On July 26, Virginia Governor Ralph Northam announced that Aurora Flight Sciences will invest more than $13.75 million to expand its operation in the City of Manassas, Virginia, where it is headquartered.
Aurora, which was acquired by The Boeing Company last year, plans on building a robotics and integration facility that includes a manufacturing unit, a research and development lab, a hangar, and office space. The project is expected to create 135 new jobs.
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Business Solutions
Skysense partners with Avansig to autonomously power indoor surveillance drone
Skysense has partnered with Avansig, a Spanish information and communication technology developer, to autonomously power the first indoor surveillance UAS for a multinational security company called Prosegur.
According to Skysense, its charging infrastructure, which the company describes as “lightweight, fast-charging, and easy-to-use,” eliminates the need for battery removal or manual charging every time a UAS battery runs out.
Prosegur’s surveillance UAS is capable of carrying out its own patrol route, and can land itself on Skysense’s charging pad to recharge. The UAS records and streams real-time video during surveillance patrols.
When potential security threats or breaches are discovered, the UAS sends alerts to the security central station.
Waymo expanding its self-driving car presence in Metro Phoenix through new partnerships
Through its early rider program, Waymo has learned from its early riders that most of their rides are to run errands, shop for groceries, commute to work, head to dinner or fix their personal vehicles.
With this in mind, Waymo has launched several initiatives to continue testing its self-driving cars in Metro Phoenix, while meeting the “top rider needs.”
“We’re proud to be a part of Metro Phoenix and are excited to grow and add partnerships that support the cities we operate in, bring unique value to our riders, and give more people access to a safe, self-driving future,” Waymo says in a blog post.
DJI's new customizable drone protection service plan meets needs of commercial UAS operators
DJI has introduced its new customizable drone protection service plan called DJI Enterprise Shield.
Designed to “meet the diverse needs of today’s commercial drone operators,” DJI Enterprise Shield is the first comprehensive coverage plan of its kind that covers the company’s line of enterprise products, providing broad accident coverage, repair and replacement services, free shipping and rapid delivery, and the option to share coverage across a fleet of enterprise products.
Stagecoach and others to produce single deck autonomous bus
Transport operator Stagecoach, bus manufacturer Alexander Dennis Limited (ADL), and technology company Fusion Processing will all work together to produce a single deck autonomous bus.
Work on the ADL Enviro200 vehicle is being conducted at ADL’s site in Guildford, England, and the bus is expected to be ready for use by the end of this year.
Once complete, the vehicle will be completely autonomous, capable of operating without a driver in an off-road environment. Additionally, the technology also delivers road safety benefits when driven in manual mode.
Griffiss International Airport to receive $800,000 in state funding for UAS technology
On Tuesday, July 24, New York State Senator Joseph Griffo announced that Griffiss International Airport is set to receive $800,000 in state funding for UAS technology.
$500,000 of that funding will be used to transform a hangar at the airport into a year-round UAS experimentation environment known as a “Sky Dome,” which will support the development of UAS technologies to operate safely and securely in the National Air Space (NAS).
This funding is in addition to $450,000 that was previously announced, Griffo says.
Ford creates Ford Autonomous Vehicles LLC to accelerate autonomous vehicle business
Ford Motor Company has created Ford Autonomous Vehicles LLC, which is a new organization designed to accelerate Ford’s autonomous vehicle (AV) business, in an effort to capitalize on market opportunities.
Ford is organizing its self-driving business into Ford Autonomous Vehicles LLC, which will include Ford’s self-driving systems integration, autonomous vehicle research and advanced engineering, AV transportation-as-a-service network development, user experience, business strategy and business development teams.
Airbus and International SOS to study use of UAS to deliver medical cargo and supplies
On July 18, Airbus signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with medical and security risk services company International SOS, which will result in the companies jointly studying the viability of using aircraft or UAS to deliver medical cargo and supplies.
Under the agreement, Airbus will help to define and install reliable aircraft or UAS medical cargo deliveries as part of International SOS MedSupply services.
“We hope to develop a viable business partnership where we can assist International SOS with unmanned medical cargo delivery,” says Dirk Hoke, Chief Executive Officer, Airbus Defence and Space.
Boeing and SparkCognition partner to deliver UTM technology
Boeing has announced that it is working with SparkCognition, an artificial intelligence (AI) technology company, to deliver UAS traffic management (UTM) technologies.
The companies will use artificial intelligence and blockchain technologies to track UAS in flight, and allocate traffic corridors and routes to ensure safe, secure transportation. Through the collaboration, the companies will also provide a standardized programming interface to support commercial applications such as package delivery and industrial inspections.
“Estimated by some analysts at $3 trillion, the urban aerial mobility opportunity will lead to the creation of the largest new market in our lifetimes,” says Amir Husain, founder and CEO of SparkCognition.
SeeByte renews SeeTrack and Neptune licenses currently operated by Royal Navy's MASTT AUV fleet
SeeByte has renewed all SeeTrack and Neptune licenses currently operated by the Royal Navy’s Maritime Autonomous Systems Trials Team (MASTT).
Working in collaboration with ATLAS ELEKTRONIK UK, SeeByte, which is part of the Defence Equipment and Support (DE&S) Mine Countermeasures and Hydrographic Capability program, will be offering full support and maintenance for MASTT.
The software is integrated into MASTT’s AUV fleet to coordinate the vehicles during Mine Countermeasure (MCM) missions.
