This Week in the Unmanned Systems and Robotics World

The Clear Lake Fire Department in Clear Lake, Iowa is welcoming a DJI Inspire 1 UAS to its repertoire. The system, which was paid for with help from donations, includes two controllers, two iPads, extra batteries and an FLIR thermal camera. The department recently tested the UAS during a training session at the city’s burn facility, and they plan on using it when there are large fires, or to locate missing people. (Clear Lake Mirror Report)

The Fallon Police Department in Fallon, Nevada recently used a UAS to complete a successful search and rescue exercise involving a suicidal man walking along a railroad track. The scenario was created by the city, in coordination with Hot Rail Security and drone experts from Flight Text Concierge LLC and Vertical Vantage Inc. The UAS was operated by Lacey Szekely, an Army veteran who flew helicopters in Afghanistan. (Nevada Appeal)

Two France-based companies called Geodis and Delta Drone are planning to launch a UAS prototype next year for automated warehouse inventory. So far, tests of the prototype have been completed at two locations in France, at the Saint-Ouen-l’Aumône (near Paris) and the Plaisance-du-Touch (near Toulouse). The initial prototype is a quadcopter UAS with high-resolution cameras and a ground-based robot that includes a battery that produces the energy needed to run the UAS. (Commercial UAV News)

The Philippines has become the latest country to use UAS to assess damage after a natural disaster, using systems provided by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization. The team operating the UAS are led by Zaida Manglicmot, Voltaire Ignacio and Jaime Reyes. Their most recent mission saw them using UAS to gauge damage caused by two Typhoons in October. (Latin America Herald Tribune)

An online food order and delivery company called Just Eat has begun using Starship Technologies’ autonomous delivery bots to complete the delivery of online orders. While the service is currently available only in Greenwich, London, other parts of London are expected to receive the service starting next year. (Engadget)

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