Category Archives: Beyond Line of Sight UAS

Beyond Line of Sight UAS, Commercial UAS Application, Unmanned Systems

Unmanned Systems Australia – Approved for Commercial Drone Delivery Operations

World First – Unmanned Systems Australia and Project Wing are approved for Drone delivery in Australia !!
What if we could move anything from where it is, to where it’s  needed—quickly, reliably and with a much lower carbon footprint than today’s methods of transporting goods? Delivery drones are part of the solution. Project Wing is a project from X, Alphabet’s moonshot factory, that is opening up the skies to provide new services from the air.
Image result for project wing australia
Today, we’re testing drone delivery directly to backyards near Canberra, Australia. We’ve completed thousands of flights so far, and we’re working with testers to trial our delivery app, improve the delivery experience, and learn how drone delivery can improve our testers’ everyday lives.

Want to have something delivered !!

Click here for the project wing site and contact details 

Beyond Line of Sight UAS, Commercial UAS Application

Automated drone delivery service to start second trial in rural NSW

Drone delivery is the idea behind Project Wing – an initiative testing drone delivery systems in rural NSW in collaboration with the ACT’s Rural Fire Service.

Originally trialled at Fernleigh Park in Googong near the ACT border, it’s now moving to Royalla to deliver food, drinks and other items to hundreds of households.

Participating households will be able to use a smartphone app to request items to be delivered to their yard within five minutes.

Unmanned Systems Australia is operating the aircraft with Project Wing, and continues the work conducted with Project Wing since 2014.

Taking off from the launch site at Guises Creek Rural Fire Station in Royalla, the 4.5 kgs drones zip along up to 120 kilometres per hour to their pre-programmed delivery site.

The Project – run by Google sister company ‘X’ – hopes the drones could also be used in firefighting and other emergency services.

ACT Minister for Planning and Land Management Mick Gentleman said the drones could supply frontline firies with rations, medical supplies, or mechanical parts.

“It’s a service that will be available in a rural area that’s not there at the moment,” he said.

“We’re really excited that this technology would be able to be used for our emergency front line people.”

The Civil Aviation Safety Authority praised the utility the drones would provide to fire services.

“In emergency services drones are already playing a role… they can be used to spot bushfires and see where they’ve spread to,” spokesman Peter Gibson said.

“There will be a lot of other applications as drone technology continues to grow and develop.”

Minister Gentleman said he would take the community’s attitude to the technology into account.

“[The tests] will allow us to understand community attributes to this new technology, and will let us consider the best way to accommodate drone delivery in our city for our future,” he said

See more (Tenplay)

https://x.company/wing/

Beyond Line of Sight UAS, Commercial UAS Application, Unmanned Systems

CAMCOPTER® S-100 – SUCCESSFUL FLIGHTS WITH “DETECT AND AVOID” SYSTEM

CAMCOPTER® S-100 – SUCCESSFUL FLIGHTS WITH “DETECT AND AVOID” SYSTEM
Vienna / Den Helder, 09 February 2016 – Schiebel and the Netherlands Aerospace Centre (NLR), the Netherlands Coastguard and the Royal Netherlands Air Force conducted a series of  successful flights with a newly developed airborne Detect
and Avoid System at the airport of Den Helder in December 2015.

The AIRICA (ATM Innovative RPAS Integration for Coastguard Applications) project marks a major step forward in the process of safe integration of RPAS (Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems) into all classes of airspace.

S100 CAMCOPTER Detect and Avoid
S100 CAMCOPTER Detect and Avoid

During a special demonstration held at De Kooy Airfield in Den Helder, Schiebel provided it´s unmanned helicopter, the  CAMCOPTER® S-100, onto which the NLR developed AirScout Detect and Avoid System was installed. The Netherlands Coastguard provided a Dornier Do-228 as “intruder” and the Royal Netherlands Air Force contributed with an Alouette helicopter as “intruder”, and provided the Air Traffic Control services.

Several scenarios were successfully executed where the CAMCOPTER® S-100 “unexpectedly” encountered an intruder aircraft. The system then determined in real time the corrective action to ensure the necessary separation from the intruder aircraft.
The AIRICA project is funded through the European SESAR programme (part of the Single European Sky initiative) and the key focus – integration of an RPAS into the airspace for Netherlands Coast Guard´s applications – was effectively demonstrated
during the flights.

[youtube]https://youtu.be/gni3e9gGzho[/youtube]

Edwin van der Pol, Head of Operations Kustwacht: ”In the future we hope to use unmanned systems for our search and rescue operations. These trials are important to achieve regulations for bringing RPAS into non-segregated airspace.”

Chris Day, Head of Capability Engineering at Schiebel: “This demonstration is another positive step towards unmanned air systems gaining access to a broader range of airspace.”

Source: Schiebel Press Release.

Other sites of interest:

ARICA (ATM Innovative RPAS Integration for Coast Guard Application)

ARICA Innovation Concepts

ARICA Detect and Avoid Outcomes

Beyond Line of Sight UAS, Commercial UAS Application, Humanitarian UAV, UAS Agriculture

PrecisionHawk, Verizon, Harris and DigitalGlobe Demo Solution to Enhance UAS Safety

PrecisionHawk, Harris, DigitalGlobe and Verizon recently completed initial testing of airspace services, a solution designed to make it safer to integrate unmanned aerial systems into the National Airspace.

The companies integrated various technologies for this solution, including Verizon’s LTE network, Harris’ ADS-B network, DigitalGlobe’s Geospatial Big Data Platform and PrecisionHawk’s LATAS (Low Altitude Traffic and Airspace Safety) platform, according to a news release. Assessment of this ecosystem is taking place through the FAA Pathfinder program and the NASA UTM project.

“We are leveraging satellite-derived information to create consistent information and analytics for safe drone flights,” said Dr. Shay Har-Noy, DigitalGlobe’s Senior Director of Geospatial Big Data, according to the release. “This is a significant collaboration that represents a huge step forward for the FAA and the safety and well-being of the American public.”

[youtube]https://youtu.be/icb6t6CRwHQ[/youtube]

LTE networks potentially can allow UAS to deliver sensor data for processing, analysis and decision making mid-flight, as well as receive command-and-control inputs in real time, said David Famolari, Director, Verizon Ventures, according to the release. This helps to make the airspace safer for both manned and unmanned aircraft.

PrecisionHawk’s LATAS platform operates over LTE and through satellites, according to the release, and connects airspace safety technologies such as dynamic geofencing, detect and avoid and aircraft tracking, providing safety as a service for the UAS industry. By using the existing infrastructure of Verizon cell towers, LATAS is scalable for UAS operating throughout the U.S.

LATAS will use DigitalGlobe’s Geospatial Big Data Platform to enable UAS to identify and avoid obstacles, including buildings and cable lines, according to the release.

The Nationwide Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) ground station deployment by Harris is the cornerstone of the FAA’s NextGen surveillance initiative, according to the release, which is designed to improve the quality, accuracy and reliability of flight tracking data throughout the National Airspace System. The data is a synthesis of all FAA system derived aircraft surveillance data available in the U.S. National Airspace System.

This collaboration between PrecisionHawk, Verizon, DigitalGlobe, and Harris can provide the industry with an integrated, complete solution to safely manage UAS traffic, according to the release. The companies will continue to test this ecosystem and bring on other partners to further expand its capabilities.

“With this collaboration, the innovation of the tech community is addressing the timely need for a safety services to accelerate drone integration,” said Tyler Collins, Director of LATAS at PrecisionHawk, according to the release. “Verizon, Harris and DigitalGlobe bring technology components, expertise and credibility that are critical to the success of this ecosystem. We look forward to expanding testing through the FAA Pathfinder and NASA UTM programs in 2015.”

Courtesy: Inside Unmanned Systems

Beyond Line of Sight UAS, Commercial UAS Application, UAS Agriculture

PRECISIONHAWK JOINS THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION AND FAA IN THE CREATION OF A SAFETY TASK FORCE FOR UAS

The task force will collaborate on the development of a streamlined registration process for Unmanned Aircraft Systems

PrecisionHawk today announced its contribution to a safety task force created by the U.S. Department of Transportation and the FAA. The task force brings together a diverse group, representing the UAS and manned aviation industries, the federal government, and other stakeholders, to develop an augmented registration process for Unmanned Aircraft Systems.

“PrecisionHawk is working on many safety solutions, procedural and technological, that we believe can contribute to safer operations for commercial drones in the national airspace,” said Ernest Earon, PrecisionHawk CTO and co-founder. “The creation of this task force further demonstrates the willingness of the FAA to move forward with industry leaders to promote rapid and safe integration.”

“As a UAS technology company and operator, we know how important coordinated identification is to the environments in which we work,” said Thomas Haun, VP of Strategy at PrecisionHawk. “The goal of this task force, to create a streamlined registration process for UAS, will have a direct and positive impact on the operations of our partners and service teams.”

This task force presents another opportunity for PrecisionHawk to serve as a technical resource to regulators as we move towards the adoption of UAV regulations. Earlier this year PrecisionHawk was also named, alongside CNN and BNSF, to the FAA Pathfinder Program to test and develop technology solutions to solve beyond line of sight operations.

Source: Media Release

Beyond Line of Sight UAS, Commercial UAS Application

FAA to Require Recreational Drone Operators to Register – Will CASA or EASA Follow?

US Federal regulators announced Monday that recreational drone operators will be required to register their aircraft.

“There can be no accountability if the person breaking the rules can’t be identified,” Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx said at a news conference.

A task force of more than two dozen people will be responsible for creating guidelines for the national registry by Nov. 20, with the goal of instilling the program before the end of the holiday season, when around 1 million drones are expected to be sold.

The increased number of recreational drones worries FAA officials and pilots, who have reported seeing twice the number of unmanned aircraft while flying this year than they did during all of 2014. A spate of high-profile incidents — including drones’ crashing into the stands at the U.S. Open tennis tournament and interfering with firefighting efforts in California — has increased pressure to regulate the use of unmanned aircraft.

See more

Courtesy NBC News

Other articles: U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx Announces Unmanned Aircraft Registration Requirement 

Beyond Line of Sight UAS, Commercial UAS Application, Unmanned Systems

US Defense Dept wants Cargo Drones for the Pacific

Promoting the development of cargo drones will be the focus of next year’s operational energy capability improvement fund, according to a Defense Department official.

“The [fiscal year 2016] theme for OECIF is unmanned aerial vehicles,” said Steve Mapes, deputy director for expeditionary operations in the office of the assistant secretary of defense for energy plans and programs. “What we’re talking about is unmanned aerial vehicles for resupply.”OECIF provides seed money to programs that could potentially improve the energy usage of deployed forces or deliver long-term cost savings.

By using UAVs to transport cargo “you can take those trucks [that would normally have to be used to transport supplies] off the road or you can navigate or circumvent bodies of water without having to send actual forces or troops or ships” to deliver materiel, Mapes said Aug. 25 at a National Defense Industrial Association power conference in Cincinnati, Ohio.

OECIF investments in 2016 would be “targeted specially toward the Pacific,” which presents unique logistical hurdles because of its vast size, Mapes said.

“Tyranny of distance right now is hands down one of the most challenging things we have to deal with, particularly in the [U.S. Pacific Command area of responsibility],” he said. “We rely heavily on host nation agreements. We rely heavily on our joint partners to move equipment and assets from point A to point B. But one of our major defense challenges is just distance.”

As a solution, he envisioned launching supply drones off ships. “We’re talking cargo aircraft that can navigate from a ship-based platform [and] … allow us to navigate that distance without bringing that ship right up to the coast,” he said.

– See more

Courtesy UASVision

Beyond Line of Sight UAS, Commercial UAS Application, Humanitarian UAV, ISR, UAS Agriculture

UK-Singapore Collaboration Prepares for Record 300km Hydrogen Fuel Cell UAV Flight

A new civilian fuel cell UAV designed for search and rescue is gearing up for the world’s first ever 300km UAV flight to cross the North Sea, linking Scotland to Norway

Set to take off within days, this historic flight is the result of a joint effort between UAV fuel cell power systems supplier Horizon Energy Systems (HES) of Singapore, and Scottish UAV developer RaptorUAS. The team is working with Northern Colorado Search and Rescue in the US, as a first end-user of the long endurance UAV system.

The Singapore-built fuel cell is able to keep the Raptor E1 UAV flying for over 12 hours, which makes it an ideal support tool in difficult search and rescue operations over large areas of sea or land. Recognized as the world’s longest endurance energy storage systems for electrical UAVs, fuel cells from HES have helped set new world records in the past including the NASA-backed 5kg Pterosoar UAVsystem which flew 128km in 2007.

Read more

Courtesy: SUAS News