Crowd Computing to Analyze UAV Imagery

Every year, the Patterdale Mountain Rescue Team assists hundreds of injured and missing persons in the North of the Lake District. The average search takes several hours and can require a large team of volunteers to set out in often poor weather conditions. So the University of Central Lancashire teamed up with the Mountain Rescue Team to demonstrate that UAV technology coupled with crowdsourcing can reduce the time it takes to locate and rescue individuals.

The project, called AeroSee Experiment, worked as follows: The Mountain Rescue service received a simulated distress call, and the University team dispatched their UAV to begin the search.  Using live video-streaming, the UAV automatically transmitted pictures back to the team’s website where members of the public could tag pictures that members of the Mountain Rescue service should investigate further. The results were impressive: A total of 335 digital volunteers looked through 11,834 pictures and the “injured” walker (UAV image below) was found within 69 seconds of the picture being uploaded to microtasking website.

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Russian Defense Ministry Unveils $9B UAV Program

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu has announced a program to spend about 320 billion rubles (US $9 billion) by 2020 on military UAVs.

The latest move follows last year’s announcement by Russian President Vladimir Putin that UAVs are a vital area of development in modern aviation, and that Russia needs to develop a wide range of drones, including combat and reconnaissance variants.

The Russian military is set to test the Yabhon United 40 MALE (Medium Altitude Long Endurance) UAV built by the United Arab Emirates’ Adcom Systems. Other foreign-based companies to supply drones to Russia include IAI (Israel Aerospace Industries), which delivered 12 UAVs to the military under a deal inked in 2009. 

AeroVironment and Lockheed Martin join forces for UAV

AeroVironment Inc. and Lockheed Martin have agreed to jointly pursue opportunities related to the development of Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS), the companies said in a statement. (Read more)

UAV degrees are hot ticket

The Federal Aviation Administration estimates that as many as 7,500 commercial unmanned aerial vehicles could be flying in national airspace within a few years, but colleges aren’t waiting for the go-ahead to ready students for employment in the industry. (Read more)

Kratos to Build Navy UAV Command, Control Systems

A Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ: KTOS) subsidiary has been awarded a four-year, $29.6 million basic ordering agreement to build command and control systems for the U.S. Navy‘s unmanned aerial vehicles. - See more at: http://www.govconwire.com/2014/02/kratos-to-build-navy-uav-command-control-systems/#sthash.fwuA2fwO.dpuf

Spain: Fifty experts will discuss the future of UAVs in UNVEX'14

More than fifty experts in unmanned systems, both in the industrial field, such as that of the defense , the security , the research and administration in general, exhibit and share their knowledge in UNVEX'14. (Read more)

Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Market (UAV) Worth $114.7B by 2023

Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) Market (2013 - 2018) and The Global UAV Market 2013-2023 research reports are now available with ReportsnReports.com and provide detailed analysis of the global UAV market over the next ten years, alongside potential market opportunities to enter the industry, using detailed market size forecasts. (Read more)

Spain transfers the technology to make the UAV DIANA

The Spanish National Institute for Aerospace Technology (INTA) has signed an agreement with Brazilian  Aeronautics Equipaer Ind.   (Read more)