Drone Delivery Canada (DDC) has provided an update on the Condor drone from successful testing at the Alma, Quebec Unmanned Aerial System Centre of Excellence. On Sept. 1, DDC announced that it had successfully tested several critical aspects of the Condor, including triple-redundant communications system (satellite, cellular, 900MHz RF); triple-redundant navigational guidance system; triple-redundant autopilot system; monitoring of unmanned flights remotely from DDC’s Operations Control Centre in Vaughan, Ontario; general flight stability and performance; and fuel consumption characteristics.

This Week (and last week) in the Unmanned Systems and Robotics World Australian Defence Force (ADF) Academy has announced that in August, it received two Mk6 UGVs. According to private Jacob Joseph, the academy received the vehicles after undergoing testing at Exercise Talisman Sabre. (Army Technology)

Last week, Iris Automation conducted a live drone flight demonstration of its Casia onboard Detect-and-Avoid (DAA) collision avoidance system for the City of Reno Fire Department. The demonstration was performed under the FAA’s UAS Integration Pilot Program (IPP).  During the demonstration, which took place in Nevada over the Carson River at Fort Churchill State Historic Park, a drone equipped with Casia showcased how this technology will be used to provide automated situational awareness for drones and their pilots. Casia enables safe beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) drone operations. “Through this CONOP, we aim to implement rescue operations supported by drone technology within the Truckee River region in the near future,” says Reno Fire Chief Dave Cochran.

Parrot has partnered with professional drone lighting company FoxFury Lighting Solutions to enhance its ANAFI USA drone, which is designed for first responders and enterprise professionals.  The companies collaborated to develop a tailored system for ANAFI that allows professionals to attach up to three D10 lights modules on the drone. Made in the U.S., the intuitive saddle mounting system and the lights provide up to 40 minutes of continuous use in “High” mode and 80 minutes in “Strobe” mode, with self-contained LiPo batteries. This solution will allow professionals from the public safety and inspection verticals to extend crucial work in the most extreme situations, such as a search and rescue mission at night or traveling through dimly lit structures like tunnels.