Innholdsfortegnelse for February - March 2021 i RotorDrone Pro

SHARED AIRSPACE When I read about the latest developments in autonomous drone delivery, I wonder what the skies will look like in the next few years. Will small uncrewed aerial vehicles (sUAVs) circle overhead, waiting for their turn to dock at the nearest landing pad, or will drones actually take off and land from my front doorstep? And in either of those scenarios, how will these aircraft—presumably flown autonomously or at least beyond visual line of sight—avoid mid-air collisions? Although we don’t yet have all the answers, this month contributor Patrick Sherman details the plan that’s being developed by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and how it will impact commercial drone operations. His 14-page, must-read feature starts on page 22, and I think you’ll agree that it’s the most comprehensive…

Archer Unmanned Air Systems (Archer UAS), technology company with a 911-integrated drone deployment system, has announced a partnership with RapidDeploy as part of its Lightning Partner Program. Archer’s lifesaving drone deployment software, Archer First Response Systems (AFRS), will be integrated into the RapidDeploy SaaS platform, enabling 911 agencies to better locate victims and dispatch time-sensitive, lifesaving supplies by drone with the touch of a button. RapidDeploy’s cloud-native SaaS platform has been deployed at over 500 public safety agencies and 911 call centers, with an additional 150 deployments currently in progress throughout the U.S. As a RapidDeploy Lightning Partner, Archer UAS joins an ecosystem of technology players working to create an end-to-end Unified Critical Response platform, democratizing public safety through cloud-native technology. RapidDeploy continues to expand the number of partner technologies…

This new, ready-to-fly, 248-gram drone comes with a built-in 4k, 60fps camera system and two batteries that each offer 7-minute flights. Pair it to the included FPV goggles and NOVA’s camera will record 4K video while simultaneously transmitting the live video feed! It has propeller guards made of space-grade Carbon-Xmaterial and features what Beagle Drones calls “a futuristic Cyberpunk-like outer shell design.” Small and compact, this aircraft is water-resistant and offer stability and acro modes. The NOVAL comes with two batteries, a fast charger, remote controller, goggles, 32GB SD card, and a USB cable. The NOVA package is expected to cost $450. beagledrones.com…

1. Merge Your Shots I recommend taking Automatic Exposure Bracketing (AEB) photos, which takes five photos instead of just one. Two will be underexposed to include more details in the highlights (the sky for example) and two will be overexposed to include more details in the shadows. Now Lightroom has this handy option to merge those five photos together into one HDR photo. It samples the best areas from all five photos, so you’ll end up with a photo that has all the detail you want in the highlights and also in the shadows. That’s what they call having a “maximal dynamic range.” Now how do we do this? Very simple, you select all five RAW photos with ctrl +, clicking them individually or selecting the first one and then…

Hover Solutions was founded in March of 2015 when CEO Stuart Showalter and COO Nathanael Showalter began purchasing and learning to fly drones with the intention of eventually becoming a legal aerial imaging company. After nearly a year, Nathanael met the FAA’s requirement of a pilot license, and the company was issued a Section 333 Exemption, allowing Hover Solutions to open its doors for business. Based in Rockville, Maryland, they offer aerial photography, video, and data solutions.…

Location: Vancouver, Canada Pilot: Jason Cole Drone: DJI Mavic 2 Zoom SEND US YOUR PHOTOS If you have an image that you’ve taken with a multirotor that you’d like to see show cased in “Over the Horizon,” please send your high-resolution image, your Instagram handle (if applicable), and information on the location and the drone you flew to capture the image to RotorDrone@AirAge.com. Every photographer we feature on this page will receive a free one-year subscription or extension to RotorDronePro magazine.…

RotorDronePro.com › Stunning Aerial Images Please thank Jeff Howe for the great article on taking photos with drones in the December/January issue. Jeff’s photos are spectacular! I am a digital Waypoint subscriber and have access to all the back issues, and I think Jeff’s article is one of the best on this subject. I learned a lot from his article—especially when it comes to editing after the image has been taken. I am not a professional photographer so I really appreciate getting tips from the experts to make my aerial images stand out. Robert Kinnett, Kansas City, Kansas I will certainly pass along your compliments to Jeff Howe, and we hope we can get him to share his aerial photography knowledge in a follow-up article. Please send your favorite photos…

Can autonomous drones deliver supplies to troops in an active firefight? DroneUp recently partnered with a North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Allied Command Transformation (ACT) Joint Force Development (JFD) exercise to find out. Participants met in Lawrenceville, Virginia—90 miles from Norfolk’s NATO ACT. The Brunswick County location provided a safe field environment to test the capabilities of the autonomous resupply experiment. The special operations experimental team also included Pale Horse Weapons Institute, Daniel Defense, Ultimate Training Munitions, and WeaponLogic DroneUp provided a patent-pending technology delivery solution and experiment execution for the operational experiment, which was led by Lieutenant Colonel Michael Atkinson, MBE, British Army. The experiment requirements included identifying and delivering a specified payload to three different recipients; delivering payloads unique to each recipient; drones locating the recipient; drones delivering…

Unmanned Aircraft Systems manufacturer Autel Robotics and DroneSense, the leading drone software platform for public safety, have announced a partnership that will allow UAS teams to utilize the full suite of DroneSense capabilities tailor-made for the needs of public safety operators with their Autel EVO Series aircraft. “Autel has developed the EVO II Dual with Public Safety applications in mind, featuring a short 30-second deployment time, the highest optical resolution available in a non-military application, a secure data policy, and best-in-class flight times,” says John Kuch, retired Fairfax County Police Department. “The DroneSense/Autel partnership provides public safety agencies the best tools available for managing unmanned aerial programs and coordinating flight operations.” The Autel EVO II Dual is specifically designed to aid public safety personnel in recognizing persons and objects in…

With 1.4 million people across 29 counties, eastern North Carolina’s vast, rural environment can create challenges for accessing care. In collaboration with Merck, Volansi is piloting the delivery of cold chain medicines from Merck’s Wilson, N.C. manufacturing site to Vidant Healthplex-Wilson, a Vidant Health clinic, as the first of three phases in a project to learn about drone technology’s role and ability to improve access to healthcare. Initial flights in the project resulted in the first drone delivery of temperature-controlled medicines within the U.S. “We’ve seen the world’s supply chain strained like never before from the impact of Coronavirus,” said Hannan Parvizian, CEO and Co-Founder of Volansi. “There’s now an accelerated need for rapid advancements in supply chain technology, especially in healthcare. Drone delivery is one solution to getting critical…

AAO: Acronym for “Authorized Area of Operation” A volume of airspace that will require aircraft flying specific mission profiles, such as BVLOS, to meet minimum standards established by the FAA related to its CNS capability and overall performance. An AAO may be established in areas of dense UAS traffic or other circumstances that increase the overall risk to flight operations. AGL: Acronym for “Above Ground Level” One of two measures commonly used in aviation for altitude: the height of the aircraft above the local terrain. Contrast with “MSL.” ATC: Acronym for “Air Traffic Control” A system established by FAA to maintain separation between aircraft operating in the NAS and to make efficient use of airspace. The backbone of this system are the human controllers in airport control towers and regional…

Within the past few years, drones have become just another tool in the toolbox for movie creators, both big and small. The next time you finish watching your favorite feature film or TV show, pay attention to the credits at the end. More than likely, you will see the names of a drone pilot and gimbal operator in the list. Drones are becoming more popular on set, and they have secured their position as a supplement to conventional filming tools. The best usage of a drone falls somewhere between that of a Steadicam, a crane, and a helicopter, so they have become indispensable. How do drones work on set, and how do drone operators pull off the stunning shots you see on the big screen? I’ve had the pleasure of…

Autopilots, formally known as “flight-control systems” and casually called “George,” greatly increase the complexity of aircraft operations. Autopilot designs can differ by manufacturer, and pilots must become familiar with the specific details of each system. A correctly programmed autopilot on a drone reduces the pilot’s workload, allowing the pilot to monitor the flight path and operate the camera. Autopilots have many limitations, however, and the pilot must understand those limitations before flying on auto. Pilots who fly their drones using autonomous modes must understand how the programming works before giving up control to “George.” They must also be ready to immediately regain manual flight control in case of a programming failure. Autopilots on drones, combined with obstacle-avoidance technology, are so advanced that pilots may become complacent. The overuse of an…

PAY PAL ACCEPTED DRONE SCHOOL SKU: DSB001 | $9.99 This 73-page digital download is a collection of articles from RotorDrone magazine that will give you a better understanding of drones, from the basics of the aircraft to gear and gadgets, mastering flight, and troubleshooting tips. LEARN ON THE GO WITH DIGITAL DOWNLOADS! RotorDrone brings you the information you need to know, from getting started to battery basics to creating professional aerial videos and more. Get your most frequently asked questions answered by experts in the field! Prices start at only $6.95…

When Consolidated Gold Mine in Dahlonega, Georgia, wanted to open more of its areas to public tours, they asked Inspired Intelligence, a family owned and operated drone business in Buford, Georgia, to help. Inspired Intelligence CEO and founder Nir Pe’er explained, “Besides drone technology, we also used new, amazing cutting-edge technology called LiDAR. We were able to completely scan the entire mine and the grounds above it and produce a 3D model of the mine … something that was never done before. Also, our drone technology helped us to fly into inaccessible areas of the mine that nobody has been able to set foot into for decades. Our drones, equipped with special lights, were able to collect amazing, high quality photos and videos of these areas of the mine.” Pe’er…

Designed and manufactured in the U.S. for the military, Ghost is Anduril’s newest product in its suite of defense technology solutions. Ghost is an autonomous, modular and flexible sUAS that operates on Anduril’s secure Lattice software platform. Its advanced all-electric powertrain provides more than 100 minutes of flight at a full mission payload with a near-silent acoustic signature. Ghost can identify, classify, and track objects of interest in low-bandwidth and contested environments with a low radio frequency signature. The rugged airframe is also waterproof and can withstand mud, freshwater, and saltwater projection from any angle and is submersible up to one meter, allowing Ghost to perform missions in maritime environments. The advanced flight control systems allow for operations in high winds and the metal chassis, frame, and payloads can withstand…

Percepto’s autonomous UAS, Sparrow, has a new partner: Spot. Spot is an agile mobile robot developed by Boston Dynamics that navigates terrain with unprecedented mobility. Both Sparrow and Spot are components of Percepto’s Autonomous Inspection & Monitoring Platform, which allow the drone and robot to automate inspection rounds that are completely controlled remotely via the platform. Percepto AIM can deploy the most suitable robot(s) independently—without human accompaniment—to retrieve and stream the required data. The platform also seamlessly reports to assess risk, minimize downtime, drive efficiency, and reduce operational costs without human intervention. Dor Abuhasira, CEO and Co-Founder of Percepto noted, “We’re excited to be the first to empower our customers with truly autonomous inspection and monitoring, driven by the management of multiple visual robotic data sources together with other visual…

Even someone who has never touched a controller and thinks that Part 107 is a household cleaning product can tell you that the answer is “No!” Their evidence? No Amazon delivery drones have yet graced their front porch. Likewise, there have been no routine operations beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) for linear infrastructure inspection, no fully autonomous flights for perimeter security around sensitive facilities, and so on. These types of missions are the hallmarks of full integration, but none has been achieved except by a waiver to Part 107 under tightly controlled circumstances. However, we cannot waive our way to making uncrewed aircraft systems (UAS) full participants in the national airspace system (NAS). That will require three things: rules, technology, and a plan. The good news is that we’ve…

The northern goshawk is a fast, powerful raptor that flies effortlessly through forests. This bird was the design inspiration for the next-generation drone developed by scientists of the Laboratory of Intelligent Systems of École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), a university in France. Led by Dario Floreano, they carefully studied the shape of the bird’s wings and tail and its flight behavior and used that information to develop a drone with similar characteristics. “Goshawks move their wings and tails in tandem to carry out the desired motion, whether it is rapid changes of direction when hunting in forests, fast flight when chasing prey in the open terrain, or when efficiently gliding to save energy,” says Enrico Ajanic, the first author and PhD student in Floreano’s lab. He adds, “Our design…

In construction, the “topping out” of a project celebrates the finishing beam being hoisted into place, usually at its highest position. A pine tree will be placed on this final piece, a tradition that can be traced back thousands of years, symbolizing the hope that the structure will be everlasting. On August 7, 2020 Stuart Showalter of Hover Solutions got a call to provide aerial footage of a special ceremony. The placement of the final arch in the new Frederick Douglass Memorial Bridge in Southeast Washington, D.C., was scheduled to commence on the morning of August 13. Stuart and his son, Remote Pilot In Command (RPIC) Nathanael Showalter, run Hover Solutions in Rockville, Maryland. GETTING PERMISSION As you might imagine, flying in Washington, D.C. airspace is no easy task. The…

Mavic 2 Shot Down by Indian Military Incident Type: Surveillance of hostile territory Incident Location: Keram District, India/Pakistan Line of Control in Disputed Kashmir Aircraft Type: DJI Mavic 2 Pro Incident Resolution: Aircraft destroyed by gunfire A DJI Mavic 2 Pro being operated by the Pakistan Army Special Services Group (SSG) was shot down by Indian troops while flying 200 feet beyond the Line of Control that separates the opposing forces in the disputed territory of Kashmir late last year. This incident is one in a series that have involved small, commercial UAS flown by the Pakistani SSG that have crossed over into Indian territory, some intent on delivering weapons and munitions to rebels who oppose India’s control over the region. That does not appear to have been the case…