As more and more UAVs clutter the sky, navigation becomes a real issue. Delivery by drone sparks some of these questions: how do you prevent collisions? Optimize efficiency? Keep track of inventory? Certainly, GPS-borne navigation is the flavor du jour, but it’s not the only nav protocol. Along comes Azure Sky Group LLC, and their patent application for […]
Ripping a page out of science-fiction, Boeing has filed for a software patent to protect the concept of drones rescuing personnel trapped in a hostile environment. The wounded soldier will hitch a ride on a UAV back to safety, thus sparing the lives of the brave search-and-rescue souls. The well-written application states “Due to unforeseen […]
So you’re operating a UAV, and the engine quits. Is it certain death for your drone? Boeing says ‘no’. According to their patent application, “Larger UAVs and manned aircraft often have redundant systems for communication (e.g., SATCOM) and navigation (e.g., inertial navigation) that enable them to respond to jamming and other contingencies without losing communication and navigation. […]
Although a little older than the up-to-date tech you expect in this blog, Yuneec is emerging as a player in the UAV world, and should be regarded as such. Boasting over 50 patents filed, we found less than that on the USPTO, the present issued patent included. Size and weight are a bane of any flying object. […]
When you leave your base for the field and plan to use a long-range drone, you pack a long-range drone. It will have characteristics of a UAV designed for long, continuous flight and will be able to stay up for a while. However, it will have the maneuverability of a bucket of gravel. What if […]
Although this looks like a toy called the “Sky Walker”, this drone is far from it. The Applicant, l’INSTITUT SUPERIEUR DE L’AERONAUTIQUE ET DE L’ESPACE, funded by the French Ministry of Defense, has invented a little drone to gather recon inside buildings. It was built as a “multi-mission microscale aerial vehicle. It comprises elements allowing […]
Notwithstanding our technological prowess, Mother Nature has a sinister sense of humor, and stuff happens beyond our control. When disaster strikes, it is crucial to establish a communication grid as quickly and efficiently as possible. Bandwidth-hungry networks help coordinate search and rescue, law enforcement and recovery personnel. Sure, there exist “cellular on wheels” (COWs) and […]
Suppose you are tasked with inspection and maintenance of a pipeline. Sure, you can send out a team of engineers with camping gear to march up and down the pipeline, looking for rust and leaks. Or, you could have one drone flying back and forth doing the same job. The latter sounds like an impossible […]
Today will go down in history: a new distribution channel has arrived. While it is not as glorious as the Inter-Webs, getting deliveries by drone is kind of a big deal. What took 90 minutes of arduous driving now takes 20 by a little flying machine. Emergency supplies, fresh medicine, and not to forget, warm […]
So you have your expensive drone in the sky and want streaming video to your pilot, the camera operator, the client’s tablet and the client’s girlfriend’s laptop. That’s a lot of signal for the drone to transmit, not to mention the signal it expects to receive from the pilot. Not all signals are the same. […]