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garymortimer writes:
Weighing close to one ton the platform is lifted by ducted fans and is slated to have a top speed of 250 knots or 287 mph. A Turbomeca Ariel turboshaft engine powers the two ducted fans. You can certainly hear it coming!
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garymortimer writes:
Congratulations to Devon based multirotor operators http://www.flyonix.com/ Looks like the transition to forward flight was a bit of an issue.
Three fans built their own iconic blue police box to celebrate the show’s 50th anniversary.
Ben Whiting, 32, Rupert Brandon-King, 31, and Ben Bailey, 25, worked together on the project ahead of its maiden flight over the countryside in Hatherleigh, Devon, this week.
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garymortimer writes:
Much like PrimeAir the drone delivery service from Amazon, DroneOn it is still a work in progress for the delivery of survey data.
Some interesting work going in in the labs at extending flight times and all weather capabilities.
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garymortimer writes:
“Developing disruptive technologies and quickly getting them into the hands of our sailors is what our SwampWorks program is all about,” said Craig A. Hughes, Acting Director of Innovation at ONR. “This demonstration really underpins ONR’s dedication and ability to address emerging fleet priorities.” The successful submerged launch of a remotely deployed UAS offers a pathway to providing mission critical intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities to the U.S. Navy’s submarine force. Operating under support of the Los Angeles class USS Providence (SSN 719) and the Naval Undersea Warfare Center-Newport Division (NUWC-NPT), the NRL developed XFC UAS—eXperimental Fuel Cell Unmanned Aerial System—was fired from the submarine’s torpedo tube using a ‘Sea Robin’ launch vehicle system.
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garymortimer writes:
Amazon.com is testing delivering packages using drones, CEO Jeff Bezos said on the CBS TV news show 60 Minutes Sunday.
The idea would be to deliver packages as quickly as possible using the small, unmanned aircraft, through a service the company is calling Prime Air, the CEO said.
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garymortimer writes:
Trying to get contraband into a prison is nothing new, but there is a new method. This week, some creative crooks tried to get tobacco to South Georgia prisoners by using a remote controlled helicopter, but they didn’t get away with it.
A lieutenant from the Calhoun State prison noticed a small helicopter flying over the gates of and a search began. Sheriff Josh Hilton says about an hour later deputies noticed a suspicious black dodge car with Gwinnett County tags on Edison Street.
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garymortimer writes:
E-volo’s Volocopter is a revolution in aviation Made in Germany. Safer, simpler, and cleaner than normal helicopters, it has a unique way of moving – a groundbreaking innovation. The Volocopter is an environmentally friendly and emission-free private helicopter. Instead of one combustion engine, eighteen electrically driven rotors propel it
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garymortimer writes:
At a secret New York event Gaga slipped into the battery-powered couture contraption, called Volantis, and hovered about a foot above the ground thanks to the hexi-copter design by Techhaus Studio XO.
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garymortimer writes:
Project Endurance, previously part of the DARPA Excalibur laser weapons program, focuses on miniaturizing component technologies, developing high-precision target tracking, identification, and lightweight agile beam control to support target engagement.
The program also focuses on the phenomenology of laser-target interactions and related threat vulnerabilities. Ultimately the program seeks to develop pod-mounted lasers for drones and planes.
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garymortimer writes:
Look, up in the sky! It's a bird it's a plane it's a PETA Air Angel! Just in time for the first day of bowhunting season in Massachusetts, PETA supporters took one of our brand-new "Air Angel" drones for a test flight, and the winged bunny's virgin mission went off without a hitch.
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garymortimer writes:
The aircraft is Aerovel’s 20-kg Flexrotor, which combines VTOL and small footprint with Hawaii-to-West Coast range. The carrier is a 4-metre skiff equipped to launch, retrieve, and service Flexrotor automatically. In what are believed to be the first-ever flight cycles of an unmanned aircraft based on an unmanned boat, Flexrotor launched from the remotely-controlled skiff while underway, climbed out as a helicopter, transitioned to wing-borne flight, imaged the skiff while flying at low and high speeds, transitioned back to thrust-borne flight, and retrieved autonomously onboard. The aircraft then shut down, was automatically refueled and restarted, and repeated the first flight, finally being secured onboard in a docking station. Aircraft and skiff then came ashore, and were driven 100 miles home into the setting sun.
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garymortimer writes:
The Fotokite, an ETH spin-off project, is a tethered flying platform that lets a user spontaneously access unique vantage points in varied environments.
Working with partners such as the BBC, we are working to make the Fotokite a viable, useful, live-streaming TV & journalism tool. For this, the user should be able to quickly and accurately frame the precise shot, simultaneously controlling both the position and the attitude of the platform.
At the core of the Fotokite approach is the “keep it simple” philosophy. To allow for attitude control, without overloading the user, we can use either an IMU-equipped screen or an IMU-equipped immersive display such as the Oculus Rift or the Google Glass.
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garymortimer writes:
Davy Kong, Advisor, External Communications Americas for ConocoPhillips has confirmed that their trial aircraft had an engine failure during tests in Alaska.
Patrick,
As you may know ConocoPhillips and its collaborators successfully completed the first approved commercial use of an unmanned Airborne System (UAS) in U.S. controlled airspace. However, during a second test flight, the aircraft experienced engine failure and – as it is programmed to do – aborted the flight into the water. The aircraft was recovered.
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garymortimer writes:
Sascha Fuchs (L), head of ATG Sitec GmbH, and Thorsten Kanand, head of AirRotorMedia, demonstrate how a quadrocopter drone can carry a rig for marking telephone cables with artifical DNA on September 30, 2013 near Kremmen, Germany. The two men have a contract with German communications provider Deutsche Telekom to tag overhead telephone cables across Germany in an effort to fight theft of the cables, which has shot up in recent years with the value of copper.
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garymortimer writes:
On September 1, 2013, and again on September 15, 2013, Hindi piloted his drone following Wing Pointe pigeon shoots. Both times the drone recorded video of burning, which showed a further pattern of illegal activity committed after the illegal shoots had ended.
The DEP was called after the Sept. 15 incident. An inspector discovered that Wing Pointe had burned spent shotgun shell cartridges along with plastic bottles, aluminum cans and other business waste. Shockingly, the DEP only gave the gun club another warning and is taking no further legal action.
