The entity responsible for providing public transportation service within Hillsborough County, Florida—the Hillsborough Area Regional Transit Authority (HART)—has selected engineering services company Stantec to provide autonomous mobility services for the Marion Street Transitway, which will result in the “first continuously operated shared autonomous project in the United States that will function in an open environment on public roads with mixed traffic.”
The goal of the project is to document the safety benefits of this kind of service, while seeking to bring Automated Vehicles (AVs) forward within a Connected Vehicle (CV) environment.
Business Solutions
Business Solutions
Velodyne LiDAR Inc. to integrate its LiDAR sensors into BoE Systems' UAV fleet
Through a new partnership with Kansas City, Missouri-based BoE Systems, Velodyne LiDAR Inc. will integrate its VLP-16 Puck and Puck LITE 3D LiDAR sensors into BoE Systems’ UAV fleet for geospatial data collection and analysis.
The companies say that through this integration, BoE Systems can provide full 360-degree imaging of geography and equipment for industries that need quick, safe, and accurate aerial inspections, such as transportation, construction and agriculture, to name a few.
After collecting imaging data, BoE Systems processes that data, and works with customers for “tailored analysis and inspection reports,” which allows them to address immediate and future needs and compliance issues.
Kraken Robotic Systems partners with Avitas Systems to advance robotic subsea inspection technologies
During General Electric’s (GE) Mind + Machines event in San Francisco, California, it was announced that Kraken Robotics Inc.’s wholly-owned subsidiary, Kraken Robotic Systems Inc., entered a strategic partnership with Avitas Systems, which is a GE Venture that advances the inspection services industry across various sectors through predictive data analytics, robotics, and artificial intelligence (AI).
Through the partnership, the two companies will integrate AUVs, acoustic and laser sensor technology and AI-based navigation software into unique subsea inspection systems for several industries, including oil and gas, offshore renewable energy, and shipping.
L3 Technologies receives contract in support of U.S. Army Apache MUMT-X Program
Thanks to receiving a “production contract for multiple awards totaling $97 million,” L3 Technologies will support the U.S. Army’s Apache Manned/Unmanned Teaming – eXpanded Capabilities (MUMT-X) helicopter program.
L3 Technologies is a provider of a wide range of communication, electronic and sensor systems used on military, homeland security and commercial platforms.
MUMT-X facilitates communications and data teaming between manned and unmanned aircraft, which gives the Apache AH-64E helicopter a “transformational warfighting capability” that is notably more robust, lighter and less expensive than the original UAS control system.
Lockheed Martin to design U.S. Navy's XLUUV Orca
Under a design phase contract valued at $43.2 million, Lockheed Martin will design the U.S. Navy’s Extra Large Unmanned Undersea Vehicle (XLUUV) known as Orca, in an effort to “support the growth of the U.S. Navy’s family of unmanned undersea systems.”
Including the currently awarded design phase, XLUUV Orca is a two-phase competition, as it also includes a “competitive production phase for up to nine vehicles,” to meet the growing need for undersea operational awareness and payload delivery.
SunPower becomes first company to receive LAANC authorization through Skyward
Solar energy company SunPower Corp. has become the first company to receive approval from the FAA for “automatic access to operate a drone in regulated airspace over controlled airports.”
The new access category is called Low Altitude Authorization Capability (LAANC), and it was released a few weeks ago in a beta test at four airports, including San Jose (SJC), Cincinnati International Airport (CVG), Reno (RNO), and Lincoln (LNK).
SunPower received LAANC authorization through FAA-approved vendor Skyward.
“Digital, automated, free access to controlled airspace, in the form of LAANC, is one of the greatest moment(s) we've experienced in the U.S. commercial drone industry so far,” says Skyward Co-President Jonathan Evans.
Robonic Ltd Oy to deliver KONTIO launcher to Swedish Defence Materiel Administration
Tampere, Finland-based Robonic Ltd Oy has signed a contract that will result in the company delivering a third-generation KONTIO pneumatic launcher to the Swedish Defence Materiel Administration (FMV), which is expected to happen before the end of 2017.
The “high pressure pneumatic launcher” is designed to launch tactical UAS and target drones, and it is capable of catapulting different types of aerial target UAS. It is designed to launch air vehicles of up to “140 kg with a 70 m/s exit velocity or alternatively 500 kg at 37 m/s.”
Thanks to its large mass and speed envelope, the highly transportable universal launcher is “highly suitable” for various types of “targets or tactical unmanned aerial vehicle,” Robonic says.
Black & Veatch and Aeryon Labs utilize UAS to enhance utility asset data
Black & Veatch and Aeryon Labs have collaborated to launch an end-to-end asset management inspection system that uses UAS technology for global energy clients.
Using Aeryon’s commercial UAS hardware, software and services, crucial infrastructure condition data can be captured, and that data is integrated by Black & Veatch into the existing enterprise asset management (EAM) systems of a utility.
This streamlined system by Black & Veatch and Aeryon Labs expedites inspection times, lowers inspection costs, and speeds up the integration of data into EAM systems.
HAZON Solutions and PrecisionHawk to integrate technologies through new partnership
Through a new partnership announced on Oct. 25, HAZON Solutions and PrecisionHawk will look to provide better UAS safety for commercial UAS operations, by integrating their respective technologies.
Beginning in early November, PrecisionHawk’s Low Altitude Traffic and Airspace Safety (LATAS) platform will be accessible within the HAZON Drone Management System (DMS), which is HAZON’s UAS fleet management software.
