Global UAV Technologies Ltd. has announced that its wholly owned subsidiary, Pioneer Aerial Surveys Ltd., has received authorization from Transport Canada to conduct beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) operations with the NOVAerial Procyon 800E UAS at the UAS test range in Foremost, Alberta.
Transport Canada issued a Special Flight Operating Certificate (SFOC) to Pioneer Aerial, allowing for BVLOS flights at the Foremost UAS Range in Alberta, Canada. With the SFOC, Pioneer Aerial can demonstrate delivery of payloads with the Procyon 800E, and it can also conduct research and development flights, such as radio signal strength testing.
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UAS
Insitu's Integrator ER UAS delivers Group 4 and 5 capabilities in a Group 3 aircraft
During the Air Force Association’s annual Air, Space and Cyber Conference, Insitu announced its Integrator Extended Range UAS.
The UAS, which is a beyond line of sight (BLOS), SATCOM-enabled small UAS capable of “ranging modern combat theaters,” delivers Group 4 and 5 capabilities in a Group 3 aircraft.
Some of these capabilities include “high quality, full motion video on par with current ISR systems while flying at acoustically and visually undetectable altitudes; bandwidth throughput up to 10 megabits per second with a less than 1.5 second latency,” and a significantly reduced manpower footprint for operations, as it only takes a team of 12 operators, maintainers and mission commanders to operate the system.
Lockheed Martin and Drone Racing League's innovation competition focuses on AI and drone racing
Lockheed Martin and the Drone Racing League (DRL) recently announced an innovation competition that will challenge participants to develop artificial intelligence (AI) technology that enables an autonomous UAS to not only race a pilot-operated UAS, but win.
Known as the AlphaPilot Innovation Challenge, the competition will see participating teams, made up of university students, technologists, coders and UAS enthusiasts, compete in a series of challenges for their share of over $2 million in prizes, as they seek to “push the boundaries of AI, machine learning (ML) and fully autonomous flight.”
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.
NUAIR Alliance selects AirMap to provide UTM services for UTM 50-mile test corridor
The Northeast UAS Airspace Integration Research Alliance (NUAIR Alliance) and Rome, New York’s Griffiss International Airport have selected AirMap to provide UTM services to “visualize, manage, and support” UAS operations at the Griffiss New York UAS Test Site.
NUAIR Alliance is building a UTM 50-mile test corridor for beyond visual line-of-sight testing (BVLOS) in the U.S. Its partnership with AirMap will provide enhanced UTM capabilities for ongoing UAS operations.
“NUAIR Alliance is excited to bring in AirMap to power the test corridor with leading-edge UTM services,” says Maj. Gen. (ret.) Marke F. “Hoot” Gibson, CEO of the NUAIR Alliance. “Their global expertise is essential in accelerating the work we’re doing to advance UAS technologies.”
Xcel Energy makes history with BVLOS UAS flights
Xcel Energy has become the first U.S. utility company to fly UAS beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) for ongoing inspections.
The BVLOS flights are a part of Xcel Energy's inspections of transmission lines near Denver.
“Today’s flight takes us a step closer to fully integrating unmanned aircraft into our operations,” says Ben Fowke, chairman, president and CEO, Xcel Energy.
“This innovative technology is revolutionizing our work by improving the safety, efficiency and cost effectiveness of maintaining and protecting the grid for our customers.”
Colorado Northwestern Community College launches new UAS program
Colorado Northwestern Community College (CNCC) is launching a new UAS program.
Scheduled to start on Oct. 15 at both the Craig and Rangely campuses, the first course, known as “AVT 160 – Introduction to Unmanned Aircraft Systems,” is described as a hybrid class taught in-person and online. According to CraigDailyPress.com, it is the first of three UAS courses the college plans to offer.
“This is a stepping stone for where we are going with the course,” says CNCC Aviation Technology Program Director David Boles.
City of Reno, Nevada and Flirtey complete first flights under UAS IPP
The city of Reno, Nevada and Flirtey have successfully completed their first flights under the UAS Integration Pilot Program (IPP).
The city of Reno and Flirtey conducted the first multi-drone delivery demonstration under the program, as a single Flirtey pilot operated multiple Flirtey UAS at the same time, and simulated the delivery of automated external defibrillators (AEDs) in the presence of the FAA.
The flights were conducted under a regulatory waiver that allows multiple small UAS to be operated by one pilot.
“Flirtey just demonstrated deliveries with multiple drones per pilot for the first time, which is a major milestone toward scaling drone delivery nationwide,” says Flirtey Founder and CEO Matthew Sweeny.
SenseFly's new eBee X fixed-wing UAS offers wide variety of camera options and increased endurance
SenseFly recently announced the launch of its eBee X fixed-wing drone, which allows operators to map without limits, the company says.
Part of the Parrot Business Solutions portfolio, the eBee X is designed to boost the quality, efficiency and safety of an operator’s geospatial data collection, as it offers a camera for every job, as well as the accuracy and coverage capabilities to meet the requirements of even the most demanding projects, and the durability to work virtually every site.
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.