Transport Canada (TC) has added Microdrones’ md4-1000 UAV to its exclusive list of Compliant Unmanned Air Systems, making Microdrones one of just eight companies in the world to earn such a distinction.
In order to earn compliance, Microdrones had to submit an assortment of application materials, including flight, maintenance, and systems design manuals.
“This compliance means that our platform meets a certain level of safety and will provide users with the opportunity to become a TC-compliant organization, gaining access to all the related advantages," says Sebastien Long, Microdrones' Sales Manager for Canada.
Business Solutions
Business Solutions
Oscar Mayer adds WienerDrone to its WienerFleet
American meat and cold cut production company Oscar Mayer has announced that it is expanding its WienerFleet to include a brand new WienerDrone, which will be the first hot dog-carrying UAS designed to make deliveries in remote locations.
The announcement of the new WienerDrone, as well as a new WienerCycle, comes after Oscar Mayer recently announced a major recipe overhaul across its entire portfolio, in which the company has removed all “added nitrates and nitrites1, by-products and artificial preservatives from the meat in its entire line of hot dogs.”
Unmanned delivery robots headed to the sidewalks of Florida
Unmanned delivery robots can now legally travel on sidewalks and in crosswalks in Florida, after Governor Rick Scott signed a new law that permits their operation in the state, as long as a human can take over operation of the robots remotely in the event that something goes wrong.
Florida joins Virginia, Idaho and Wisconsin, who all finalized similar legislation in their respective states earlier this year.
These state laws were passed with the support of Starship Technologies, a company that creates these types of robots, and has been testing them in in Redwood City, California and Washington, D.C. this year. Lobbyists for Starship worked on all of the state proposals.
Canada’s UAS Centre of Excellence granted permission to begin operations at its UAS test range
Canada’s UAS Centre of Excellence can now begin operations at its test range in Alma, Quebec, after receiving approval from Transport Canada.
Besides facilitating research and development, the test range will provide the UAS industry with “dedicated, restricted airspace,” where beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) flights can be carried out.
“Transport Canada is proud of the progress we are making to support innovation and research in Canada’s drone sector,” says Marc Garneau, Minister of Transport.
FirstGroup to work on shared autonomous vehicle research at automated vehicle proving ground in California
A transport operator called FirstGroup will conduct research on shared autonomous vehicles at the Concord, California-based GoMentum Station, after signing an agreement with the federally designated automated vehicle proving ground.
Through the partnership, First Transit, which is a United States division of the United Kingdom-headquartered FirstGroup, will use the 2,000-hectare test facility as a test site for “innovative transport applications.”
One of the applications that First Transit will use the test facility for is a pilot project that began back in 2016, which seeks to deploy the “first commercially operated shared autonomous vehicle on public roads in the United States.”
New York’s Orange County set to begin using UAS
Orange County, New York’s Emergency Services Department will begin using UAS for a variety of tasks around the county.
The UAS program will be overseen by Deputy Commissioner of Emergency Services Alan Mack.
Mack, who is a licensed UAS operator and recent retiree from the U.S. Army, is looking forward to getting this new technology into the sky.
“The drones will be a valuable tool in many emergency situations and we are eager to put this program into practice,” Mack says via the Hudson Valley News Network.
RE2 Robotics chosen to develop technology that will convert manned aircraft to robotically piloted, autonomous aircraft
The United States Air Force has selected Pittsburg-based RE2 Robotics to develop the Common Aircraft Retrofit for Novel Autonomous Control (CARNAC) robotic system, which will serve as “a drop-in robotic system to rapidly convert a variety of traditionally manned aircraft to robotically piloted, autonomous aircraft under the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program.”
The CARNAC robotic system, which will utilize existing aviation assets and advances in vehicle automation technologies during its development, will be used to operate the aircraft in a similar fashion to how a human pilot does, and there will not be any modifications required to the aircraft.
Kansas State University Polytechnic Campus receives approval to fly UAS at night
The FAA has granted Kansas State Polytechnic's Applied Aviation Research Center permission to fly UAS at night.
The campus's research sector will benefit from this waiver, and the waiver will also be used in commercial flight training courses, as well as in upcoming curriculum in the UAS degree option.
Intel partners with International Olympic Committee to bring its Drone Light Show to future Olympics
Intel has announced a long-term technology partnership with the International Olympic Committee (IOC), which will, among many things, bring Intel’s drone light show technology to future Olympic games, in an effort to create “never-seen-before images in the sky.”
Through the partnership, which is expected to “transform the Olympic Games and the Olympic experience," Intel will join “The Olympic Partner” (TOP) worldwide sponsorship program, and thus, become a Worldwide TOP Partner through 2024.
