To serve the “rapidly expanding constituency of international members joining the DroneResponders movement,” the DroneResponders Public Safety Alliance has created the DroneResponders International Advisory Council (DIAC).
According to DroneResponders Director Charles Werner, the DIAC’s primary mission is to help formalize the plan for how DroneResponders can best serve members that represent a wide range of regions, languages, and cultural traits, with an ultimate goal of “building bridges facilitating information sharing and interoperability across borders.”
Right now, the DIAC is having conversations with several international members that have expressed interest in serving in a leadership capacity for the organization.
UAS
UAS
Schiebel's Camcopter S-100 UAS completes maritime surveillance demonstration in Finland
Schiebel has announced that in late August, its Camcopter S-100 UAS performed a five-day maritime surveillance demonstration aboard Offshore Patrol Vessel (OPV) Turva in the Gulf of Finland, as part of test trials by the Border and Coast Guard Division of the Finnish Border Guard.
Flying both during the day and at night, the UAS completed a variety of tasks including searching, locating and recognizing objects, as well as surveillance for maximum situational awareness.
The test was part of the ongoing Valvonta2 -project (Surveillance2), which is being led by Finnish Border Guard, and funded by European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF).
HAWK30 solar HAPS UAS successfully completes first flight
AeroVironment has announced that on Sept. 11, the HAWK30 solar HAPS UAS successfully completed its first flight at the NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center in California.
Funding for the design development and demonstration of the UAS comes from HAPSMobile Inc., which is a joint venture created by AeroVironment and SoftBank Corp.
“The first flight of HAWK30 builds on more than two decades of pioneering HAPS technology development and demonstration by the AeroVironment team, and comes only two years since SoftBank joined us in this endeavor,” says Wahid Nawabi, AeroVironment president and chief executive officer.
KDOT receives authorization to conduct UAS test flights at Kansas airport
The FAA has granted the Kansas Department of Transportation (KDOT) Division of Aviation authorization to conduct UAS test flights at Wichita Dwight D. Eisenhower National Airport in Wichita, Kansas beginning Monday, Sept. 16.
Several inspection missions are planned, including foreign object detection, wildlife hazard management and airfield emergency response. Operations will be conducted as part of the UAS Integration Pilot Program (IPP).
“This FAA approval will significantly improve airport efficiency and safety,” says KDOT Director of Aviation Bob Brock.
From Unmanned Systems Magazine: FAA developing a menu of new rules to oversee the booming unmanned aviation sector
The FAA’s efforts to oversee commercial and recreational unmanned aircraft systems seem to be growing almost as quickly as the industry itself.
With more than 1.4 million UAS now registered with the FAA, a statistic that did not even exist until a few years ago, the agency is pursuing several regulatory and other initiatives to manage the increasing traffic to ensure safe and efficient operations.
“This is a fast-moving industry, and we’re doing our level best to keep up,” then-acting FAA Administrator Daniel Elwell said in a June speech. “The trick is to mitigate safety risks without putting the cuffs on technological and operational advances.”
Silent Falcon, Silvus Technologies partner to equip UAS with comm systems
Silent Falcon UAS Technologies has partnered with Silvus Technologies to equip its Silent Falcon UAS with Silvus' advanced technology MIMO MANET Streamcaster communications systems, which includes the company’s new SF ATAK Field Observer Kit.
“Our partnership with Silvus Technologies has allowed Silent Falcon to greatly expand the capabilities and reliability of our Silent Falcon system,” says John W. Brown, Silent Falcon chairman and CEO.
U.S. Marine Corps successfully utilizes MQ-9A Reaper UAS during year of accomplishments
The U.S. Marine Corps’ (USMC) Marine Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Squadron 1 (VMU-1) has spent the last year completing a series of firsts thanks in large part to its use of GA-ASI's MQ-9A Reaper UAS.
The winner of the 2018 Marine Corps Aviation Association Unmanned Aircraft Squadron of the Year, VMU-1 relied heavily the MQ-9A Reaper UAS to complete many of its accomplishments. Over a 12 month period, the UAS has flown more than 4,800 flight hours of direct support reconnaissance.
Equipped with multi-sensor reconnaissance, the MQ-9A provided USMC’s forward operations critical support on the battlefield, while also serving as a proof of concept for the Deputy Commandant’s Marine Aviation Plan.
GENIUS NY startups raise more than $10 million in additional private investments
GENIUS NY has announced that AutoModality, Civdrone, Fotokite, OmniMesh and TruWeather Solutions have raised more than $10 million in additional private investment.
All five of the startups participated in the GENIUS NY accelerator, with AutoModality and Fotokite receiving the $1 million grand prize investment during the accelerator.
“It’s exciting to see these early stage companies start to receive follow-on funding from names like Credit Suisse and ff Venture Capital,” says Jon Parry, director of GENIUS NY.
Kespry, XAP 360 partner to deliver country-wide drone-based residential roofing inspection program
Kespry has partnered with a nationwide network of certified roofing contractors called XAP 360 to deliver a new country-wide drone-based residential roofing inspection program.
Designed with transparency and accuracy when conducting roof inspections for homeowners in mind, the program is expected to ensure that claims payouts occur “rapidly.” XAP 360 and Kespry say that they want to “regain the trust of residential property owners” who have had frustrating experiences by establishing verifiable, credible standards for residential roof inspections, which involves artificial intelligence and machine learning-based analytics.
Valqari, Sprint partner to equip Smart Drone Delivery Mailbox with 5G LTE connectivity
Smart Drone Delivery Mailbox creator Valqari has partnered with Sprint to become the first smart mailbox to connect to Sprint's HTC 5G Hub.
