UAV News Talk – Drone News, eVTOLs, UAS Policy & Air Mobility

An autonomous drone that collects environmental DNA, a robotic wing that measures flapping performance, a Wyoming bill to outlaw drone flights over prisons, flying drugs into the U.S. with drones, and an ex-drone manager sues Amazon.

If you want to find out what creatures live in an area, you can observe them or you can collect the “environmental DNA” they leave. Examples of external DNA include dead skin or feathers, waste, and fluids. These can be found in the soil, in water, or on rocks and tree branches. Collecting environmental DNA can be difficult and expensive. It can be unsafe if you have to climb up into the forest canopy to get the DNA samples

Now a special drone is being developed that can autonomously collect samples on tree branches. Collaborating are ETH Zurich, the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL, and environmental DNA (eDNA) specialist Spygen. (A French biotechnology company created in 2011 and specializing in molecular ecology.) The drone lands on a branch and adhesive strips collect the samples. DNA is extracted in the lab.

Video: Special drone collects environmental DNA from trees

A recent study led by Lund University in Sweden found that birds fly more efficiently by folding their wings during the upstroke. This might have implications for flapping drones and could increase their propulsive and aerodynamic efficiency. In order to study the different ways that wings could flap, the research team constructed a robotic wing that can flap the way birds do but can also flap in ways birds don’t. Wind tunnel measurements record the performance of the wing. Biology researcher Christoffer Johansson says “Flapping drones could be used for deliveries, but they would need to be efficient enough and able to lift the extra weight this entails. How the wings move is of great importance for performance, so this is where our research could come in handy,”

The Wyoming Department of Corrections says just two incidents have occurred in Wyoming that involve drones and prisons. (Those were attempts to deliver tobacco.) But other prisons have seen drone incidents. The Wyoming Corrections Director fears that drones could be used to spy on prisons and identify guards, inmates, and specific facility details. After the Senate vote, the legislation goes to the state House.

Nobody seemed to live there at the $650,000 property in upstate New York. The grounds were unkempt and expensive-looking cars came and went. Law enforcement decided to investigate and border patrol came up with a surveillance tool that could “recognize drone signatures, map their flight path, and identify starting and stopping points via GPS.” At night, a UAV flew in. Police arrived and the pilot and two others were taken into custody. The drone held a package with $110,000 (street value) of MDMA, 3,4-Methyl​enedioxy​methamphetamine, commonly called Ecstacy. At this time, only the alleged drone pilot has been charged.

The former manager is suing Amazon in King County Superior Court in Seattle, claiming racial discrimination in promotions and retaliation for raising safety concerns. He notes the lack of safety protocols in drone testing, the large number of crashes, and restrictions on employee access to flight information, videos, and pictures.

Using drones for weather prediction, tracking warehouse inventory with an autonomous drone, an FCC NPRM for the UAS communications spectrum, Walmart delivery drone statistics, underwater drones to detect ocean carbon, hardening the electric grid from aerial attacks, and cargo delivery to moving ships.

Researchers are using DJI Mavic 2 drones to measure Arctic wind speeds. The only modification required was the addition of an inexpensive, lightweight thermal anemometer. The Japanese National Institute of Polar Research is flying drones from a research vessel.

Video: Using small drones to measure wind speeds in the polar regions

The Vimaan StorTRACK Air autonomous warehouse drone can automate inventory control functions. It scans warehouse racks, delivers accurate inventory status to the warehouse management system, and doesn’t just read barcode labels – it includes optical character recognition and captures the entire contents of warehouse racks.

Video: Cycle Counting Autonomous Warehouse Drones track inventory accuracy and warehouse utilization

The U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) proposed new spectrum rules for unmanned aircraft systems. This is necessary to accommodate the increasing number of drones, which require wireless communication. The NPRM addresses the 5030-5091 MHz band, which was previously allocated to support terrestrial control links for UAS without adopting service rules. This proposal is the first step to developing those service rules for UAS operations.

Ref: FCC Starts Rulemaking on Licensed Spectrum for Unmanned Aircraft Use

Thirty-six Walmart stores in the U.S. have drone delivery hubs operated by DroneUp, Flytrex, and Zipline. 6,000+ drone deliveries were completed in 2022. The top five customer favorites delivered by drone were cookies, ice cream, lemons, rotisserie chicken, energy drinks, and paper towels. Drone delivery is operating in seven states: VA, NC, FL, AR, TX, UT, AZ.

The underwater drone, or “glider,” nicknamed Migaloo is 1.5 meters long and measures CO2 and pH ocean parameters to understand global carbon sink. The Atlantic Carbon Observatory Pilot Program (ACOP) utilizes moored bottom observatories and gliders that provide mobile pH and CO2 sensors. Real-time data collected is collected via Iridium and Fiberoptic links. The Slocum Underwater Glider is designed and manufactured by Teledyne Webb Research.

The North American Electric Reliability Corporation is set to review the physical security standards of the electric grid, but that doesn’t address airborne threats. Defensive options need to be investigated, leveraging the progress that National Laboratories and the Department of Defense (DOD) are making in counter-UAS (C-UAS) technologies and systems. Current statutory restraints limit the ability of utilities to defend their facilities from drone attacks.

A UAV tether for choppy seas, four advanced (and expensive) drones, drones changing the way buildings are designed, a drone (and rover) for simulated Martian missions, the Army’s short-range reconnaissance program with Skydio, an Apple patent for pairing UAVs and controllers, kites that take down drones, Ukraine drones that take down Russian drones.

The Naval Information Warfare Center in San Diego designed a smart winch tether system with an autonomous winch that keeps proper slack in the tether. A UAV can hover at a specific altitude while the ship pitches and rolls with the waves. The winch autonomously adjusts the spool motor by measuring the tether-departure angle. Adding a tethered quadcopter to the uncrewed Seahawk ship would allow it to elevate cameras and expand the line of sight.

The Aerwins Xturismo is a flying motorbike with a maximum range of 40km that can carry up to 100kg. The Airborne Drones’ Vanguard is a long-range surveillance drone with a 94-minute flight time and 4K video. The Lockheed Martin Indago 3 is rugged and “whisper quiet,” taking only two minutes to get airborne. The Volocopter 2X is a personal helicopter targeted to prospective air taxi operators.

1. Creating 3D digital models of buildings with accuracy to within a centimeter. 2. Heritage simulations where drones help planners to visualize the final impact of restoration or construction work on a damaged or partially finished building. 3. Drone delivery including roof-top landing pads and recharging stations. 4. Drones mounted with 3D printers that could construct emergency shelters or repair buildings. 5. Agile surveillance with drone systems like biometric indicators and “face recognition.”

The Skypersonic rover and drone system will be used by crew members to remotely explore Martian-like terrain. NASA’s Simulated Mars Missions will run for a year and operate from a 1,700-square-foot simulated Martian habitat at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. The rover and drone will be controlled by the crew in the Habitat, but they’ll actually be exploring Martian-like terrain remotely on Earth.

The Skydio RQ-28A is a short-range reconnaissance quadcopter UAS. It’s the Army’s first program-of-record quadcopter drone. Fielding of the RQ-28A was completed in early November 2022 by the Army’s Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Project Office with the 3rd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment at Fort Benning in Georgia. The Army’s short-range reconnaissance (SRR) program seeks to develop an inexpensive, rucksack-portable, vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) small unmanned aircraft that provide rapidly deployable intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities.

Apple has been granted a patent for “a system and method for pairing/unpairing UAVs to/from UAV controllers.” Based on a triggering condition, a UAV or a controller may initiate a paring or unpairing of the UAV to or from a host controller and receive a configuration update from a network to confirm the paring or unpairing.

Apple initially filed the patent in Singapore in May 2020 (10202004252X). In November 2021, Apple filed the same patent in the U.S. and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office granted Apple that patent on December 6, 2022. (US 11523323 B2, Unmanned Aerial Vehicle And Controller Association.)

Here, a “kite” refers to a bird of prey in the hawk family. The Indian and US Armies conducted an exercise to publicly demonstrate how birds of prey are being trained to attack drones. The program started in 2020 and training is continuing

Aerial footage from a Ukrainian drone shows what appears to be that drown taking down a Russian DJI Mavic. The video doesn’t show this with certainty, but it looks like the Ukrainian rammed the Russian Mavic, causing it to veer away suddenly. A few months ago, a video surfaced that shows a similar battle between Russian and Ukrainian quadcopters.

Drone: Snoqualmie Pass snow

Fly over a snow-covered Snoqualmie Pass, a mountain pass for Interstate 90 through the Cascade Range in Washington state.

European drone strategy 2.0, armed drones for Ukraine, drones used for poaching and other wildlife investigations, drone videos of three active volcanoes, dynamically assigning frequencies for UAS command and control, a survey of consumer attitudes on home drone delivery of goods and food, liquid hydrogen power, and the Dover AFB sUAS program.

The European Commission adopted the European Drone Strategy 2.0 which offers a vision for the further development of the European drone market. The Commission wants to ensure that society supports drones. By 2030, the Drone Strategy envisions a number of services, including emergency services, mapping, imaging, inspection and surveillance; the urgent delivery of small packages, such as biological samples or medicines; Air Mobility services, like air taxis that provide regular transport services for passengers, initially with a pilot on board, but ultimately fully automated operations.

The Commission’s strategy includes operational, technical, and financial actions:

• Adopting common rules for airworthiness, and new training requirements
• Funding the creation of an online platform to support local stakeholders and industry implementing sustainable Innovative Air Mobility.
• Developing a Strategic Drone Technology Roadmap to identify priority areas for research and innovation, to reduce existing strategic dependencies and to avoid new ones arising.
• Defining criteria for a voluntary cybersecurity-approved drone label.

See: A Drone Strategy 2.0 for a Smart and Sustainable Unmanned Aircraft Eco-System in Europe [PDF].

After some reports that the Pentagon had decided to not send armed drones to Ukraine, sixteen Senate Republicans and Democrats sent a letter to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin objecting. In the letter, the Senators say, “This particular [Unmanned Aerial System] will increase Ukraine’s unmanned capabilities in the near term and demands careful reconsideration. Most importantly, armed [Unmanned Aerial Systems] could find and attack Russian warships in the Black Sea, breaking its coercive blockade and alleviate dual pressures on the Ukrainian economy and global food prices.” The General Atomics MQ-1C Gray Eagle drones can hold up to four Hellfire Missiles.

The five Utah Division of Wildlife Resources (DWR) drone law enforcement officers have been trained and have their FAA pilot licenses. The drones will assist officers in their investigations through increased documentation of crime scenes and locating evidence.

Watch videos of three active volcanoes: Mauna Loa in Hawaii, the Villarrica volcano in Chile, and Russia’s Shiveluch volcano.

uAvionix won a contract from the FAA for end-to-end demonstrations of a Frequency Assignment Manager (FAM) as a component of the uAvionix SkyLine™ Command and Control Communications Service Provider (C2CSP) management platform. The system will dynamically assign UAS C-Band Command and Non-Payload Control frequencies to UAS with CNPC radios. uAvionix teamed with the Northern Plains UAS Test Site to develop command and control concepts.

The contract demonstrations include:

• Managing a pool of frequencies in a geographic area.
• Allocating available frequencies to a specific CNPC radio for a specific mission.
• Receiving assigned frequencies for the designated mission.
• CNPC radios operating on the assigned frequencies.
• Non-interference when multiple aircraft are operating in the area.

Auterion surveyed 1,000 Americans to get their perspective on drones. 94% view drones as having a potential positive purpose in the world. 67% view drones as more environmentally friendly than trucks. 57% think the adoption of small-quantity drone deliveries is a good thing for the environment. 47% said they would make a purchase from a specific retailer due to the option of a drone delivery program. 64% believe drones are becoming an option for home delivery now or will be in the near future. Press release: Drones set to make the future of holiday shipping greener. Download the report: Drone Delivery in the United States.

Since 2016, the German company H2Fly has been flying an airplane powered by a hydrogen gas fuel cell. The Hy4 is a four-seat aircraft and in April it set a record for the highest zero-emission flight, at 7,230 feet. H2Fly plans to switch from Hydrogen gas to liquid. That would double the range. Testing is scheduled for 2023. The company has entered into a partnership with Deutsche Aircraft to develop a fuel-cell-powered aircraft that will hold up to 40 passengers, with a range of 1,200 miles.

Video: Präsentation der sechsten Wasserstoff-Antriebsgeneration in der Hy4

The 436th Airlift Wing Plans and Programs office at Dover AFB has an sUAS program jointly run with the Bedrock Dover AFB Innovation Lab. Recently, a Skydio X2D Small Unmanned Aerial System drone was tested during its first operational flight around a static aircraft at Dover on Nov. 4, 2022. The X2D was selected from other Department of Defense-approved systems due to its advanced obstacle avoidance system and other possible capabilities.

The latest Amazon Prime Air drone, XQ-58A Valkyrie tactical drones, bringing a drone on a cruise ship, a drone light show fail, and attacking a navy with uncrewed surface vessels.

Amazon has continued to develop its delivery drone. The new MK30 drone has increased range, expanded temperature tolerance, and the capability to fly in light rain. It’s lighter and smaller than its predecessor and has redesigned propellers with 25% less perceived noise.

The 40th Flight Test Squadron at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida has taken delivery of the first of two Kratos XQ-58A Valkyrie tactical drones. They’ll test the ability of the drone to autonomously operate over vast distances. The Squadron will figure out the logistics and infrastructure needed to house and operate the Valkyrie.

Using a drone to capture your cruise ship experience seems like a great idea, but can you do it? Of the eight major cruise lines, only three allow passengers to bring drones on board and you can’t fly the drone from the ship.

As thousands of onlookers watched a nighttime drone show in Perth, 50 of the 500 drones fell from the sky into the river. The reason for the failure is unknown and under investigation by Drone Sky Shows, but GPS signal interference is being cited as a possibility.

On October 29, 2022, Ukraine attacked the Russian Navy at Sevastopol with seven maritime drones. What these uncrewed surface vessels (USVs) accomplished might be considered historically significant. Not so much for the damage they inflicted, but for the way naval warfare will be viewed from now on.

Drones eye view of Hendrick Motorsports’ Campus

Operations Over People approval for AgEagle, transitioning to UAV-dominated air forces, women drone pilots in Ukraine, an autonomous Black Hawk helicopter, a drone facilitates a robbery, a BVLOS corridor in upstate New York, an autonomous firefighting helicopter, 500 drones celebrate a game anniversary, and how to increase lithium battery lifespan.

AgEagle Aerial Systems Inc. announced that the eBee X series of UAS comply with Category 3 of the Operations Over People rules for sUAS. These are the first and only drones on the market to comply with the rules published in March 2021. eBee drone operators will no longer need an FAA waiver for OOP or Operations Over Moving Vehicles. Testing was conducted by the Virginia Tech Mid-Atlantic Aviation Partnership (“MAAP”). The family of eBee fixed-wing UAS includes the eBee X, eBee GEO, and eBee TAC.

The eBee is currently approved for use by the U.S. Department Of Defense under the Blue sUAS 2.0 program, for BVLOS operations in Brazil, and Operations Over People and BVLOS operations in Canada. It is also the first drone to receive European Union Aviation Safety Agency (“EASA”) C2 certification and a Design Verification essential for these operations from EASA.

This opinion piece argues that manned military aircraft have issues and unmanned aircraft, or drones, can address some of them. This is not to say that manned combat aircraft should be abandoned. Rather, supplementing manned with unmanned should be the focus and the military should plan to “transition toward UAV-dominated air forces.”

The Female Pilots of Ukraine school opened recently to teach Ukrainian women to operate drones. Most Ukrainian drone pilots are men and this school focuses on training women – civilians and military student pilots.

In a demonstration to the U.S. Army, Sikorsky and DARPA showed how an autonomous Black Hawk helicopter could perform internal and external cargo resupply missions, as well as a rescue operation. The demonstration shows that in the future, optionally piloted utility helicopters could fly complex missions safely.

The incident took place in broad daylight in France with security footage showing a drone flying into the air vent. The drone subsequently pushed a button that opened a door allowing the thieves to enter.

Governor Kathy Hochul announced that the New York Unmanned Aircraft Systems Test Site (NUAIR) received approval from the FAA to fly uncrewed aircraft systems BVLOS across the 50-mile airspace of New York’s Drone Corridor. NUAIR can fly civilian drones from Syracuse International Airport to Griffiss International Airport in Rome without the need for visual observers.

The Governor also announced that New York will be providing NUAIR with an additional $21 million in funding to cultivate the UAS industry hub along the corridor in Central New York.

Also, NUAIR has entered into an agreement with Quebec-based VPorts to develop an international Advanced Air Mobility Corridor between Syracuse International Airport and Quebec, Canada.

Video: New York UAS Corridor – Flying 50-Miles Beyond Visual Line of Sight

Rain Industries says, “Every Wildfire Starts Small” and “The Rain System contains ignitions within 10 minutes to prevent catastrophic wildfires.” Rain announced their next-generation MK2 autonomous firefighting demonstrator aircraft, an uncrewed aircraft system (UAS) that carries about 30 gallons of payload.

A swarm of 500 drones performed to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Candy Crush game. Not everyone was happy.

Video: 500 Drones Take Over NYC Skies, Twitterverse Outraged “Shoot them down”

Beijing University of Chemical Technology researchers say a new technology could triple the lifespan of lithium batteries and decrease the risk of battery fires. They do this by replacing the liquid battery electrolytes with gel-polymer electrolytes.

Video: 10 Fastest Military Drones And Unmanned Vehicles In The World

FAA issues guidelines for community-based drone organizations, large Navy drone swarms, Iranian drone components, the 2023 FAA reauthorization bill, a large Chinese cargo drone, the Bell Autonomous Pod Transport, Russians with drones in Norway, plant specimen sampling with drones, a Wing drone comes to a fiery end, and Collaborative Combat Aircraft.

Recreational drone flyers are required to follow the safety guidelines of FAA-recognized community-based drone organizations. These organizations develop safety guidelines in coordination with the FAA. The FAA has issued guidance on how to become an FAA-recognized community-based organization for recreational drone flying. The FAA Advisory Circular 91-57C Exception for Limited Recreational Operations of Unmanned Aircraft provides a list of recommended safety guidelines. Applications for community-based drone organizations can be made through the FAA’s DroneZone website.

According to budget documents, the US Navy wants to use thousands of small drones that flock together and overwhelm anti-aircraft defenses. Israel became the first nation to use swarming drones in combat in 2021. Other nations are working on swarms, including China, Russia, India, the UK, and Turkey.

The examination of drones that have been shot down shows the international components they contain. The Iranian Mohajer-6 reconnaissance drone was powered by a Rotax engine. Rotax is investigating and said the company “have not authorized and has not given any authorization to its distributors to supply military UAV manufacturers in Iran or Russia.” Previously, microprocessors from South Korea and Malaysia, bought in violation of sanctions, were found in the Shahed-136 kamikaze drone. Both drones are used by the Russian military in Ukraine.

Hearings for the 2023 FAA reauthorization bill are underway and the Senate Commerce Aviation Subcommittee is looking at “new entrants” into the airspace. eVTOL aircraft (Advanced Air Mobility – or AAM) will likely get a lot of attention this time.

The Twin-Tailed Scorpion D is claimed to be the world’s first large-scale, four-engined uncrewed aircraft system. The 18-minute test flight was deemed to be “trouble-free.” The Scorpion D is 10.5 m (34.4 ft.) long with a 20 m wingspan and a height of 3.1 m. The maximum takeoff weight (MTOW) is 4.35 tons. The Scorpion D will be exhibited at Zhuhai Airshow 2022, which begins November 8, 2022.

Bell brought its Autonomous Pod Transport (APT) eVTOL to the 2022 Air Medical Transport Conference in Tampa, Florida. The APT has been flying for several years and Bell hopes for a production version that will deliver 100 pounds, 100 miles, at 100 knots per hour.

oAutonomous Pod Transport (APT). Courtesy Bell.

The 51-year-old man was arrested after flying over the Tromso Airport in northern Norway. Police seized a “large” amount of photography equipment, including the drone and memory cards. Police also found photos of the airport in Kirkenes, near the Russian border and of a Norwegian military helicopter. In February 2022, Norway’s Civil Aviation Authority banned Russians from flying or operating aircraft (including drones) in Norway. 

Drones are being used in Hawaii to capture specimens of rare and endangered plants in places that would be dangerous for humans. Historically, botanists would rappel down sheer rock faces to collect samples. A commercially available drone carries a second robotic machine named Mamba. The Mamba remote-controlled robotic arm was custom-built from scratch. It’s suspended from the hovering drone and picks the plant samples.

Subtitle: An Alphabet-owned Wing drone “incinerated itself” after it became entangled in power lines in Brisbane, Australia. On the bright side, the food stayed hot.

Danny Donald, a spokesperson from utility provider Energex, said: “We didn’t actually have to get the drone off, as such, it actually caught fire and incinerated itself.”

With adversary aircraft and air defense systems improving, many are predicting a future with a mix of manned and unmanned aircraft. A new type of aircraft is emerging: the Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA). General Atomics Aeronautical Systems is proposing the Gambit CCA family of aircraft built off a common Gambit Core.

Video: How a hive of 3D-printing drones could change construction | Mashable

A team of researchers at Imperial College London and Empa have been developing collaborative aerial drones that can 3D print buildings from a single blueprint. The drones are fully autonomous once in flight and have so far successfully completed tests with lightweight cement mixtures.

Nano drones in Ukraine, cloud seeding with drones in China, bots that clean beaches and waterways, a STEM program for young girls, new technologies from Draganfly, and patrolling the airport perimeter.

The British Prime Minister announced that 850 Black Hornet nano drones would be given to Ukraine under a joint U.K.-Norway program. The Black Hornet was designed by Prox Dynamics in Norway and became part of Teledyne FLIR. The nano drone is about the size of a tennis ball, has three high-definition cameras, a maximum range of about 1.2 miles, flight time up to 25 minutes, and an 11 MPH top speed. They are designed to be quiet to avoid detection.

China has been experiencing record-breaking heat and drought. In response, the country has been cloud seeding with drones and rockets. Eight cloud-seeding flights were planned over the Guizhou province in southwest China. Drones over the Sichuan province brought rainfall to more than 600 sq/km of land. A drone was recently sent to Henan province to bring artificial precipitation to that area. The photograph in the article appears to be the Wing Loong 2 military drone.

It’s estimated that millions of pounds of plastics go into the Great Lakes every year. Now two “litter bots” are tackling the problem. The Searial Cleaners “PixieDrone” and “BeBot” remove litter in the water and in the sand, such as bottle caps, cigarette butts, straws, cups, and bottles.

A group of women of color who call themselves Hers-torians are working to empower ethnic minority girls aged 14-17 in STEM. The girls will get their drone licenses and map some historic sites in the San Diego area with LiDAR-equipped drones. The one-year Our Genetic Legacy program is free for the girls, but they get paid for it as a workforce development project. The organization was formed to address the lack of recognition and the disenfranchisement of Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) in American history.

This article describes three technologies that Draganfly has added this year:

The Heavy Lift Drone can carry up to 67 pounds of payload with a 55-minute flight duration. It can fly automated or manual missions and has been used in Ukraine to deliver medical supplies and humanitarian aid.

The Commander 3 XL Drone is a high-endurance, weather-resistant, multirotor UAV designed for easy assembly and rapid deployment. It was modeled after Draganfly’s X4-ES drone. The drone packs down into a transportable case with quick-release arms and propellers. It carries up to 26 pounds of payload for a maximum flight duration is 50 minutes.

Applications for the Long Range LiDAR System include mapping and surveying forests, cities, real estate, energy infrastructure, and telecommunications infrastructure. It has been used in Ukraine by de-mining teams.

A few weeks ago, Draganfly announced its 2022 Q2 results. Q2 revenue was $2,370,115, an increase of 19.6% year-over-year. Gross profit was up 39.1% to $284,996. Gross margins are around 40%

The São Paulo Guarulhos International Airport (GRU) is using drones to monitor and protect the perimeter. This is part of the airport’s Security Work Plan to identify threats such as fire outbreaks, animal incursions, and trespassing, as well as some maintenance tasks, like runway inspection and logistics and traffic guidance. The airport is using two UAVs from Dahua Technology with thermal and optical cameras. Dahua Technology is a security company that provides video-centric IoT solutions and services.

Automated inspection of solar panels, the NUAIR Public Safety Summit, USAF interest in supersonic target drones and the Boeing MQ-28 Ghost Bat, the Pixy selfie drone goes out of production, drones and rural law enforcement, and UAVs that can land on steep roofs.

Percepto announced it has completed the proof-of-concept phase for its automated system that will be used for inspection and data analysis of a giant floating solar power farm in Thailand. The solar power farm includes a grid of 145,000 panels floating over an area equivalent to about 70 soccer fields. The Percepto artificial intelligence-enhanced, automated UAVs will conduct regular inspection flights and use the company’s Autonomous Inspection and Monitoring software package to identify panels that need maintenance or repair.

NUAIR (the Northeast UAS Airspace Integration Research Alliance) recently hosted the fourth annual UAS Public Safety Summit at Griffiss International Airport in upstate New York. Drone developers exhibited their aircraft and some companies performed flight demonstrations. Aircraft exhibitors included Ascent Aerosystems, Skydio, BRINC, senseFly, and Inspired Flight.

Video: Spirit | All Weather UAV

The U.S. Air Force has long used target drones for training purposes, most recently with the QF-16 Viper Full Scale Aerial Target (FSAT) drones. Now the Air Force wants aerial targets that mimic supersonic Chinese and Russian stealth fighters and they’ve posted a request for information (RFI) for a supersonic-capable Next Generation Aerial Target (NGAT).

Preliminary discussions are underway on the possibility that the USAF could purchase the Boeing MQ-28 Ghost Bat under the NGAD (Next Generation Air Dominance) program. The MQ-28 was known as the Boeing Airpower Teaming System and the Loyal Wingman project developed by Boeing Australia for the Royal Australian Air Force.

Snap says it will sell the little selfie drone from its limited existing inventory. The company is shifting its focus and priorities.

Rural law enforcement is increasingly seeing drones used for criminal activity, and at the same time recognizing that UAVs are a valuable resource. The South Carolina Public Safety Drone Pilot Association was organized as a nonprofit in 2020 and has trained more than 100 personnel as public safety drone pilots.

These small UAVs can land on inclined surfaces of up to 60 degrees using adaptive friction shock absorbers and reverse thrust. The legs compress during impact and dissipate energy through friction. A small DC motor controls the friction in each leg by compressing disks. Reverse thrust is applied at contact to increase friction and prevent flipping. This is described in a paper published in IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters.

Video: Fast Multirotor Landings on Steep Roofs using Friction Shock Absorbers and Reverse Thrust

…the Mars Sample Return campaign will no longer include the Sample Fetch Rover or its associated second lander. The Sample Retrieval Lander will include two sample recovery helicopters, based on the design of the Ingenuity helicopter, which has performed 29 flights on Mars and survived over a year beyond its original planned lifetime. The helicopters will provide a secondary capability to retrieve samples cached on the surface of Mars.

Women and drones documentary film, Chinese drone submarine, unmanned surface vessels, drone tech to India, portable ATM system, mapping with multiple drones, Ford patent.