For the Army, a customized, 3-D printed UAV is the best

Army planners say they envision a portable set of interchangeable components that could be used to build a wide assortment of UAVs. Ideally, a 3-D production system would churn out the frame, while a selection of motors, sensors, cameras and other apparatus could be selected from a standing inventory: “It’s an integrated system model that allows you to match the mission to the components,” said Eric Spero, a team lead within ARL’s vehicle technology directorate. “If I know what mission I need to accomplish, I want to be able to select the most appropriate electronics and combine that with a predefined structure.”

The Army is not alone in offering up a vision for a 3D-printed UAV. Hobbyists can download instructions for build-it-yourself copters and can even buy ready-made printable drone kits on Amazon. YouTube offers video tutorials. But the military-grade project looks to go beyond these commercials offerings, by making available the widest possible range of vehicles: “Our emphasis is on inherent flexibility,” said John Gerbes, a mechanical engineer at ARL. “It’s not just about providing a 3D-printed UAV but about providing a suite of tool to meet mission-specific needs.”

The use of 3D printing, or additive technology, makes it possible to create these ad hoc solutions to meet a broad range of requirements. Rather than carry parts and pieces for every possible configuration, soldiers will be able to manufacture on the fly those components that best suit the need: “If you can scale the arms longer or shorter, that links to the motor, which links to the battery, which links to the control systems. When you can do that, that is when you are really leveraging the power of additive technology,” Spero said.

“This is one step toward giving soldiers the right tools they need when they need them,” said Larry “L.J.” Holmes, Lead, Additive Manufacturing-Hybrid Operations Team (AM-HOT) at RDECOM, the Research, Development and Engineering Command. He described UAVs as the “low-hanging fruit,” a point of interest across Army and Marine Corps user groups. But he suggested that this capability might be just a starting point as the Army seeks other areas in which 3D printing could fulfill mission-specific needs on the fly. So, why carry around UAVs... when they can be printed on the spot?

Marines take 3D printed UAVs from the lab to the field

Additive manufacturing is a technology the U.S. military has been pursuing for some time: “Imagine being in a forward deployed environment, and just like Amazon, you can ‘order’ the weapons and equipment you need for the next day’s mission from an entire catalog of possible solutions,” says Capt. Chris J. Wood, who oversees innovation efforts at the Marine Corps’ installations and logistics branch. “These solutions can all be upgraded literally overnight, in order to integrate new components or adapt to new requirements.”

In the coming weeks the service will deploy a tiny unmanned aircraft dubbed the “Nibbler,” which would become the first 3D printed drone used in combat operations by conventional forces. Marines see it as just the beginning of a new way of equipping and supplying forces in the field. The Nibbler will be used for surveillance missions, along with several other 3D printed unmanned aircraft that the Marines are still developing, Wood added. “We can have a backpack-able fixed wing UAS for long endurance ISR. We can have a small quadcopter for building clearing operations,” he said. “We will forward deploy these capabilities into a combat zone as soon as possible.”

(Read more)

GoPro To Become Apple Of Consumer UAV Market

According to the Consumer Electronics Association, consumer UAV market will be worth $130 million in 2015.

By comparison, GoPro has generated $673 million in sales in the first nine months of this year. Over the past few months, Google and Facebook have acquired UAV companies. Amazon is also working to use drones to deliver goods. But none of them have made UAVs for consumers.

Dominic Basulto of The Washington Post says that GoPro could become the “innovation champion” of the consumer UAVs industry, just like Apple in the smartphone industry, Facebook in social networking and Amazon in e-commerce. The action camera make has joined the Small UAV Coalition, a UAV-lobbying group, indicating that the company is serious about consumer UAVs.

GoPro has several advantages that could make it a consumer UAV leader. These include the first-mover advantage and network effects. However, it will have to create an ecosystem that makes rivals impossible to catch up. Basulto says GoPro is the only company that has the potential to make consumer UAVs mainstream: Recently, The Wall Street Journal reported the company was working on UAVs that will be launch in late 2015, at a price between $500 and $1000.

Agriculture to see expansion of UAV commercial use

Agriculture may be the most promising industry for the commercial use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) or drones.

Most Americans are curious to learn more about Amazon’s proposal to use self-guided drones to deliver packages, but the most successful use of commercial drones in the United States may take place in areas far from the country’s highly populated centers. The Bradenton Herald reports that Idaho farmer Robert Blair built his version of a drone, equipped with cameras, to monitor his 1,500 acres. The 10-pound, 5-feet long drone is the size of a turkey and is used to get a birds-eye view of the farm’s cows, fields of wheat, peas, barley, and alfalfa. Blair said the drone provides him with a complete, aerial view of his farm, to gather historical data on his crops, which can help validate crop loss or animal damage when applying for government programs like crop insurance.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) prohibits drones for commercial use, although businesses and researchers can apply for an experimental airworthiness certificate for research and development, flight demonstrations, or crew training. Public law enforcement agencies and other governmental agencies may acquire a certificate of authorization to operate drones in civil airspace, but the move has raised concerns about privacy and government surveillance. The public’s concerns have led to privacy bills in many states, limiting the use of drones used by law enforcement. As fewer law enforcement agencies show interest in drones due to public backlash, leading drone manufacturers and researchers have decided to focus on agriculture. “A small UAV flying over a field with nothing around it doesn’t create a privacy issue,” said Josh Brungardt, director of unmanned systems at PARADIGM, an Oregon-based drone research company.

The Herald notes that drones can be effective for the agriculture sector because they pose fewer privacy and safety issues in the vast rural areas where farms are located. Farmers, researchers, and companies are developing drones equipped with cameras and sensors to survey crops, monitor for disease, or precision-spray pesticides and fertilizers. Beyond monitoring, drones can be used to ward off birds from fields, pollinate trees, monitor irrigation, or plant and harvest crops. The essence of drones in agriculture is that the technology could reduce costs and increase yields for farmers. Along with private companies, universities have begun to research and develop drone technology. Oregon State University researchers used drones earlier this summer to monitor disease over potato fields. Oregon nurseries have collaborated with researchers to use drones to count plotted trees. Farmers and researchers in Florida have used drones equipped with infrared cameras to monitor orange trees for the citrus greening, a bacterial diseases that kills trees, beginning at the top of the tree. The University of California, Davis has teamed up with Yamaha Motor Corp. to use drones to spray vineyards and orchards.