Beyond line of sight drone flights, new aerial inspection drones from DJI, UAS safety
Check out this week’s article from the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI), which takes a look at some of the latest news and headlines in unmanned vehicles and robotics, including beyond line of sight flights in Canada and Nevada, a new aerial inspection drone from DJI, and a new UAS safety platform.
Canada conducts first BVLOS flight
On February 24, the first beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) flight of a small UAS was flown in Canada. The flight was conducted at the Foremost UAS Range, located in Alberta.
To conduct this landmark flight, Ventus Geospatial Inc., the first company to meet the requirements necessary to conduct a UAS flight under BVLOS conditions at Foremost, worked in coordination with Canadian Unmanned Inc., to fly the Aeryon SkyRanger UAS, produced by Ontario-based Aeryon Labs.
The multi-rotor, vertical takeoff and landing UAS has been used across a number of industries, including the military, public safety and commercial sectors.
According to the Foremost UAS Range, this flight was the culmination of more than eight years of planning and coordinating between the Village of Foremost, Transport Canada, and NAV CANADA.
Record setting BLOS package delivery flight flown in Nevada
On February 15, a record setting, long-distance beyond line of sight delivery flight was conducted in Nevada, in which the Drone America Savant UAS flew a total distance of more than 39 miles, making it the longest drone delivery flight in history. During the flight, operated by a team from Drone America, the UAS flew beyond line of sight for one hour.
The UAS, which reached an altitude of 1,500 feet AGL, was used to deliver a package to the Hawthorne Industrial Airport in Hawthorne, Nevada. The package contained emergency supplies in a simulated lost hiker scenario.
The flight was flown under the Nevada UAS Test Site’s FAA Certificate of Authorization. It was led by the Nevada Institute for Autonomous Systems, which manages the Nevada UAS Test Site on behalf of the Nevada Governor’s Office of Economic Development.
During the flight, there were ground safety visual observers on hand, as well as a Cessna 206 fixed-wing aircraft flown by AviSight, which provided aerial safety observance.
DJI introduces new Matrice 200 drone series for aerial inspections
DJI has unveiled its new Matrice 200 drone series (M200), built to carry out missions involving inspections of critical infrastructure and energy facilities, as well as construction site mapping and missions involving public safety.
The body of the UAS is weather and water resistant, making it ideal for field operations, and is also capable of folding, making it is easy to carry and set up.
The platform also offers the company’s first upward-facing gimbal mount, making it possible to conduct inspections underneath bridges, towers and other structures.
The UAS, which has a maximum flight time of 38 minutes, is compatible with a number of DJI’s cameras, including the X4S and X5S cameras, as well as the Z30 zoom camera and the XT camera for thermal imaging. It also has a forward-facing first-person view camera, which allows for the monitoring of separate images on dual controllers by a pilot and a camera operator.
The M200 series has three versions; the standard M200 version, the M210 and the M210 RTK. The standard M200 version includes one downward-facing gimbal mount. The M210 version is built for a variety of payload configurations, including one single downward facing gimbal mount, two parallel downward-facing gimbal mounts or one upward-facing gimbal mount. The M210 RTK is available with D-RTK modules, which provide centimeter-precision navigation.
All three versions of the M200 will start shipping in Q2 of this year.
PrecisionHawk picks Sierra Wireless to help with UAS safety through LATAS platform
In an effort to let commercial and hobbyist UAS operators know when and where it is safe to fly their unmanned systems, PrecisionHawk has announced that it has chosen Sierra Wireless and its AirPrime MC Series embedded modules to enable global LTE connectivity for PrecisionHawk’s Low Altitude Traffic and Airspace Safety (LATAS) platform.
A provider of fully integrated device-to-cloud solutions for the internet of things, Sierra Wireless will offer support to the LATAS platform, which is the only platform that through one system links UAS, 3-D ground data and live manned aircraft data from both the FAA and global authorities, to provide UAS operators with accurate and real time information to facilitate safe flying in the airspace.
The LATAS platform operates over cellular networks and satellites worldwide, which allows it to connect airspace management technologies into a service package for commercial and recreational UAS operators, as well as air traffic controllers and regulators.
The LATAS platforms also allows users to request, track and verify all flight operations from a central location and automatically report flight paths back to aviation authorities.
PrecisionHawk and Sierra Wireless will showcase the LATAS platform from February 27 to March 2 at the Mobile World Congress 2017 in Barcelona, Spain.
View more information on the AUVSI.
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