SeaClear aims to clean ocean trash, the Loyal Wingman powers up its engine, a drone crashes into wind-turbine, drone makers see an opportunity in anti-China sentiment, marine animal rescue, photographing the orange landscapes caused by wildfire smoke, and why harassing a police officer with a drone is a bad idea.

UAV NewsAutonomous Drones and Vehicles Collect Rubbish from Ocean Floor

There is a lot of trash in the oceans. One estimate puts it at around 26-66 million tons of waste with 94% of that is on the seafloor. The EU-funded SeaClear project wants to clean up the mess. Under this project An unmanned surface vessel acts as a “mothership.” Tethered to it are drones and remote-operated vehicles (ROVs) that will use AI-based algorithms to map, identify, and classify the rubbish. A combined suction-gripper manipulator will collect it.

Loyal Wingman combat drone powers up engine for the first time

The Boeing Australia Loyal Wingman aircraft that was rolled out in May 2020 had its first engine run. Also known as the Airpower Teaming System (ATS), the first test flight is expected later in 2020.

Drone crashes into wind turbine in ‘extremely rare’ incident

Earlier this year, a DJI Phantom 4 crashed into one of the four wind turbines at a sewage treatment facility. The drone was being used to survey the Bristol sewage treatment works in Avonmouth. The Air Accidents Investigation Branch report [PDF] says: “The pilot was using the NATS Drone Assist app1 as part of the flight planning and risk assessment of the flight; however, the app did not mention the wind turbines, so the pilot looked up “windturbine height” on the internet which returned a height of 328 ft.” Except the wind turbine actually has a height of 413 ft above the ground.

How drones can make inspections smart and automated for utilities

According to Power Engineering International, since the Covid-19 pandemic, power companies are turning to drones for inspections. The article describes the recently unveiled DJI Matrice 300 RTK commercial drone platform – a quadcopter with fold-up arms, up to 55 minutes of flight time, and transmission up to 15 km away.

Drone maker hurt by US China Rift opening door to US rivals

Rightly or wrongly, DJI has taken a hit to their image because of accusations about data transmission to China. Governments responded with bans on Chinese drones but some drone makers are taking advantage of the situation. Last month the Defense Department approved Skydio, Parrot, and three others to supply U.S.-manufactured drones to federal government agencies. DJI announced an internet “kill switch” on more drones that stops data transmission on sensitive flying missions.

Using drones to support marine animal research and conservation

Sometimes marine animals become distressed: tangled in a net, tangled in some of that plastic floating around the oceans, or they may be sick. Drones can be an asset because they can assess the situation so that marine biologists (and others) can bring the equipment they need to help the animal. Marine biologist Genni Brookshire (an FAA-certified drone pilot) and her team partnered with Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University to find the pitch and volume levels that stress marine life the least. They plan to publish their findings in a peer-reviewed journal and to make the information available for free on Ceto Marine Research’s website.

The sky is on fire in San Francisco, and we flew a drone through it

Verge video director Vjeran Pavic took photographs of San Francisco and Sutro Tower just after sunrise using a drone.

Man cited for repeatedly flying drones over private property

An Ontario man received 13 citations for flying a drone in a harassing manner over residential areas. The Class B violations were issued under ORS 837.370 for operating a drone over privately owned premises in a manner that “intentionally, knowingly or recklessly harass or annoy the owner or occupant” of those premises. The man is scheduled for an October 7 court appearance.

UAV Video of the Week

Video drone footage of abandoned dinosaur park in Arkansas

Video: Drone Flight Over Abandoned Dinosaur Theme Park