A team of researchers from Oklahoma State University (OSU) has been recognized with the University Leadership Initiative (ULI) Award from NASA, and will receive $5.2 million in funding over the next four years to address some of NASA’s strategic research initiatives.
Featuring faculty members and students from the College of Engineering, Architecture and Technology, the OSU team will seek to improve real-time weather forecasting of low-level winds and turbulence in both rural and urban environments, with the ultimate goal of improving safety for UAS flying in Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) operations.
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DroneUp, partners test how UAS could help medical professionals battling COVID-19
To determine how UAS could help medical professionals in their fight to stop the spread of the Coronavirus, DroneUp, UPS and its subsidiary UPS Flight Forward (UPSFF), Virginia’s Center for Innovative Technology (CIT), and Workhorse Group recently came together to test the technology in Lawrenceville, Virginia.
The entities say that experts in the healthcare industry and in government are looking for technology that could speed the pace of testing and treatment for infected patients, making autonomous drones a potentially valuable tool. The tests evaluated the commercial drone industry’s ability to provide and scale small UAS to support a variety of use cases to speed and assist the U.S. healthcare system during the pandemic.
Milrem Robotics, InnoVfoam developing robot firefighting systems
Milrem Robotics has announced that it is working with foam extinguishing technology specialist InnoVfoam to develop robot firefighting systems that could help, or even replace, firefighters in especially hostile environments.
Milrem Robotics’ Multiscope Rescue UGV are equipped with various firefighting systems from InnoVfoams—specifically foam proportioning systems and fire monitors—to create the firefighting platforms.
Firefighters remotely operate the robots from a safe distance. They are provided with a complete overview of the operation area through various cameras, as well as sensors onboard the robot that can detect gas or chemical leaks.
Drone delivery company Zipline tapped for Ghana COVID-19 sample flights
On-demand drone delivery specialist Zipline has been contracted by Ghana’s Ministry of Health to return COVID-19 test samples from health centers in the most remote areas of the country.
According to an official statement published on April 20, the U.S.-based company has already started to fly missions from four launch sites across the West African country to laboratory sites in Ghana’s Capital, Accra and second city Kumasi.
The "contactless" service will allow Ghana’s government to respond to the pandemic and help save lives "more quickly," according to a statement released by Zipline CEO Keller Rinaudo.
Black Swift Technologies to develop UAS for Air Force, Army and Special Operations Forces ops
Black Swift Technologies (BST) has been awarded a USAF SBIR Phase II contract to develop a UAS that can autonomously conduct atmospheric profiling to support more accurate cargo drops and improved localized weather forecasts in support of Air Force, Army and Special Operations Forces (SOF) operations.
Known as the Black Swift SØ (S-zero), the compact, rugged aerial platform is designed to be hand-launched with the ability to quickly climb up to 15,000 feet. It is capable of a deep-stall landing with near vertical descent and 10-foot accuracy thanks to its unique tail design. Its rapid ascent and descent capabilities allow the UAS to quickly and accurately capture 3-dimensional (3D) wind profiles at a variety of levels, which is crucial for precision cargo drops.
OSU's new drone designed to keep rescuers out of harm's way following disasters
The aftermath of the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995 that left 168 people dead sparked the work being done today by Oklahoma State University’s (OSU) Unmanned Systems Research Institute to help first responders.
25 years ago, there was no technology available that could help rescuers locate victims without risking their own lives to climb throughout what was left of the Murrah Building.
With this in mind, the now deceased Jon Hansen of the Oklahoma City Fire Department said that first responders needed a better way to conduct searches of rooms and communicate with the injured without having rescuers climbing through an unstable structure.
USMC conducts first operational flight of MQ-9A Reaper UAS in the Middle East
U.S. Marine Corps (USMC) pilots and sensor operators from Marine Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Squadron 1 (VMU-1) conducted their first operational flight of GA-ASI's MQ-9A Reaper UAS in the Middle East on March 20.
The VMU-1 “Watchdog” crews took control of a Company Owned/Company Operated (COCO) MQ-9A supporting forward deployed Marines, while the GA-ASI team provided oversight.
This achievement by the USMC comes shortly after 7,000 hours of COCO flight operations since Sept. 2018 was surpassed.
“This achievement represents a unique milestone and example of the Marine Corps’ legacy of innovation,” says David R. Alexander, president, GA-ASI.
Weekend Roundup: April 17, 2020
This Week in the Unmanned Systems and Robotics World
Oceanographers from the Scottish Association for Marine Science (SAMS) recently uncovered a hidden Arctic eddy using an autonomous glider. Eddies are circular movements of water that have broken off from an ocean current. (Scottish Association for Marine Science)
From Unmanned Systems magazine: The power, promise and potential pitfalls of 5G for unmanned systems
Check out just a few wow-worthy examples of the vision that the fifth generation of wireless technology is inspiring for the use of connected drones:
• It could bring data-throughput speeds of up to 10 gigabytes per second, enabling real-time sharing of aerial video and other sensor data.
• It could enable devices to stay connected while traveling hundreds of miles per hour, allowing for remote deployment of AI-enabled, ultra-responsive autonomous fleets.
• It could support up to a million connected devices per square kilometer — enough capacity to absorb an explosion in the Internet of Things alongside increasingly sophisticated mobile applications, on the ground and aloft.
UAVOS successfully tests cargo delivery UVH-170 unmanned helicopter
During a trial designed to validate a highly automated delivery flight from a vendor to a destination and back, across precisely pre-selected pathways, UAVOS successfully tested its cargo delivery UVH-170 unmanned helicopter.
During the 1.7-hour flight that covered a standoff distance of 62 miles, critical humanitarian aid that weighed 17.6 pounds was delivered without the UAS having to land, and without the need for a ground control station on the receiving side.
