The Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (LDEQ) is utilizing its UAS for a variety of tasks.
Recently, one of the department’s UAS was used to fly over a section of the Mississippi River to document an oil spill that occurred near the French Quarter, while in another instance, a UAS allowed responders to view a flooded field in St. Landry Parish.
When the department deploys its UAS, the UAS records the event in both still images and video, which can then be used for environmental protection and emergency response tasks.
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NIAS launches Nevada Drone Center of Excellence for Public Safety
The Nevada Institute for Autonomous Systems (NIAS) has launched the Nevada Drone Center of Excellence for Public Safety (NDCOE) to help save lives and reduce air hazards from UAS incursions.
Located in Las Vegas, Nevada, NDCOE will seek to do this by “empowering a shared safety vision with the FAA’s integration of drones into the commercial air traffic system.”
Textron businesses integrate, demonstrate manned-unmanned teaming capability
Textron Systems and Textron Aviation have announced the successful integration and demonstration of Textron’s manned-unmanned teaming capability via the Textron Systems' Synturian control and collaboration technology and Textron Aviation Defense Scorpion jet.
Synturian control and collaboration technologies empower situational awareness and informed action, while the Textron Aviation Defense Scorpion jet provides the warfighter with a technological advantage, while also delivering “exceptional mission readiness at unparalleled low acquisition, operating and training costs.”
Aurora Flight Sciences to build robotics and integration facility in Manassas, Virginia
On July 26, Virginia Governor Ralph Northam announced that Aurora Flight Sciences will invest more than $13.75 million to expand its operation in the City of Manassas, Virginia, where it is headquartered.
Aurora, which was acquired by The Boeing Company last year, plans on building a robotics and integration facility that includes a manufacturing unit, a research and development lab, a hangar, and office space. The project is expected to create 135 new jobs.
Rowan County agencies see benefits of using UAS
In Rowan County, North Carolina, the Rowan County Rescue Squad and the North Carolina Highway Patrol are increasingly relying on UAS to respond to various incidents.
Each N.C. Highway Patrol troop has a single UAS to map traffic collisions, while the Rescue Squad is part of a pilot program using its UAS at fires, as well as for search and rescue operations.
The Rowan Rescue Squad received its UAS as part of the pilot program in April 2017, according to Chief Eddie Cress. The squad currently has one certified pilot, a pilot-in-training, and two others who are working on obtaining certification.
Great Lakes Drone Company's UAS light up 2018 EAA AirVenture Oshkosh
On the night of Thursday, July 26, during 2018 EAA AirVenture Oshkosh, a UAS light show lit up the sky in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.
As Lee Greenwood's “God Bless the U.S.A.” played over loudspeakers, the UAS formed a double heart and eagle before flying around to spell out EAA and finish with an American flag.
The light show was performed by Great Lakes Drone Company, which is one of just three companies in the U.S. approved by the FAA to perform lighted drone shows.
The company has four stock shows ranging from 25 to 100 UAS, as well as shows it customizes for customers.
Weekend Roundup
This Week in the Unmanned Systems and Robotics World
Urban Aeronautics has announced the launch of Full Scale Development for the CityHawk hybrid-power, eVTOL Flying Car. The company says that the pre-production 'configuration freeze’ for CityHawk is the result of having successfully completed a series of customer demonstrations of Cormorant, the company's unmanned variant. (Urban Aeronautics)
Skysense partners with Avansig to autonomously power indoor surveillance drone
Skysense has partnered with Avansig, a Spanish information and communication technology developer, to autonomously power the first indoor surveillance UAS for a multinational security company called Prosegur.
According to Skysense, its charging infrastructure, which the company describes as “lightweight, fast-charging, and easy-to-use,” eliminates the need for battery removal or manual charging every time a UAS battery runs out.
Prosegur’s surveillance UAS is capable of carrying out its own patrol route, and can land itself on Skysense’s charging pad to recharge. The UAS records and streams real-time video during surveillance patrols.
When potential security threats or breaches are discovered, the UAS sends alerts to the security central station.
DJI's new customizable drone protection service plan meets needs of commercial UAS operators
DJI has introduced its new customizable drone protection service plan called DJI Enterprise Shield.
Designed to “meet the diverse needs of today’s commercial drone operators,” DJI Enterprise Shield is the first comprehensive coverage plan of its kind that covers the company’s line of enterprise products, providing broad accident coverage, repair and replacement services, free shipping and rapid delivery, and the option to share coverage across a fleet of enterprise products.
Coconino County Sheriff's Office Search and Rescue Unit hoping to expand its UAS capabilities
In Flagstaff, Arizona, the Coconino County Sheriff’s Office Search and Rescue Unit's UAS program is approximately two years old.
The agency started its program after purchasing consumer UAS such as the DJI Phantom 4, and currently, there are four people trained to fly UAS, with each having earned a standard FAA Part 107 Drone Pilot License.
Right now, the UAS are mainly used to search for missing people, as they can be deployed to efficiently search open meadows and stretches of desert, which not only saves boots on the ground, but also allows search and rescue supervisors to better use volunteers searching places that are not ideal for UAS, such as under tree canopies.
