Altavian, Inc. has been awarded a $250 million Indefinite Delivery, Indefinite Quantity contract with the US Army.
Altavian will support the largest small UAS program in the world, under the Program Executive Office Aviation, Products Office for Tactical Unmanned Aircraft (TUAS).
The US Army Family of Systems, Unmanned Aircraft Systems (FoSUAS) includes the RQ-11 and RQ-20 UAS, as well as supporting control and communications equipment, and other technologies to be fielded over the contract period of performance.
All systems are designed to be carried by a “single dismounted warfighter,” quickly assembled, and deployed to provide “immediate over-the-hill surveillance and reconnaissance.”
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Dynetics selected as top performer for Phase 3 of DARPA's Gremlins program
Dynetics, Inc. has been selected as the top performer for Phase 3 of DARPA’s Gremlins program.
The objective of Gremlins is to “accelerate the ability to perform aerial launch and recovery of volley quantities” of low-cost, reusable UAS. Once demonstrated and matured, this capability enables a “significant expansion of distributed architectures for airborne operations.”
The Phase 3 contract is a 21-month, $38.6 million award, and the entire program will last 43 months, totaling $64 million.
ASV Global and Peel Ports Group partner to develop use of autonomous vessel technology for UK port operations
ASV Global (ASV) and Peel Ports Group have launched a partnership to “develop the use of autonomous vessel technology for UK port operations.”
The partnership, which was cemented in March when the companies signed an official Memorandum of Understanding, began with a visit from ASV’s team to the Port of Liverpool to demonstrate an autonomous vessel called the C-Cat 3, which is ideal for shallow survey operations.
Operating in Brocklebank Dock, the C-Cat 3 conducted seabed survey using a Norbit iWBMS multibeam echosounder. The successful demonstration led Peel Ports Group to look into the possibility of using the technology at its other sites throughout the United Kingdom.
Colorado’s energy, attributes attract unmanned systems industry
When Canada’s Aeryon Labs decided to set up a separate defense-focused company so it could work with the U.S. military on unmanned systems programs, it quickly settled on Colorado — and specifically Denver — as home for the new Aeryon Defense, which just launched on Feb. 1.
Tom Jackson, a retired U.S. Marine Corps officer and AH-1W Super Cobra pilot who is the company’s vice president and general manager, was already in the area, as were other employees who formed the nucleus of the new venture.
Beyond that, however, the state and city offered some unique attributes. Colorado is very centrally located, so it’s easier for the company to support multiple time zones and for company officials to travel to defense facilities around the country.
Lehigh Valley Drone providing UAS for broadcasts of Minor League Baseball team
Service Electric TV2, which is considered the leader in local sports broadcasting in Lehigh Valley, has partnered with a company called Lehigh Valley Drone to add a UAS to its broadcasts of the Lehigh Valley Ironpigs games.
The Lehigh Valley Ironpigs are a Minor League Baseball team, and the Triple-A affiliate of Major League Baseball’s Philadelphia Phillies.
This will be the first time that a UAS is used to provide a live video feed to a professional sports team in Lehigh Valley.
“We are adding a new dimension to an already excellent production,” says John Fries, Co-founder of Lehigh Valley Drone.
“I’m super excited by our test shots and I think the viewers at home will be in for a special treat too.”
Real-Time Innovations' Connext DDS selected as connectivity framework for NextDroid's self-driving vehicles
Real-Time Innovations (RTI) has announced that its RTI Connext DDS has been selected as the connectivity framework for NextDroid's self-driving vehicles.
NextDroid, which is an autonomous vehicle and robotics company, is developing a variety of autonomous systems across both the automotive and maritime space, and the company is utilizing RTI's technology as part of a “modular software architecture” that enables real-time processing of different sensor data across a distributed computing platform.
Fotokite named winner of Genius NY competition
On April 10, New York Governor Andrew M. Cuomo announced that Switzerland’s Fotokite was the winner of the $1 million grand prize from Round II of the Genius NY accelerator.
Fotokite has created a “kite-like tethered drone system” by combining aerial and ground-based robotics with patented flight control algorithms. Using the tether, the system can fly for 24-hours fully autonomously.
“This is tremendous support from the Genius NY program and CenterState CEO and a total game changer for Fotokite,” says Chris McCall, CEO of Fotokite.
Kongsberg Geospatial and Survae announce partnership to help UAS operators manage multiple UAS simultaneously
Ottawa-based Kongsberg Geospatial and Wilmington, North Carolina-based Survae have announced the integration of the Kongsberg Geospatial IRIS UAS Ground Control Station (GCS) with Survae’s digital asset management platform for geolocated video, imagery and data.
With this integration, a single operator will be able to seamlessly manage the real-time display and storage of multiple video streams from the multiple UAS being managed by the IRIS GCS.
In addition, videos will be meta-tagged and stored for “near real-time analysis or for post-mission archival search of missions flown.”
USPTO issues patent for HorseFly Truck Launched Drone Package Delivery System
The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has issued a patent for the HorseFly Truck Launched Drone Package Delivery System, according to American technology company Workhorse Group Inc.
The HorseFly UAS Delivery System, which is a “custom-built, high efficiency” delivery UAS, is fully integrated with the Workhorse line of electric/hybrid delivery trucks, and it meets FAA guidelines for UAS operations in the United States.
Microsoft announced as exclusive data and cloud provider for American Center for Mobility during ACM's grand opening
During the grand opening of the American Center for Mobility (ACM) on April 4, it was announced that Microsoft will be the exclusive data and cloud provider for ACM.
In an effort to advance the testing and development of connected and automated vehicles (CAV), as well as mobility technologies, Microsoft will provide ACM with cloud resources and data infrastructure, according to John Maddox, ACM president and CEO.
“We are excited to collaborate with Microsoft in our efforts to lead the world in the safe development of CAV technologies and to enable the safe deployment of these vehicles onto the nation's roads,” Maddox says.