’s National Space-based PNT Advisory Board.
“There are few things more important to tech infrastructure today and tomorrow than timing,” according to Marc Weiss who was a lead researcher at the National Institutes of Standards and Technology for 35 years.
The RAND study was a cost-benefit analysis, which some have argued was not the best approach.
“Cost-benefit is always tricky,” says Greg Winfree, Director of the Texas Transportation Institute. “There are always a lot of assumptions. Small changes to any of the inputs can radically change the outcomes.” Winfree led civil PNT efforts during the Obama administration as an official at the Department of Transportation (DOT).
“One of my big concerns is that GPS is so important to so many things in America, that it is one of the most attractive targets for our adversaries. At least one alternate PNT that most people can access takes the bullseye off GPS,” Winfree said.
Scott Pace, director of the Space Policy Institute at George Washington University (GWU) agrees a diversity of PNT sources is important. At a recent GWU event, Pace commented having an alternative to GPS will contribute to national security and improve global stability. It will “lower the pressure on us to escalate and respond” should GPS satellites be damaged, or services disrupted. Pace was the Executive Secretary of the National Space Council in the Trump administration.
In the book The Russia Trap, author George Beebe has similar concerns, citing the lack of a backup for GPS as a technology resilience gap. Russia, China, and Iran all have terrestrial backups for PNT signals from space while the United States does not. Beebe says this is a weakness that can be exploited and could lead to an escalating series of exchanges resulting in all-out war.
Government Investment in Location Services
The RAND study suggestion for the government to invest in highly accurate PNT services in some limited geographic areas cited emergency responders’ needs for precise location. Federal investment will likely be required, it says, as commercial entities cannot make a business case everywhere service is needed.
GWU economics professor Diana Furchtgott-Roth has written that the federal government needs to provide a complement to GPS. She served as a Deputy Assistant Secretary at DOT from 2019 to 2021 leading civil PNT issues for the government.
“Without federal participation, commercial providers won’t ensure adequate resilient services for everyone. Some sectors, such as finance, will have it, but others won’t. This is a matter of national and homeland security. The RAND report did not emphasize this sufficiently.”
Questionable Timing and Motivation
“This is a particularly bad time for a confused message,” said a congressional staff member speaking about the RAND study. “Congress mandated a timing backup for GPS in 2018, though the project was never funded. There is real momentum this year to provide that funding, but the way this study reads works against that.”
Others see the structure of the study’s report and the timing of its release as a deliberate effort to derail budget negotiations. One retired Department of Homeland Security (DHS) official sees a pattern but is at a loss to explain the motivations behind it.
“RAND’s study was completed in 2019, and it was used as the basis for a DHS report to Congress in April 2020. But DHS didn’t tell Congress about RAND’s findings on a timing network and other actions the government should take,” they said.
“The study being made public now saying ‘do not back up GPS’ smells like a deliberate attempt to derail funding for the timing system. Something two presidential advisory boards, telecom leaders, RAND and so many others agree is needed.”
“Why would someone want to do that?” they asked. “Why would they want to keep America’s PNT so much weaker than China’s, Russia’s, and those of other countries?”
Oxford Technical Solutions (OxTS) has launched the latest version of its lidar georeferencing software, OxTS Georeferencer 1.4.
OxTS is taking steps to improve surveyor’s user experience, streamline survey processes, and allow surveyors to get to work faster, while simultaneously improving results.
OxTS Georeferencer fuses position, navigation and timing (PNT) data from an OxTS inertial navigation system (INS) with raw lidar data to output highly accurate 3D point clouds. The software uniquely makes use of navigation diagnostic data that provides surveyors with lidar point-error estimation. This error estimation allows surveyors to focus their analysis on viewing parts of their survey based on estimated errors in points, helping them understand if there are any parts of a survey that need to be looked at again.
Rather than relying on surveyors to integrate their chosen lidar sensors themselves, OxTS has pre-integrated a number of sensors natively. Previous versions of OxTS Georeferencer integrated widely used sensors from Velodyne, Ouster and Hesai. The pre-existing integrations allow surveyors to focus on surveying rather than ensuring the two datasets work in tandem.
Version 1.4 of OxTS Georeferencer integrates new lidar sensors from Hesai. A previous version released in November 2020 was the first integration of the Pandar40P Hesai lidar. Now, seven new Hesai sensors are being integrated:
Pandar40 (beta)
Pandar40M (beta)
Pandar64 (beta)
PandarQT (beta)
Pandar128 (beta)
PandarXT-16 (beta)
PandarXT-32 (tested)
OxTS Georeferencer 1.4 also features several new developments to enhance the user experience and make it more intuitive.
3D Hardware Setup Viewer. To help input the correct relative rotation angles, specific lidar models will be available to view depending on the surveyor’s choice of lidar. The model will represent the lidar sensor in appearance, size and orientation within OxTS Georeferencer with respect to the OxTS INS for quick and intuitive configuration.
The OxTS Georeferencer Hardware setup viewer shows the OxTS xNAV650 INS alongside a Hesai lidar sensor. (Image: OxTS)
Time overlap chart. Georeferencer 1.4 reintroduces a time overlap chart that allows surveyors to visualize their survey route on a map and select specific start and end times. This enables surveyors to control the part of the route they would like to view, with the added ability to georeference only that section of the survey.
The OxTS Georeferencer time overlap chart. (Image: OxTS)
Lidar CAD models will make it easier for surveyors to calculate and input accurate LIR angles into OxTS Georeferencer, further streamlining the survey process.
The time overlap function will provide surveyors with even more flexibility — this time after the survey. Giving surveyors the ability to choose the start and end times of their survey, and therefore which part of the survey to georeference, enables full control of what to present to their peers.
These new features, coupled with those already present in OxTS Georeferencer (optional boresight calibration and point uncertainty analysis) give surveyors the flexibility and control they need to produce the best possible lidar surveys.
The HG4934 Space Rate Sensor is compared in size to a typical smartphone. (Photo: Honeywell)
New, smaller sensors provide high-performance navigation at a low cost with less power consumption, company said.
Honeywell has unveiled a new rate sensor to help small satellites navigate increasingly crowded orbits above the Earth’s surface. The new micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS)-based product provides low cost and power consumption in a smaller size than previous Honeywell offerings, while maintaining high performance levels. It is suitable for customers building smaller and lower-cost satellites, according to Honeywell.
Honeywell’s HG4934 space rate sensor is roughly the same size and weight (145 grams) as a baseball. Compared to Honeywell’s previous rate sensors, it consumes only one-fifth the electric power, is more than 32 times lighter, and is 60 times smaller. It also is more tolerant of radiation, a key attribute in space.
“With this new sensor, our customers can build smaller, lower cost satellites that are just as capable and reliable as their traditional predecessors, which will allow them to field new satellite technologies like 5G telecommunications or high-bandwidth global Internet,” said Mike Elias, vice president and general manager, Space, Honeywell Aerospace. “Furthermore, the number of satellites is only increasing, which leads to more crowded orbits. It’s critical that our customers have highly precise navigation solutions to help prevent accidents, which could knock functional satellites out of orbit.”
A space rate sensor, also known as an inertial reference unit or IRU, is an inertial sensor composed of three gyroscopes that work together to sense rotation rates. They determine an aircraft or spacecraft’s change in rotational attitude over time and allow it to move from one location to another without using any external information. It can also serve as a backup solution to provide redundancy if other navigation systems fail.
Celestial navigation options like star trackers are a popular method of obtaining pointing directions for satellites and spacecraft. This form of navigation uses angular measurements between objects in space (stars, planets, etc.) and the horizon to calculate location. However, sometimes these star trackers are blinded by the sun or affected by thruster gases. In this case, Honeywell’s HG4934 can act as a secondary method of attitude determination.
Honeywell’s HG4934 Space Rate Sensor is available now for commercial, defense, and science applications. The first deliveries to customers began at the end of 2020.
NAVISP includes projects for autonomous and connected driving. (Image: ESA/F. Bagiana)
The European Space Agency (ESA) is issuing a call for ideas to overcome GNSS service gaps in urban canyons by using imaging and 3D mapping technology. A workshop to discuss the call for ideas will be held virtually on July 6.
According to ESA, the growing availability of high-quality image sensors and high-fidelity 3D maps — such as those within smartphone mapping apps — offer a promising way to shrink the performance gap caused by urban canyons and multipath for future mobility applications in terms of ubiquity, reliability and resilience.
NAVISP — ESA’s Navigation Innovation and Support Programme — specifically is seeking prospects for technology demonstrations of mobility tech to support applications such as road, maritime transport and drones. The tech would provide assisted satnav by harnessing image sensors and 3D urban models. The proof-of-concept demonstration projects or national testbeds would facilitate introduction of this technology into commercial products.
Use cases include private or public autonomous transportation in cities, including cars, trams, scooters, bikes, urban ferries, harbors, narrow waterway navigation and future passenger drones.
Reflected satellite navigation signals (multipath) can degrade positioning performance, especially in urban canyons with numerous artificial surfaces. (Image: EUSPA)
The NAVISP project, called a “thematic window,” is titled “Assisted GNSS with Imaging Sensors and 3-D models for Mobility Applications.” The thematic window opened on June 10 and will close on Oct. 31. During its duration, ESA is offering dedicated support to companies interested in participating in the projects and submitting outline proposals.
On July 6, the agency is hosting an online workshop with stakeholders to raise awareness about the initiative and clarify any issues interested companies may have. ESA will present the requirements of the Thematic Window and the application process. The workshop will include presentations from high-level experts covering market perspectives, techniques involved in the use of 3D models and imaging sensors, the state of the art of these technologies and latest advances in visual navigation and artificial intelligence applied to mobility applications.
To register for the July 6 workshop, click here. The workshop agenda is available here.
Latest advancement from Skydel uses software-defined advantages to deliver real-time performance
The Skydel Real-Time Performance graphs illustrate the software-defined engine’s low latency during a GNSS simulation. (Screenshot: Orolia)
Orolia has announced the launch of its Real-Time Performance capability, which achieves an ultra-low latency of five milliseconds. The feature will be standard on all Skydel-powered GNSS simulators.
Skydel is a software-defined simulation engine that powers Orolia’s advanced GNSS simulators including its BroadSim (available via Orolia Defense & Security) and GSG product lines.
“Skydel is known by users for its intuitive nature and ability to be quickly redeployed for a variety of projects,” said Tim Erbes, director of engineering for Orolia Defense & Security. “Delivering Real-Time Performance with latency as low as five milliseconds further shows that Orolia is a market leader empowering our customers by exceeding their expectations.”
Skydel’s software-defined architecture is designed to meet the demanding GNSS simulation testing requirements in the automotive, military, space and other high-tech industries. Skydel also supports hardware-in-the-loop simulations without sacrificing ultra-low latency and high-end performance.
The user interface has a sophisticated dashboard showing Real-Time Performance graphs. The tool enables users to grade the simulator’s performance, interpret data, diagnose inefficiencies, and optimize scenarios on the fly. In a video tutorial, Orolia demonstrates how the simulation engine processes data and how easy it is to read the graphs through its visualization and precise indications. As the system reaches its limits, it remains stable and fully operational, preserving the integrity of the simulation.
Erbes said the Real-Time Performance graphs not only instill confidence in the simulator, but also allow for better integration in the testbed.
“For example, instead of just hoping their hardware-in-the-loop configuration is working, users can view the real-time data and see that low latency is being maintained,” he said. “This feature provides enhanced visibility not only into the performance of the simulation, but also into the reliability of the hardware-in-the-loop integration, resulting in a more robust solution. This is critical when generating complex environments with high dynamics, jamming, spoofing, repeating, and alternative PNT sensors.”
A May report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) explores Department of Defense (DOD) strategy for positioning, navigation and timing (PNT) technology to complement GPS. The 51-page report takes a comprehensive view of alternative PNT policy and leadership across the department.
While GPS will remain the core of DOD’s PNT solution, it will use other PNT technology to complement GPS or as an alternative for when GPS is degraded or unavailable. DOD is exploring both improved sensors to provide relative PNT information, and external sources to provide absolute positioning and navigation.
DOD also is working to create common standards and interfaces to help integrate and field new PNT technologies faster and at lower cost. DOD also is developing its PNT modeling and simulation capabilities to evaluate the performance of new PNT technologies.
Challenges for DOD
Officials from across DOD and experts told GAO that alternative PNT solutions are not prioritized within DOD. For example, there is no central program office responsible for developing the variety of alternative PNT technologies across DOD.
DOD’s continued reliance on GPS, despite known GPS vulnerabilities to disruption, presents a challenge for obtaining sufficient support to develop viable alternatives. Defense officials and experts also said challenges in establishing clear PNT performance requirements hinder technology development.
In response, GAO developed six policy options that may help address challenges with developing and integrating alternative PNT technologies. The policy options identify possible actions by policymakers, who may include Congress, federal agencies and industry groups.
Increase collaboration. Consider mechanisms to coordinate across DOD to clarify responsibilities and authorities in prioritizing the need for alternative PNT technologies.
Focus on resiliency. Consider selecting the most resilient technologies as the cornerstone of the PNT suite for military missions, rather than defaulting to GPS.
Clarify requirements. Consider opportunities to clarify what level of PNT performance actually is needed for missions, rather than defaulting to requirements that match GPS performance.
Coordinate with industry. Consider ensuring DOD and industry coordinate so that industry is prepared to meet DOD’s needs, and DOD can leverage industry advances.
Institutionalize open architecture. Consider making the open architecture initiative more permanent, including providing funding.
Analyze vulnerabilities. Consider having DOD conduct ongoing analysis of vulnerabilities of different PNT systems.
The GAO reviewed technical studies, agency documents, and other key reports; interviewed government officials and researchers about alternative PNT technologies; and convened a three-day meeting of experts from government, non-governmental organizations, academia and industry.
SpaceX launched into orbit for the U.S. Space Force the fifth GPS III satellite (SV05) on June 17.
Photo: U.S. Space Force
GPS III SV05 eventually will replace one of the legacy GPS IIR satellites. Once GPS III SV05 is operational, about 16% of the 31-satellite constellation will be modernized with GPS III’s new capabilities.
M-Code Requirement Met
GPS III SV05 is the 24th M-code satellite on orbit, completing the constellation’s baseline requirement to provide U.S. military forces a more-secure, harder-to-jam and spoof GPS signal.
GPS III SV05 is the fifth Lockheed Martin-built, next-generation GPS III space vehicle. The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket is the first U.S. Space Force mission to reuse a previously-flown booster, the company said.
The U.S. Space Force contracted Lockheed Martin to design and build GPS III/GPS IIIF satellites to help modernize today’s GPS satellite constellation with new technology and advanced capabilities. Lockheed Martin said the GPS III provides three-times greater accuracy, eight times improved anti-jamming capability for U.S. military forces; a new L1C civil signal to the constellation that is compatible with other GNSS; and a new modular design that allows new technology and capabilities to be added in the future to better address changing mission needs and emerging threats.
Future GPS III Satellites
GPS III Space Vehicles 06, 07 and 08 already are complete and waiting to be called up for their launch dates, which are to be determined.
In addition, GPS III SV09 was core-mated, meaning it reached a major production milestone in which two major satellite components — the mission module and the propulsion core — are paired to form one space vehicle. The GPS III SV10 currently is in the component build up stage.
Lockheed Martin has been contracted to design and build up to 22 additional GPS III Follow On – or GPS IIIF – satellites (SV11-32), with even more capabilities. Contract options for the first four GPS IIIFs, SV11-14, have been exercised so far.
The U.S. Space Force contracted Lockheed Martin to design and build GPS III/GPS IIIF to help modernize today’s GPS satellite constellation. Photo: Lockheed Martin
There is a lot of UAV action taking place this month. An anti-drone defensive system is being trialed by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS). DJI drones get the green light again for use by government agencies. The U.S. Navy/Boeing refuel an F/A-18 aircraft using a drone, and the Mars helicopter drone has a non-fatal in-flight problem.
DJI drones cleared for government use
There’s good news for operators who might have been scared away from using drones manufactured by Chinese company DJI. Two “government” models have now been cleared by the Pentagon for use by agencies who had previously been instructed to cease and desist operating them. The Matrice 600 Pro and the Mavic Pro government models were cleared, because “no malicious code or intent” was found. These types of drone are now “recommended for use by government entities and forces working with U.S. services.”
DJI Matrice 600 Pro (Photo: DJI)
The drones have been modified from standard models to provide a customized control application, prevent automatic software updates being applied without user approval, and implement an operational control-zone capability.
The U.S. Interior Department was behind the modifications, with the objective of resuming use of its grounded fleet of more than 500 DJI drones. They may need them again soon for forest-fire monitoring — it’s the season again. Allegations of potential “sharing of data” with the Chinese government were previously investigated and apparently debunked by Booz Allen Hamilton, in a report released in June 2020. Now the Pentagon seems to affirm these earlier findings.
Nevertheless, DJI remains on the Commerce Department’s don’t-buy list, and the Justice Department has banned agencies from buying foreign drones that could be vulnerable to tampering with data, or otherwise might be a threat to the U.S.
DHS trials anti-drone system
In recent “bad-drone” incidents, people have tried to smuggle contraband into prisons, flown into landing flight paths at airports, and even successfully inflicted significant damage on oil storage facilities in Saudi Arabia — never mind a failed assassination attempt in Venezuela. And with illegal immigration and drug smuggling becoming crisis issues, DHS has decided that its probably time to build a level of protection at U.S. borders. A trial is now scheduled at the quieter and more orderly Canadian border so that DHS can fully focus on evaluating the Fortem SkyDome system.
TrueView radar detects and calculates the location and trajectory of hundreds of airborne objects quickly and accurately. (Photo: Fortem Technologies)
Bad actors attacking a facility using a drone, sometimes with explosives strapped to it, have set their target as a waypoint and switched off the radio control link. The drone then carries on to its target, without fear of radio “sniffer” detection systems picking it up and jamming the control link.
Fortem built a drone defense system that uses radar for “RF silent drone” detection. Not only does the Fortem SkyDome system detect unwanted intruder drones, but it also can send out a DroneHunter UAV which hones in on and fires a net to capture, immobilize and bring back the offending drone so the defenders can investigate the attack.
Boeing UAV refuels F-18 fighter aircraft
Boeing is engaged in development of an unmanned tanker vehicle for the U.S. Navy. The company has built and flown the first test drone, known as Stingray MQ-25 T1. Boeing has another seven unmanned refueling tankers on order. T1 is the first test article for the program. Following a number of successful initial handling, control and envelope extension test flights — including several with the Navy refueling pod installed under the T1 left wing — fuel was loaded, and on June 4, a Navy F/A-18 Super Hornet fighter aircraft accompanied the T1 into the air on another test flight.
T1 Stingray refuels a Navy F/A-18. (Photo: U.S. Navy/Boeing)
The F/A-18 flew close to and maneuvered around the drone for some time, and when the pilot and test managers concluded that both were in joint, controlled, stable flight, the MQ-25 was commanded to extend the refueling pod hose and drogue. The F/A-18 normally refuels in the air from another F/A-18 configured with the same refueling pod and refueling boom, so the actual transfer of fuel which then took place was somewhat commonplace for the F-18 pilot, save that the slipstream buffet was probably less significant. Nevertheless, this was the very first time that a Navy aircraft has been refueled by an unmanned aircraft.
After further MQ-25 T1 test flights, the tanker-drone will be transported to Norfolk, Virginia, for deck handling trials aboard a U.S. Navy carrier later in the year. The MQ-25 Stingray is planned to take over this airborne refueling work which is currently handled by other F/A-18s, freeing up the fighter aircraft for operational fighter missions.
Mars drone flight experiences navigation anomaly
On May 25, the Mars drone Integrity had been commanded to take its sixth longer, higher flight. Like a good little tech package on the end of a 220-million-mile distant signal, Integrity did as it was told. However, after around 490 feet in the Mars atmosphere, Integrity started to change speed and dramatically oscillate back and forth. Even so, the UAV managed to complete the transit to within about 16 feet of the new intended parking spot.
NASA analyzed the data sent back from the drone through the Perseverance rover. NASA discovered that the flow of images from the navigation camera had been disrupted by a missing image, and the time-stamps for the images had become incorrect.
Integrity sits safely on Mars following an in-flight anomaly. (Photo: NASA)
Integrity’s navigation system is fed by an inertial measurement unit with images from the nav camera, so the time-stamp discrepancies between what the camera was saying and what the IMU was saying gave it an unforeseen issue to resolve. The resultant bucking in flight was an effort to resolve the data time differences. Images are not used in the landing phase, so the oscillations ceased as the rover descended, and the landing was as graceful as usual.
Fortunately, it appears that Integrity has not been damaged, and NASA is working to send the little drone on further scouting missions for its companion rover. NASA’s website indicates that the drone should have flown again on June 6, but right now there doesn’t seem to be any further evidence that a flight did or did not take place.
Summary
The testing that the Pentagon has done on a couple of models of DJI drones appears to have cleared them of possible malfeasance, but otherwise the report is classified. I wonder what secret science DOD used to detect/eliminate possible illicit communications with China by the drones? And it’s high time everyone realized that these “drone -thingies” can also be used to hurt us — as new technology in the hands of people who do not wish us well almost always can.
This month I discovered that Navy F/A-18s could fly further by hanging refueling pods on other F/A-18s, thereby taking the tanking aircraft out of the regular training and combat rotation. I’m glad we’ve got a drone alternative coming that must cost a lot less and also will free up fighting assets.
Finally, it doesn’t seem that we have to worry the Mars helicopter is too broken to keep seeking the best route for the rover. There were enough margins in the navigation algorithms that the little guy didn’t wreck when the image processing hiccupped. Let’s get flying again, NASA!
