Toroidal Propellers offer a solution for multirotor noise, layoffs at Prime Air, Valkyrie drones for the US Marines, regulating advanced air mobility in Utah, mapping a radioactive environment with a collision-tolerant drone, and a cargo drone that can carry 100 pounds for 600 miles.

MIT might have a solution for the noise produced by multi-rotor propellers. The Structural and Thermal-Fluids Engineering Group at MIT Lincoln Laboratory is experimenting with toroidal propellers. [PDF] The toroidal propeller consists of two blades looping together so that the tip of one blade curves back into the other.

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It’s been a decade since Amazon’s Jeff Bezos unveiled the company’s drone project on 60 Minutes. Prime Air now has drone delivery operations in two small markets, but corporate cost-cutting is rampant in the tech industry. Amazon plans to cut 18,000 jobs and Prime Air is not immune. The company won’t say how many layoffs affect the program. Sources said employees in the design, maintenance, systems engineering, flight testing, and flight operations units were part of the layoffs.

The Marines have a $15 million contract with Kratos for two XQ-58A Valkyrie drones. These large aircraft weigh about 6,000 pounds and have a 27-foot-wingspan. Likely missions include strike, intelligence gathering, and electronic warfare. Possible other applications are a “mothership” for small drones and the deployment of munitions.

The Utah Legislature has been working on drone regulations and in 2022 a study group was formed to look at updating regulatory laws. A bill is now working through the state legislature that is described as a framework for regulation. Topics being discussed include tracking software for near-ground air traffic, noise concerns, and State supremacy over local jurisdictions

A Flyability Elios 3 drone has successfully completed a 3D LiDAR mapping operation of a storage vault holding radioactive waste. The vault is planned to be removed and the data collected by the drone will aid in planning the project. The operation was conducted last November at the Idaho Nuclear Technology and Engineering Center at the Idaho National Laboratory Site. A team of about 50 people was involved, the top of the vault was covered with a plastic tent (thus creating an “indoor mission), and a crane lifted the vault’s lid and hatch.  Flyability specializes in confined space inspections.

The MightyFly Cento autonomous VTOL drone is a hybrid with electric propulsion and a hydrocarbon combustion engine that charges the battery in flight. The carbon-fiber airframe weighs 355 lb when fully loaded with a payload of up to 100 pounds. For vertical flight, eight props provide lift while a pusher prop on the back is used for cruise flight.

Video: MightyFly, the future of logistics, testimonials

UAV Video of the Week

Drone shows moose shedding antlers in forest

A wildlife enthusiast’s drone captured the moment a moose shed both its antlers in a forest in Canada.