The Northeast UAS Airspace Integration Research Alliance (NUAIR Alliance) has signed a multi-year collaboration agreement with Thales.
NUAIR says that the agreement supports its efforts to safely integrate UAS into “traditional, controlled airspace.” The agreement also supports NUAIR’s ability to conduct operations at its New York UAS test site’s 50-mile UAS traffic management (UTM) corridor at Griffiss International Airport.
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L3 Technologies acquires USV and autonomous vessel control systems company ASV Global
On Sept. 20, L3 Technologies acquired ASV Global, a USV and autonomous vessel control systems company.
This acquisition “strategically enhances” L3’s full spectrum of unmanned maritime capabilities, which includes integrated anti-submarine warfare (ASW) technologies, future surface combatant unmanned off-board sensors, and integrated USV and UUV operations.
The acquisition will result in a new company known as L3 ASV.
Oxbotica's latest investment will support the 'next stage of its growth strategy'
Autonomous vehicle software company Oxbotica has announced the completion of a £14 million (more than $18.5 million USD) investment, which will be used to support the “next stage of its growth strategy,” the company says.
According to Oxbotica, the investment will be used to further accelerate its sustained growth, which has already seen it generate “significant” revenues, the company says, from an international customer base. Some of the company’s customers include well-known businesses in sectors such as aerospace, automotive, construction, logistics and mining.
Udelv to supply supermarkets in Oklahoma City with autonomous delivery vehicles
Udelv, which develops autonomous delivery vehicles (ADVs), has signed a deal with Narnia Road and Esperanza Real Estate Investments to supply Oklahoma City’s (OKC) largest local chain of grocery stores with self-driving delivery vans.
According to udelv, the grocery chain is the first in the world to make such a large scale investment in ADVs.
“The partnership between udelv and Esperanza and the BFL Company of stores is a historic agreement and signals the start of ADVs making everyday life easier for Americans,” says udelv CEO, Daniel Laury.
AeroVironment to provide Portuguese Army with Raven UAS
AeroVironment has announced that on Aug. 20, the company received a fixed-price contract award valued at $5.9 million from NATO Support and Procurement Agency (NSPA), which includes the procurement of the company’s Raven UAS equipped with Mantis i23 sensors and pocket Remote Video Terminals (p/RVT) for the Portuguese Army.
Delivery of the Raven UAS is scheduled over a three-year period.
Robotic Research awarded contract to work on Autonomous Unmanned Systems Teaming & Collaboration for Counter-WMD Mission
The U.S. Army's Armament Research, Development and Engineering Center (ARDEC) has awarded Robotic Research a five-year $50 million contract for Autonomous Unmanned Systems Teaming & Collaboration (AUSTC) for the Counter-WMD Mission in challenging subterranean and other environments.
Robotic Research is a Maryland-based engineering and technology company that provides autonomy software and robotic technology to several Federal and commercial customers.
AUSTC builds on prior and ongoing Robotic Research Small Business Innovative Research contracts—also with ARDEC—in support of the Mobile Autonomous Counter-WMD System, Increment B (MACS-B).
Self-Deploying Drone Pilots may be Problem for Hurricane Response Efforts
Last year’s hurricane season was a benchmark year for the role of drones in emergency management. Harvey, Irma, and Maria all had varying characteristics that served well to showcase the benefits that unmanned aircraft systems can provide for response and recovery operations. However, the well-documented — and publicized — success of those efforts is now likely to create a new problem: well-intentioned remote pilots who self-deploy to disaster scenes hoping to help save the day.
Impossible Aerospace raises $9.4 million in Series A funding and unveils US-1 UAS
Impossible Aerospace, a company that is building long-range electric aircraft, has raised $9.4 million in a Series A funding round, bringing the total amount raised by the company thus far to more than $11 million.
In addition to this funding, Impossible Aerospace has also unveiled its US-1 UAS, which is an electric commercial-grade drone with a flight time of up to two hours.
According to Impossible Aerospace, the US-1’s battery life outperforms the approximate single-charge flight time of other UAS available today—25 minutes—and “brings it to parity with gasoline-fueled systems,” the company says.
NSWC PHD and Aerial Alchemy looking into using UAS to enhance maintenance and fleet readiness for U.S. Navy
Naval Surface Warfare Center, Port Hueneme Division (NSWC PHD) and industry partner Aerial Alchemy are working together to research and investigate the use of UAS to enhance the U.S. Navy’s maintenance and fleet readiness.
The UAS are capable of visually capturing the exterior surface of naval ships, and this data could then be used to develop 3D digital models, to ultimately identify damage, corrosion, and alignment issues.
“Collaboration is key to rapidly increasing the lethality of our Navy,” says NSWC PHD Commanding Officer, Capt. Ray Acevedo, via the Defense Visual Information Distribution Service.
Sea Machines moves to larger work space to ensure successful release of upcoming autonomous tech
Sea Machines, a developer of autonomous control and advanced perception systems for the maritime industry, has moved its team in Hamburg, Germany to a larger, waterfront work space in the Hammerbrook area of Hamburg.
The move was made to support the growing interest in the company’s autonomous controls and advanced perception technology in European markets, and to make sure that Sea Machines' upcoming commercial product release is successful.
“This move strengthens Sea Machines’ foothold in Germany and supports our growing demand for engineering, sales and marketing across Europe,” says Sea Machines CEO Michael Johnson.
