A drone with flapping wings that can make quick turns like a bird could one day be used to monitor crowds as well as crops in fields. Continue reading
Category Archives: Research
Caltech Drones Swarm in Restricted Space
Engineers at Caltech have designed a new data-driven method to control the movement of multiple robots through cluttered, unmapped spaces, so they do not run into one another. Continue reading
Europe Creates a €5M Labyrinth to Manage Low-Level Drone Operations
This June saw the launch of the European LABYRINTH project. The aim of LABYRINTH is to build on the high optimisation potential for the management and supervision processes of unmanned aerial systems to optimise drone traffic, and thus enhance and encourage its use in high-density areas. Continue reading
Flight Paths Help Pinpoint Malicious Drone Operators
Academics from the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) have demonstrated a potential means of being able to pinpoint the location of operators. In a research paper , “Can the operator of a drone be located by following the drone’s path?,” published this month, the research team explored how analysis of flight paths may be useful in tracking malicious operators down. Continue reading
Safer Unmanned Aircraft with the SAMA – SHM Project
The set-up of the demonstrator at Politecnico lab: a CFRP (Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymer) full-scale component representative of an unmanned aircraft stabilizer, that has been tested both for load monitoring and impact monitoring
Politecnico di Milano, the leading institution of the European project SAMAS – SHM (Application to Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems– Structural Health Monitoring), has designed, implemented and tested a real-time structural monitoring system that allows to estimate aerodynamic loads and real-time identification of impact on the aircraft in order to instantly estimate any damages. Continue reading
Smart Blade Repair Drones Move Step Closer to Reality
A UK collaborative project developing an autonomous inspection and repair concept for offshore wind turbine blades has addressed several technological challenges in its first year. The two-year Multi-Platform Inspection, Maintenance and Repair (MIMRee) project aims to provide a demonstration of an autonomous system capable of planning its own operational missions to offshore wind farms. Continue reading
Aurora Flight Sciences Gets $7M DARPA CRANE Contract
Aurora Flight Sciences Corp., Manassas, Virginia, has been awarded a $7,115,128 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for the Control of Revolutionary Aircraft with Novel Effectors (CRANE) program. Continue reading
Drones to Release Sterile Mosquitoes to Control Zika
A new study from the International Atomic Energy (IAEA) uses drones to increase the effectiveness and reduce costs related to using the nuclear technique that aims to suppress disease-carrying mosquitoes. This is a significant step in deploying this method on a large-scale basis to control the mosquitoes causing dengue, yellow fever, and Zika. Continue reading