Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University recently flew its UAS along the shorelines and above the water at Menard-May Park in Edgewater, Florida to capture high-resolution images and video of this area of Mosquito Lagoon, which is part of the Indian River Lagoon system.
Organized and flown by faculty, staff and students from Embry-Riddle’s Unmanned Aircraft Systems Science program, this aerial reconnaissance survey supports the Riverside Conservancy, which is a non-profit group dedicated to “restoring and preserving living shorelines in southeast Volusia County.”
Air
Air
Airbus' Zephyr S HAPS UAS flies more than 25 days
Airbus Defence and Space has announced that its solar powered Zephyr S High Altitude Pseudo-Satellite (HAPS) UAS has landed after flying more than 25 days during its maiden flight.
The maiden flight, which began on July 11 and is the longest duration flight ever made according to Airbus, proved the system capabilities and achieved all the flight’s engineering objectives. Airbus says that an application has been made to establish this as a new world record.
Caltech engineers use UAS to herd birds away from airspace at airports
Engineers at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) have developed a new control algorithm that allows a single UAS to herd an entire flock of birds away from the airspace of an airport.
The project was inspired by the 2009 "Miracle on the Hudson," when US Airways Flight 1549 struck a flock of geese shortly after takeoff and forced pilots to land the plane in the Hudson River off Manhattan.
“The passengers on Flight 1549 were only saved because the pilots were so skilled,” says Soon-Jo Chung, an associate professor of aerospace, and the principal investigator on the drone herding project.
Pierce Aerospace receives USAF SBIR award for its remote identification system for UAS
Pierce Aerospace has received a U.S. Air Force Small Business Innovation Research Grant award for its work on Flight Portal ID, a remote identification system for UAS.
According to Pierce Aerospace, Flight Portal ID has received international attention for its “sensible approach” to solving the industry challenges of identifying UAS, including its recognition by the International Civil Aviation Organization last fall.
Oceans Unmanned expands its freeFLY UAS program to Dutch Harbor, Alaska
In partnership with Alaska Sea Grant and Aleutian Aerial LLC, and with additional support from DJI, Oceans Unmanned Inc. has announced the expansion of its freeFLY initiative into Dutch Harbor, Alaska, to provide UAS aerial support for marine mammal entanglement response efforts in the region.
The freeFLY program, which was launched earlier this year in Hawaii, provides training, equipment, and management oversight to networks of local volunteer UAS operators that are available to support response groups.
Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality finds no shortage of uses for its UAS
The Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (LDEQ) is utilizing its UAS for a variety of tasks.
Recently, one of the department’s UAS was used to fly over a section of the Mississippi River to document an oil spill that occurred near the French Quarter, while in another instance, a UAS allowed responders to view a flooded field in St. Landry Parish.
When the department deploys its UAS, the UAS records the event in both still images and video, which can then be used for environmental protection and emergency response tasks.
NIAS launches Nevada Drone Center of Excellence for Public Safety
The Nevada Institute for Autonomous Systems (NIAS) has launched the Nevada Drone Center of Excellence for Public Safety (NDCOE) to help save lives and reduce air hazards from UAS incursions.
Located in Las Vegas, Nevada, NDCOE will seek to do this by “empowering a shared safety vision with the FAA’s integration of drones into the commercial air traffic system.”
Great Lakes Drone Company's UAS light up 2018 EAA AirVenture Oshkosh
On the night of Thursday, July 26, during 2018 EAA AirVenture Oshkosh, a UAS light show lit up the sky in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.
As Lee Greenwood's “God Bless the U.S.A.” played over loudspeakers, the UAS formed a double heart and eagle before flying around to spell out EAA and finish with an American flag.
The light show was performed by Great Lakes Drone Company, which is one of just three companies in the U.S. approved by the FAA to perform lighted drone shows.
The company has four stock shows ranging from 25 to 100 UAS, as well as shows it customizes for customers.
Coconino County Sheriff's Office Search and Rescue Unit hoping to expand its UAS capabilities
In Flagstaff, Arizona, the Coconino County Sheriff’s Office Search and Rescue Unit's UAS program is approximately two years old.
The agency started its program after purchasing consumer UAS such as the DJI Phantom 4, and currently, there are four people trained to fly UAS, with each having earned a standard FAA Part 107 Drone Pilot License.
Right now, the UAS are mainly used to search for missing people, as they can be deployed to efficiently search open meadows and stretches of desert, which not only saves boots on the ground, but also allows search and rescue supervisors to better use volunteers searching places that are not ideal for UAS, such as under tree canopies.
Intel celebrates 50th anniversary with record-setting drone light show
On July 18, Intel flew 2,018 Intel Shooting Star drones over its Folsom, California facility in celebration of its 50th anniversary.
The company’s latest drone light show set a new Guinness World Records title for the most unmanned aerial vehicles airborne simultaneously.
“Several years ago, we had an idea of flying drones forming the Intel logo over our corporate headquarters, and here we are doing just that,” says Anil Nanduri, vice president and general manager, Intel Drone Group.
“It really speaks to the innovative spirit that Intel was founded on 50 years ago.”
