Persistent Systems has entered into a five-year partnership with MartinUAV that will result in MartinUAV incorporating Persistent’s Wave Relay Mobile Ad Hoc Network (MANET) technology into its small vertical takeoff-and-land (VTOL) UAS known as V-BAT.
“Persistent is proud to have been selected out of the many commercially available datalink solutions,” says Louis Sutherland, VP Business Development for Persistent Systems.
“This agreement cements Persistent’s line of Wave Relay MANET products as the exclusive communications solution for MartinUAV’s unmanned products.”
Business Solutions
Business Solutions
UNICEF announces funding opportunity for drone startups
The UNICEF Innovation Fund is seeking make $100,000 equity-free investments in technology startups that plan to use drones to benefit humanity.
“If you’ve got a start-up registered in one ofUNICEF’s program countries and have a working, open-source drone prototype or service (or you are willing to make it open-source) showing promising results, the UNICEF Innovation Fund is looking for you,” the fund says on its website.
The deadline to apply is 11:59 p.m. EDT on Sunday, July 22. UNICEF is seeking software to collect and share data, manage flight and delivery operations, unmanned traffic management systems and business models for sustainable drone services, among other needs.
CAAS, EASA and Airbus to develop safety standards and regulatory requirements for UAS in urban environments
The Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS), the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and Airbus have announced that they will work together on the development of safety standards and regulatory requirements for UAS in urban environments.
“This tripartite partnership is timely as we seek to better define the operating conditions for the growing number of beneficial uses of UAS in urban environments such as Singapore, with aviation and public safety in mind,” says Kevin Shum, Director-General at CAAS.
“We look forward to working closely with our partners and sharing our experience gained thus far in developing regulatory requirements for UAS operations in Singapore.”
Suning Logistics and Baidu Apollo partnering on self-driving technology
In an effort to “accelerate the commercial application of self-driving technology,” Suning Logistics, which is a subsidiary of Suning Holdings group, has signed a strategic partnership with Baidu Apollo.
The partnership between the entities was announced at the “Baidu Create 2018” event in Beijing, China.
“By combining the rich smart community scenarios built by Suning, and the advanced unmanned self-driving technology developed by Baidu in its Apollo program, we are now significantly closer to realizing the commercialization of fully autonomous, self-driving technology,” says Lu Junfeng, Vice President of Suning Logistics.
Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore and DFS Aviation Services to collaborate on air traffic management-related activities
The Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) and DFS Aviation Services have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to work together on a variety of air traffic management (ATM)-related activities.
DFS Aviation Services, which is the commercial subsidiary of the German air navigation service provider DFS Deutsche Flugsicherung, and CAAS will collaborate to further optimize safety management systems and benchmark performance indicators. The entities will also develop “future air traffic management concepts, solutions and technologies.”
The Automated Vehicles Symposium moves to Orlando in 2019
The Automated Vehicles Symposium takes the show on the road in 2019 and heads to Orlando, Florida. The event takes place July 15-18, 2019 at the Orlando World Center Marriott.
From Unmanned Systems magazine: Software, mobile sensors, AI team to enable better inspections
Imagine if a manager arrived at their desk on Monday morning and the computer dashboard flashed a message — a key component in the company’s production system has an 85 percent chance of breaking within the next three months.
Now, let’s say the manager clicked on the part onscreen and was able to view pictures of the component from multiple angles, data about throughput slowing, and information that indicates a problem. They would have everything needed to discuss ordering a replacement part and deciding the best time to schedule a repair. In the meantime, they could check to see if other maintenance tasks or repairs could be scheduled simultaneously to reduce downtime.
Vanilla Aircraft is now Vanilla Unmanned, a joint venture
Platform Aerospace, which provides rapid aircraft and drone prototyping, modification, and systems integration, has established a joint venture with an unnamed partner to acquire substantially all the assets of Vanilla Aircraft, which designed and built the VA001 ultra-endurance UAS.
The joint venture, named Vanilla Unmanned, will leverage Platform Aerospace’s prototyping and integration experience and the partner’s experience with aerospace and defense electronics to further develop the record-setting VA001, “creating a disruptive persistent aerial solution for both military and commercial applications,” the new company says.
SenseFly moves its North American operations to Raleigh, North Carolina
SenseFly has announced that it is moving its North American operations to Raleigh, North Carolina.
SenseFly says that its new office will “accommodate its rapid growth.” Additionally, the new office will host senseFly's North American shipping & logistics operation, its customer service & satisfaction function, and its sales and marketing teams.
“Our move to Raleigh reflects our dedication to meeting our customers’ needs through innovation,” says senseFly CEO Gilles Labossière.
Autonomous shuttle to undergo testing this summer in Lincoln, Nebraska
A loaned Navya autonomous electric shuttle recently arrived in Lincoln, Nebraska, and is expected to be in the city until at least mid-July as part of the city's study on using an autonomous shuttle system downtown to help with traffic and parking issues.
Lincoln is able to test the autonomous shuttle after being awarded a $100,000 grant from Bloomberg Philanthropies. Earlier this year, Lincoln was named one of 35 Champion Cities selected by Bloomberg as finalists in the 2018 Mayors Challenge, which is a nationwide competition that encourages City leaders to develop “bold, inventive ideas to confront City challenges.”
