Join us as we continue with "New Tech Month" on Dawn of Autonomy, sponsored by AIBOT, featuring Dawn and Pietro Lapiana Founder & President of Eurolink Systems. Pietro, President and Founder of Eurolink Systems Group, brings over three decades of expertise in embedded processing solutions for real-time, high-reliability applications and unmanned/robotics platforms. With a background in Analog Devices and Ermes Technologies, Pietro's visionary approach has shaped the company's success, notably contributing to major defense and aerospace programs.
Tethered
Tethered
Weekend Roundup: November 6, 2020
This Week in the Unmanned Systems and Robotics World
Drones are being used to survey seven UC natural reserves that were damaged during August wildfires. The drones are revealing the extent of the damage, and providing scientists with data that can help them understand the long-term and short-term damage caused by the fires. (Phys.org)
Elistair's new Orion 2 UAS provides round-the-clock surveillance for up to 24 hours at a time
Tethered drone solutions provider Elistair has announced the development of its new Orion 2 tethered UAS for military, government, and industry users.
Described as a “true persistent surveillance platform,” the Orion 2 hexacopter delivers round-the-clock surveillance for up to 24 hours at a time.
“Small, unmanned multi-rotor systems are great if you want a hover-and-stare capability, but they’re also notoriously short on battery life,” says Timothée Penet, CTO and co-founder of Elistair.
AutoX receives permit to test driverless vehicles in San Jose, California
On Friday, July 17, the California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) issued self-driving car tech company AutoX a permit that authorizes the company to test driverless vehicles on surface streets within a designated part of San Jose, California, pursuant to state law and regulation.
FLIR Systems acquires intellectual property and assets of Aria Insights
The intellectual property (IP) and certain operating assets of Aria Insights Inc., previously known as CyPhy Works Inc., have been acquired by FLIR Systems.
Founded in 2008, Aria was a developer of tethered small UAS before it ceased operations in March. One of its most well-known developments was the Persistent Aerial Reconnaissance and Communications (PARC) tethered drone.
FLIR says that Aria’s assets will be integrated into its Unmanned Systems and Integrated Solutions Division, supporting the company’s technology portfolio, which has been built from its acquisitions of Prox Dynamics in 2016 and Aeryon Labs and Endeavor Robotics earlier this year.
Flight testing unmanned systems is more complicated than you may think
By Hannah Lemon, Marketing Publisher for the University of Kansas Edwards Campus
June’s flight of NASA’s Ikhana, a modified MQ-9 Predator B unmanned aircraft, into commercial airspace without a safety chase airplane marked a milestone for sense and avoid development and underscored the challenges of testing unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), according to George Cusimano.
DoD customer places order for Drone Aviation's Winch Aerostat Small Platform
Through a contract valued in excess of $800,000, an existing U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) customer has placed an order for Drone Aviation Holding Corp.’s Winch Aerostat Small Platform (WASP), which was recently upgraded, and is capable of performing multiple missions.
A manufacturer of tethered UAS and lighter-than-air aerostats, Drone Aviation expects to deliver the WASP, which can provide “day/night video and wireless communication range extension from either a fixed, stationary position or while being towed,” to the customer during the fourth quarter of 2017.
Dronicar's ad-bearing airship demonstrates water landing
Virginia-based Dronicar, which debuted its unmanned airship at AUVSI XPONENTIAL 2017 in Dallas, announced that its advertisement airship drone was tested on water on July 4.
The 20-foot long airship drone demonstrated animated graphics and movies on its blimp body while landing on a lake.
The airship can fly for two hours with 1,200 lux displays on its side. Using banners instead of electric displays boosts that to five hours, or the helium-filled airship can be tethered and stay in the air for up to a week. Electric power can be supplied via the tethered line. The company says that specially designed and patented equipment can increase the airship’s wind resistance, ensuring that it always stays in the intended flight area.
RPM Aerial Services uses UAS to place GPS tracker on iceberg
In an effort to find a way to safely place a tracker on an iceberg without getting too close to what can often be “unpredictable masses of floating ice,” Holyrood, Newfoundland and Labrador-based RPM Aerial Services, along with a GPS manufacturer in Nova Scotia, recently used a UAS to place a GPS tracker on an iceberg.
The iceberg was about two kilometers outside Petty Harbour, which is another town in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada.
According to Brian Lundrigan, who started RPM Aerial Services, which is a remotely piloted aerial service company, this pilot project was far from easy.
“It was fairly challenging,” Lundrigan says via CBC News.
Weekend Roundup
This Week in the Unmanned Systems and Robotics World
LORD Corporation, which develops wireless and embedded sensing systems, has introduced its LXRS+ wireless networking protocol, which features a bandwidth of 16,000 samples per second per channel, and an aggregate system bandwidth of 256,000 samples per second over 16 channels. According to LORD, “the wireless sensor nodes that operate using LXRS+ protocol are designed to operate at incredibly low-power,” which allows battery powered networks to operate for long periods of time, and “makes the use of energy harvesting systems a viable option for permanent installations.”
