On Feb. 9, 2019, the University of South Florida (USF) will host the 2019 USF Brain-Drone Race, which will feature teams from around the world racing drones using brain-power.
The event, which is free and open to the public, is being organized by USF Assistant Professor Marvin Andujar, PhD, Department of Computer Science and Engineering in the College of Engineering.
Andujar, who led the University of Florida group that first started the competition in 2016, says that the 2019 event will be the world’s first international competition of brain-drone racers, as teams from the United Kingdom, Japan, and Brazil compete against teams from across the U.S., as well as several teams from USF.
Technology
Technology
Lone Star UAS Center to provide UAS support following natural disasters in Nueces County, Texas
After signing an interlocal agreement with Nueces County, Texas, the Lone Star UAS Center of Excellence and Innovation (LSUASC) at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi will begin providing UAS support in response to future natural disasters in the county.
Through the agreement, which was signed on Oct. 31 by Loyd Neal, county judge and emergency management director for Nueces County, the Nueces County Emergency Operations Center will have more support at its disposal when helping with response efforts in the county.
RelmaTech's Direct Broadcast platform allows UAS to broadcast their position and unique ID
RelmaTech has introduced its Direct Broadcast platform, which the company says meets any future regulatory requirements for UAS to broadcast their position and unique ID, without relying on a communications network to carry that data.
Using WiFi-based technology, the Direct Broadcast platform creates a unique beacon on the UAS. Described as light-weight and low cost, Direct Broadcast is based on “proven, stable and robust technology with high volume availability,” RelmaTech says.
RelmaTech also points out that a prototype version of the Direct Broadcast platform has been demonstrated to key individuals within the FAA UAS Integration Office and NASA UTM Research and Development Program.
Skyfire Consulting selected to join San Diego's UAS IPP team
The City of San Diego has selected Skyfire Consulting to join its UAS Integration Pilot Program (IPP) team.
Considered a leading provider of public safety UAS technologies in the U.S., Skyfire Consulting was selected to be a part of San Diego's IPP efforts thanks in large part to its substantial experience with FAA regulations related to public safety UAS use.
Additionally, the Atlanta-based UAS consultancy has as already worked to obtain the first two certificates of authorization (COAs) for the Chula Vista Police Department, which is also a part of the San Diego IPP team.
Parrot introduces new end-to-end UAS platform for farmers, agronomists and researchers
Parrot has introduced its Parrot Bluegrass Fields, which is described as an end-to-end agriculture UAS platform that provides farmers, agronomists and researchers with the insights they need to boost the quality of their crops, and maximize yields.
Part of the Parrot Business Solutions portfolio, Parrot Bluegrass Fields is a combination of the Parrot Bluegrass UAS and the all-new ParrotFields mobile mapping app and Pix4Dfields desktop and cloud-based UAS mapping software.
Featuring a robust carbon-fiber structure, the Parrot Bluegrass agriculture UAS has a flight time of up to 25 minutes, and it is built to perform efficient operations, even in confined areas, thanks to its vertical take-off and landing capability.
Optimus Ride equipping its fleet of autonomous vehicles with NVIDIA DRIVE AGX Xavier computing platform
Self-driving vehicle tech company Optimus Ride has announced that it will equip its autonomous vehicle fleet with the NVIDIA DRIVE AGX Xavier computing platform, which is capable of delivering 30 trillion operations per second using new deep learning and computer vision accelerators.
The company says that the NVIDIA DRIVE platform will deliver “unprecedented computational performance and safety” to its self-driving vehicles.
“Building on NVIDIA DRIVE ensures our vehicles are equipped with the highest performance and most efficient processing power available,” says Optimus Ride CEO and Co-Founder Ryan Chin.
Tulsa students learn about UAS during 'Tulsa Research Kids' Drone Fly-In' event
On Friday, Nov. 2, more than 140 area students gathered at Tulsa Community College’s Riverside Community Campus and Aviation Center for the Tulsa Research Kids’ Drone Fly-In event.
During the event, which was the result of a partnership between Tulsa Community College, Flight Night and the Tulsa Regional STEM Alliance, several businesses discussed UAS and the available careers within the industry to an audience made up of students ranging from kindergarten to 12th grade.
MIT researchers believe autonomous system could guide fleet of UAS during searches for lost hikers
This week during the International Symposium on Experimental Robotics conference, MIT researchers will present a paper in which they describe an autonomous system for a fleet of UAS that would enable UAS to search for lost hikers in forests.
GPS signals used to guide UAS can be unreliable or nonexistent in forest environments, so the MIT researchers propose a strategy where UAS only use onboard computation and wireless communication—effectively eliminating the need for GPS—as they collaboratively search under dense forest canopies.
UAVOS completes development of USV
UAVOS has completed the development of a USV. The towing vehicle is designed to deliver a refueling hose to the land in remote and offshore locations beyond inhabited areas.
The USV will serve as an alternative to manned boats, which often times can’t come near the coast due to strong waves or other natural factors, UAVOS notes. UAVOS says that its USV is built to address the issue of delivering fuel or cargo to hard-to-reach coastal areas.
Elbit Systems to offer its Hermes 900 Maritime Patrol UAS for maritime UAS patrol services in Europe
Elbit Systems Ltd. has been awarded a framework contract to provide maritime UAS patrol services, which will be provided by the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) to countries in the European Union.
The contract will be executed in cooperation with a leading engineering company in Portugal called CEiiA. The contract is for a two-year base period and two single year option periods. If fully ordered, the contract will have a total value of approximately $68 million.