News
Weekend Roundup
Tweet
This Week in the Unmanned Systems and Robotics World
During last weekend’s Verizon Slam Dunk Contest that took place during NBA All Star Weekend in New Orleans, NBA star Aaron Gordon of the Orlando Magic used a UAS during the competition to deliver a pass that he converted into a dunk. The UAS, which came from Intel, has a flight time of up to 26 minutes, and weighs less than 11 pounds with an ability to carry a payload up of to 4.4 pounds. Gordon is no stranger to technology, or to Intel, as his mother, Shelly Davis Gordon, is an Intel employee that has 35 years of experience working in the semiconductor industry. (Intel)
Researchers at Utah State University have unveiled their new ‘BluJay’ UAS, which is designed to conduct research missions involving water resources engineering and agriculture. The UAS, which is 100% student designed, has a flight time of more than three hours, is capable of flying a distance of more than 200 miles, and can capture imagery over a 20-square-mile area. The UAS can also carry four different cameras. (sUAS News)
In an effort to manage its urban spaces and natural resources, Danang, a city located in Vietnam, has announced that it will use UAS to keep an eye out for illegal construction work being done around the city. After the city purchases its two UAS, one of them will be used to monitor land clearance for the relocation project of a train station in the Lien Chieu District, while the other UAS will be used to survey mining operations in the Cam Le district. (VN Express International)
An engineering consultant firm in Montoursville, Pennsylvania named McTish, Kunkel & Associates (MKA) has begun using a UAS to perform a variety of missions related to surveying and mapping for its clients, which come from oil and gas companies, municipalities and private enterprises. The rotorcraft UAS that MKA is using is capable of flying up to 400 feet, and taking as many as 64 photos in as little as four minutes. (Sun-Gazette)
Stemme AG of Germany and S-Plane Automation of South Africa have agreed to partner to integrate the S-Plane subsystems into Stemme AG’s Ecarys ES15 aircraft, to create an Optionally Piloted Vehicle (OPV), giving the aircraft autonomous flying functionalities in certain instances. The Ecarys ES15, which has a 770-pound payload capacity and a range of 2,500 kilometers, is designed for a variety of missions, including those involving scientific research, reconnaissance and aerial surveillance. Some of the unmanned missions that the unmanned version of the aircraft could be used for include border and maritime patrol, firefighting and hazardous materials containment. (defence Web)
UAS were used to locate seven missing skiers and snowboarders in Canada. The UAS were equipped with heat-detecting cameras, which helped search crews pinpoint the missing peoples exact location. According to Cassidy Simpson of Kamloops Search and Rescue, the UAS cut down on the amount of time that the missing people were stuck in the elements, which probably played a major role in all of them walking away in good condition. (CTV News Vancouver)
Uber’s self-driving cars are now operating in Tempe, Arizona. Passengers can order an UberX in Tempe, and if there is a driverless vehicle available in that area, then the vehicle will accept the request, but riders can cancel their request if they want a human driver instead of the autonomous vehicle. While the autonomous Volvo XC90 SUVs operate on their own, the vehicles do include two Uber engineers to monitor the drives and take over the technology in the case of an emergency. (Engadget)
