UAV

Autonomous flight of “Smart Drone”

Terra Drone Co., Ltd., a leading Japanese industrial drone service provider, and KDDI Corporation, a Japanese telecommunications operator succeeded in a fully autonomous flight experiment of “Smart Drone” using “3D map” and “Drone Port.” As a result of the experiment, the world’s first long-distance drone flight of about 6.3 km via the “Drone Port” which enables a drone to recharge automatically, successfully returned to the landing site after spraying terraced ponds of Nishikigoi(carp) with pesticide.

This demonstration is an experiment for safe flight altitude setting on the “3D map” and automatic charging by “drone port,” which verified that the long-distance autonomous drone flight is technically possible. www.terra-drone.net

SunPower to receive automated access for drone flights

SunPower Corp. has announced that it is the first company to receive approval from the U.S. Federal Aviation Agency (FAA) for automatic access to operate a drone in regulated airspace over controlled airports.

The new access category, called Low Altitude Authorization Capability (LAANC), was released recently in a beta test at four airports including San Jose (SJC), Cincinnati International Airport (CVG), Reno (RNO), and Lincoln (LNK). SunPower received LAANC authorization through Skyward, an FAA-approved vendor. www.sunpower.com

Dedrone unveils next generation software to counter malicious drones

Dedrone has announced their next generation software upgrade, DroneTracker 3. It is the industry’s first airspace security solution that includes automated summary reporting for instant diagnosis of drone airspace activity. It brings significant enhancements for customers including: automated summary reporting, enabling security personnel to instantaneously assess and analyze drone threats, enterprise-grade security and management, allowing for multi-user management and seamless integration into existing security programs, increased simplification of platform set up, creating an intuitive and quick-to-deploy system

Terra Drone And LG U+ Put UTM System Into Commercial Use

Terra Drone Co., Ltd., has commercialized UTM(Unmanned Traffic Management)system for the first time in Korea collaborating with LG U+, a South Korean cellular carrier owned by LG Corporation.

NOAA, UTSI Test Electric UAV With Autopilot

The Atmospheric Turbulence and Diffusion Division (ATDD) of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Air Resources Laboratory is combining Black Swift Technologies’ (BST) SwiftCore flight management system (FMS) with UAV Factory’s Penguin BE drone in support of a joint research project with the University of Tennessee Space Institute (UTSI).

ATDD, located in Oak Ridge, Tenn., focuses on research on air quality, climate and boundary-layer processes both nationally and globally. Air quality research objectives include improving the understanding of air-surface exchange processes and increasing the predictive capabilities of air quality models.

According to BST, which is based out of Boulder, Colo., this project represents the first integration of its SwiftCore autopilot FMS with UAV Factory’s Penguin BE unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), an electric-propulsion drone with a 3.3-meter wingspan

Alibaba’s drones deliver packages to islands

Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba has announced that it has used UAVs to deliver packages over water for the first time. Three drones carrying a total six boxes of passionfruit with a combined weight of around 12 kilograms flew from Putian in East China’s Fujian province to nearby Meizhou Island on Oct 31. The drones were jointly developed by Alibaba’s delivery arm Cainiao Network, the company’s rural shopping platform Rural Taobao, and a domestic technology firm. www.chinadaily.com.cn/

Pix4D partnership with KKC

To deliver a i-Construction-compliant drone mapping and photogrammetry solution for the Japanese market, Pix4D has partnered with Kokusai Kogyo Corporation (KKC), a Japan-based geospatial consulting company. i-Construction is a set of government-defined regulations to govern the collection and processing of drone data.The partnership will jointly develop the service and new features to meet the requirements for public surveying and i-Construction standards.

FAA Details UAS Integration Pilot Program

The FAA published a notice on the Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Integration Pilot Program this week. The program, initiated by a Presidential Memorandum, is designed to accelerate safe UAS integration through public-private sector partnerships.

Few highlights are as follows

▪ Companies must team with local, state or tribal governments to apply.

▪ Applicants will provide proposals for the creation of “innovation zones,” where they can conduct more advanced UAS operations than those typically allowed under current regulations, including beyond line-of-sight flights, operations over people, and operations at night.

▪ The U.S. Department of Transportation will use data generated from this program to advance the state of the industry by developing enabling regulations to increase drone operations.

Complete details could be accessed at FAA website. www.faa.gov