While participating in the Mobile Methane Monitoring Challenge, ULC Robotics and Los Gatos Research (LGR) deployed their patented UAS-based sensor to identify the source of controlled methane leaks.
Data collected during the challenge by the UAS and sensor will be compared to eleven other ground- and aerial-based technologies.
“Leak surveys are traditionally carried out by vehicle or by foot, which can be inefficient and dangerous to utility workers,” says Michael Passaretti, UAV Program Manager at ULC Robotics.
Technology
Technology
Arizona fire departments considering incorporating UAS into their operations
Fire departments in Arizona are considering more and more how UAS could benefit their operations.
Division Chief Don Devendorf believes that the Prescott Fire Department could find various ways to use this technology, especially considering that the department's response area includes mountain terrain right in town, along with other “usual city” firefighting challenges.
Jacksonville Transportation Authority converting part of Skyway 'people mover' for autonomous vehicle testing
The Jacksonville Transportation Authority (JTA) has announced that it will convert a portion of the existing Skyway “people mover” into an elevated test track for autonomous vehicles.
The Skyway track conversion will allow JTA to test autonomous vehicles in an elevated environment, and ultimately provide a road map to eventually convert the Skyway system for new autonomous electric vehicles, according to JTA CEO Nathaniel Ford.
“We are advancing whatever is the mobility or whatever the mode that fits the bill, and not just our 40-foot bus,” Ford told News4Jax, via WJCT.
Aurora's Autonomous Aerial Cargo Utility System successfully delivers cargo to US Marines
In early May, Aurora’s Autonomous Aerial Cargo Utility System (AACUS) successfully delivered cargo to U.S. Marines in the Integrated Training Exercise at the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms in California.
According to Aurora Flight Sciences, AACUS completed its first closed loop mission from takeoff to landing for its intended purpose of actual cargo resupply to Marines, as it successfully completed an autonomous cargo sustainment flight delivering more than 500 pounds of water, gasoline, MREs, and replacement communications gear including a packed cooler to represent urgently required cargo such as blood.
AlarisPro UAS fleet management software benefits from customer input
After being asked to help a UAS manufacturer propose their system to the Department of Defense, Tony “Pooch” Pucciarella, founder of AlarisPro, says he was surprised to learn that the company was unfamiliar with standard aviation reliability and safety metrics such as mean time between replacement and failure.
This led Pucciarella to start designing the architecture for AlarisPro, UAS fleet management software that helps keep track of vital information regarding drones.
Among many things, the software provides detailed reports, flight and maintenance logs, and a dashboard that includes pilot status, UAS status and alerts, with colors — green (good), yellow (caution) and red (item is past due) — to indicate the current standing.
Team Polaris' MRZR X selected by U.S. Army for trials as part of SMET program
The U.S. Army has selected Team Polaris—made up of Polaris Industries Inc., Applied Research Associates Inc. (ARA) and Neya Systems LLC—and its advanced MRZR X multi-mode vehicle platform to be one of the robotic systems used by infantry brigade combat teams for the next year of trials, as part of the Squad Multipurpose Equipment Transport (SMET) program.
Warfighters using the MRZR X are provided with a “modular, multi-mission support platform” that has several modes of operation, from traditional operator driving to multiple levels of autonomy, including the capability for remote control, teleoperation, follow-me, leader-follower and full autonomy.
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Weekend Roundup
This Week in the Unmanned Systems and Robotics World
A company called Upvision recently used a UAS to map a copper mine in Mongolia. The company says that “more than 10 km² of mine and surroundings” were mapped using the MaVinci Sirius UAS, which Upvision has used for more than five years for this type of mission.
Swift Navigation installing driverless vehicle technology in The Villages, Florida
Swift Navigation is currently in a census-designated place in Sumter County, Florida, called The Villages, installing technology to be used for driverless vehicles.
The California-based software company says that in the near future, people in The Villages, a well-known retirement community, will be able to sit in driverless cars, using GPS technology to safely travel.
“Take my wife to work, go back home, maybe pick up the kids at school and drive them home all with a single car,” says Lance Andre with Swift Navigation via News 6/ClickOrlando.com.
