Police officers honoured for UAV

The “Excellence in Police Aviation” award, sponsored by Bell Helicopter, was accepted by Detective Dave Banks and Constable Andrew Olesen for their efforts in the concept, research, formation and operation of a small Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) program for the police service. Halton has been using a small unmanned aerial vehicle since 2009 following the establishment of a partnership with the University of Toronto- Forensic Science Program and Waterloo Company, Aeryon Labs Inc. Use of the UAV has resulted in improved efficiencies for police and the enhancement of service delivery in a multitude of scenarios, including: search and rescue, crime scene forensics, traffic collision reconstruction and marine operations.

eBee footage of Matterhorn

When UAV manufacturer SenseFly wanted to show off their eBee drones, which are designed for aerial photography, they decided to try something different: Throwing their vehicles off the top of the Matterhorn.

At the top of the famous Alpine mountain, a team from SenseFly and nonprofit Drone Adventures flew the eBees on multiple flights and fed camera and sensor data into 3-D imaging software. Once they were done, SenseFly had the first ever UAV-generated map of the Matterhorn. Five drones circled the base and lower portions of the mountain, while another set of UAVs systematically mapped the mountain’s peak. And the Matterhorn, which straddles the border of Italy and Switzerland, is a massive mountain, which challenges the relatively modest battery life of most consumer drones. According to SenseFly, the eBee only has 45 minutes of battery life. As a result, the company had to fly their drones around the mountain on multiple flights.

PA forces thwart attack drone plot

During intensive activities near Hebron, in which PA security authorities arrested activists at the city’s university, officers uncovered a network in the advanced stages of planning to launch a UAV into Israel. Investigation of the cell found that operatives had already run several test flights on the drone, and had intended to attach explosives to it in order to strike targets in Israel. (Read more)

Agreement between Aerovironment and Eurocopter

AeroVironment and Eurocopter have agreed to explore business opportunities for their respective products.

The cooperative accord was announced this week at the annual Association of the U.S. Army conference and exhibition in Washington and follows urging from industry and government in Europe for the development and manufacture of European Unmanned Aerial Systems.

"AeroVironment's extensive operational UAS experience in delivering to end-users reliable solutions working effectively in harsh operating environments makes us uniquely positioned to understand customers' requirements and to determine future market trends," said Clive Schley, Eurocopter's senior vice president, strategy and company development. "This cooperation will be particularly valuable as Eurocopter defines its unmanned product strategy, building on the success of our first unmanned flights with the EC145 helicopter this year."

"The combination of AeroVironment's market leading unmanned technology and unique knowledge with Eurocopter's world-class helicopter and systems expertise makes a formidable team," said Roy Minson, senior vice president and general manager of AeroVironment's Unmanned Aircraft Systems business segment. "This cooperative agreement creates the opportunity for both companies to explore expanding into new markets and developing new capabilities to meet future customer needs."

The European focus on unmanned aerial systems is primarily in regard to large, medium-altitude, long-endurance aircraft such as the Grey Eagle and Predator by U.S. manufacturers. EADS, Eurocopter's parent company, is currently developing the Talon medium-altitude, long-endurance with Turkish Aerospace Industries. Another EADS subsidiary, Cassidian, makes small unmanned aircraft systems.

UAV eyes in the Open Sky

Unmanned aircraft are currently in the crosshairs of legislators at varying levels of government. At issue is the ability of UAVs to conduct and record aerial surveillance over private property, an act which many consider a violation of personal privacy.

When we fly over our neighbor’s houses and peek into their backyards, we’re doing essentially the same thing as a UAV peering down with a camera. When a UAV plies the skies above us and peers down with its unblinking eyeball, it can see much more clearly because its optics far exceed even the most clear eyed of aviators.

The digital memory onboard the UAV or at its control site far exceeds even the most detail-oriented of brains.  Quite literally, the UAV’s operator has the capability to take what the aircraft sees and share it to a level that would humble even the most prolific gossip. Earlier this year, some states implemented laws restricting the taking and distributing of aerial imagery obtained by using UAVs.

(Read more)

Barracuda: A brief look

Development on the EADS Barracuda fully-autonomous, medium-altitude, long-range UAV began in 2003, and is backed by both Germany and Spain. Despite crashing during a 2006 test flight, which grounded the project for nearly two years, the Barracuda has since successfully completed more than a dozen test flights.

Barracuda is built from a mix of off the shelf components and custom hardware systems. Its entire fuselage — save for a pair of reinforcing wing spars — is composed of the same carbon fibre composite that covers the Eurofighter Typhoon. What’s more, the 8m long, 2.7-tonne demonstrator does almost entirely away with hydraulics — aside from the landing gear, the UAV operates entirely on electronic actuators. And while it isn’t as quick as the Taranis, the Barracuda reportedly packs a 14kN Pratt & Whitney jet turbine capable of achieving mach .85 with a 6000 m service ceiling and an estimated 200km operational radius.

For the foreseeable future, the Barracuda will remain a developmental test bed for future Cassian UAV technologies with hopes of eventually developing a system that can operate in unsegregated airspace alongside manned and civilian aircraft. And with both the nEUROn and Taranis gunning for deployment by the end of the decade, the skies over Europe are going to get crowded.

Infoca realizará pruebas de seguimiento de incendios con UAVs

El Plan Infoca, dispositivo para la prevención y extinción de incendios forestales en Andalucía realizará pruebas de seguimiento de incendios en horario nocturno con un avión no tripulado (UAV) de Elimco. (Seguir leyendo)