The UAV Digest

Airfield design guidelines for large UAS, a guidebook for UAS threats at airports, first free flight of Airbus naval UAS, studying sea turtles and saving baby deer, fully charging drone batteries in 5 minutes, and drones fly over a nuclear power plant.

Avian biomimicry, stadium sanitizing with a drone, a Galileo competition, a new HALE flys, drones and electromagnetic pulses, wildfire data from drones, new standards from EASA, an F-15 with a loyal wingman under its wing.

Hacking drones as a target and as a weapon, military drone flight over San Diego, a State-by-State drone report card, a milestone in India for civilian drones, the EHang 216 goes sightseeing, and those drone sightings in the U.S. midwest, revisited.

We talk with Mike Winn, a co-founder and the CEO of DroneDeploy.

Our guest is George Mathew, chairman and CEO of Kespry, a leading drone-based aerial intelligence solution provider.

AI-powered drones perform extreme aerobatics, U.S. to allow export of armed drones, testing swarming drones, Royal Canadian Navy drone finds drug smugglers, hybrid drone rescues a stranded motorist, 5th Annual FAA UAS Symposium goes virtual.

A cockroach-inspired microbot, a manned vs. unmanned fighter fly off, autonomous deliveries from CVS, a Predator over Minneapolis protests, a police helicopter collides with a police drone, piloting a UAS from an airborne C-130J Hercules, and library books delivered by Wing.

A major test of last-mile drone delivery, direct-seeding rice with a drone, a drone-centric kiosk you can build yourself, and a webinar to learn the BVLOS regulatory landscape. UAV News Last Mile Drone Delivery: Testing the Limits of Commercial Operations DroneUp partnered with Virginia’s Center for Innovative Technology (CIT) and UPS on a project to quickly evaluate the concept of last-mile drone delivery. They wanted to see how unmanned aerial systems could assist with critical delivery during times of crisis. On the vacant campus of St. Paul’s College, in Lawrenceville, Virginia, a group of pilots flew over 200 flights under a scripted plan, operating under part 107 rules, with industry-standard drones. The flights simulated the delivery of 1.275-pound payloads of medical and other critical supplies in city-like conditions. Data was collected with respect to operational capacities, airspace deconfliction, operator safety, processes, policies, and training. Tom Walker, DroneUp’s CEO, said, “DroneUp’s drone delivery exercise was aimed at learning what is possible to do safely and effectively today while gathering data to overcome seemingly impossible obstacles in the near future.”  For more, see the 56-page report, DroneUp Resources Operation Last-Mile: Critical Drone Delivery Report. XAG Introduces Rice Seeding Drone XAG is a Chinese company focused on agricultural technology. In April 2020, they organized a rice direct-seeding demonstration where two workers spread 5kg of rice seeds through a muddy rice paddy. Following that, a XAG drone repeated the same task. The difference in planing time was significant. Raspberry Pi-based Kiosk Display Shares Weather, FAA Advisories for Drones A project from Sky Horse Tech uses a Raspberry Pi to power a custom drone-centric kiosk. The kiosk pulls in local weather data and FAA advisories through AirMap and MapBox. The data cycles every 30 seconds and is refreshed every 5 minutes. The kiosk uses a 32” display, a $35 Raspberry Pi 3 Model B or newer, some free software, and weather and FAA advisory APIs. Navigating the Regulatory Landscape Towards BVLOS Operations This free AUVSI webinar is scheduled for Wednesday, June 10, 2020, 03:00 PM TO 04:00 PM (EDT). You’ll learn about the regulations affecting Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) drone flight and the factors involved in successfully navigating the regulatory environment to achieve a waiver.  Iris Automation director of airspace integration Trever Linn will explain what operators should expect before applying for a waiver, and the key components such as risk mitigation measures and CONOPS documentation necessary for approvals. Attendees will learn about current regulatory challenges, readily available solutions, and the path forward for BVLOS drone operations.

Skyborg design competition for USAF loyal wingman UAVs, catapulting a drone from a helicopter, FAA investigating Blue Angels close encounter, drone launches grenades and sprays crops, Singapore keeps an eye on people, drone crash caused by electric lines.

A passenger drone hotel, a pub drone for beer delivery, UFOs that might be drones, distance-learning UAS education, flying creatures make drones better, measuring whales from above, and a close encounter with the Blue Angels.

Boeing unveils a loyal wingman, special ops drones for training exercises, safe and effective volcano research, remote ID technology partners announced, crushing rocks and measuring the pile with a drone, and PPE delivery to the home.

The U.S. DOT report shows benefits of blockchain for unmanned aircraft. Drone cinematographers and a labor agreement, a drone modeled after a dragonfly, VTOL reconnaissance, AI controllers, and AUVSI virtual sessions.

Checking on the public with a “pandemic drone” and a COVID-19 inspired BVLOS exemption. Also, duck watching with drones, a BVLOS helicopter for humanitarian relief, pre-historic flying reptiles, and fuel cells for eVTOL.

Altavian and the Sinclair National UAS Training and Certification Center team up to 3D print and distribute PPE masks, coronavirus resources from Drone Girl, US anti-drone guidelines, a 360-degree detect-and-avoid system, an omnidirectional drone.

Photographs drawn with a drone, a General Atomics SkyGuardian demonstration flight, an electric flying car racing series, a proposal for a drone emoji, 5G drones and networks, using drones while on quarantine, and autonomous resupply for the military.