While small drones (sUAS) play a significant role in today’s electric aviation industry, it is not necessary to discuss every single event that involves them. However, there are still a lot of intriguing things happening that are worth checking out as we observe the development of this still-emerging CleanTech sector. I’m going to conduct a quick news roundup of some recent items that are interesting to read but aren’t substantial enough to warrant a story on their own.
If readers are pleased with this strategy, I’ll start doing this frequently.
HEALTHCARE DRONE DELIVERIES TO WASHINGTON STATE BY ZIPLINE A not-for-profit healthcare group in Washington, Zipline and MultiCare Health System , recently announced a partnership to carry out the state’s first commercial drone deliveries in a news release. Medical supplies will be transported throughout MultiCare’s network of institutions, including hospitals, labs, and doctor’s offices, by electric, autonomous aircraft from Zipline.
According to Florence Chang, president of MultiCare, “making ensuring our providers have what they need, when they need it, is a vital element of providing patients with inexpensive and accessible treatment.” We are constantly seeking for partners who share our values and who can assist us in enhancing the care we offer to the communities we serve in a dependable and sustainable manner.
MultiCare will use Ziplines’ quick delivery service to supply Tacoma-area facilities. Among other things, the drones will convey diagnostic kits, medications, and lab samples. The collaboration’s goal is to create a more efficient on-demand delivery system for MultiCares providers while simultaneously enhancing patient satisfaction.
After receiving regulatory permission, Zipline and MultiCare plan to start delivering services to people of the Pacific Northwest in 2024.
DEFENSE CONTRACTOR ON DISARMING DRONE SWARMS ANDAMP; WHAT TESLA HAS IN COMMON WITH INTEGRATED SENSING An official from Leonardo DRS, a business that specializes in networked computers on the battlefield, provides us with some insight on A recent Defense News article . William Lynn, the business’s chief executive officer, stated that Leonardo DRS is looking into ways to enhance capabilities including sensor integration and deploying directed energy and electronic warfare to kill drone swarms. This comes after the company purchased an Israeli radar startup.
The Mobile Low, Slow Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Integrated Defense System, or MLIDS, counter-drone system used by the U.S. Army, and sophisticated sensing, according to Lynn, are two of the company’s four core businesses that will immediately benefit from the RADA merger.
Lynn claimed that adding RADA’s radars to Leonardo DRS’s portfolio would provide us the one advanced sensor we are currently lacking. This will be crucial as Army vehicles like tanks, Strykers, and Bradley fighting vehicles prioritize sensor integration.
Imagine Tesla, Lynn advised. You have side mirrors with collision detection and a backup camera. What Tesla has done today is merge all of that into a single image so effectively that it can actually operate the vehicle. With integrated sensing, you are able to take all of the information gathered by various sights and sensors and transform it into information that is useful for making decisions. A radar is essential if we are to participate in it. According to our predictions, sensors and computing will converge.
The challenge is quickly compiling data from many sensors to construct an operational picture faster than the human brain can, despite significant variations in how to protect soldiers against swarms of lethal drones.
LEAKED IMAGES OF THE NEXT-COMING DJI MINI FPV DRONE We get a sneak preview of a future DJI FPV drone in a recent tweet ( hat tip to DroneDJ ).
Avata, turn it on! pic.twitter.com/yMOjxSHy9O
OsitaLV July 24, 2022 (@OsitaLV)
Avata has 3-inch guarded propellers, allowing the drone to fly securely around people and in limited spaces, as seen in the image released by trustworthy DJI leaker OsitaLV. Unlike DJI’s other camera drones, which are designed to capture the breathtaking outdoors with amazing clarity, this design is unique. The cage around the props of this drone is an essential part of its construction, unlike the Mavic and Spark, which have a propeller protection accessible as an optional attachment.
The product leak photographs revealed a camera mounted on a single-axis gimbal and bottom obstacle-avoidance sensors when they were published by the same source in May. According to earlier rumors, the fully assembled, ready-to-fly DJI Avata would deliver superb image quality on par with the upcoming Mini 3 in a considerably smaller and lighter package.
These attributes are all intended to provide safe flight via intricate twists in confined places. FPV drones are anticipated to perform insane maneuvers that almost certainly cause some accidents, as opposed to more delicate flying, like you’d do for a real estate or construction film. The drone is therefore made to not only provide entertaining insane films devoid of collisions, but also to be able to withstand impacts when the system periodically slips through extremely narrow gaps.
This Tesla film is a fantastic illustration of this style of flying and videography:
HIGH ABOVE ARIZONA, AN AIRBUS SOLAR DRONE BREAKS A FLIGHT RECORD Another item at Defense News tells us about an amazing flight above Arizona reports that the solar-powered Zephyr drone has already beaten its own record for duration spent in flight as an unmanned aircraft system, with 36 days accomplished so far and counting. This is according to Army Futures Command.
With a flying endurance of up to several months at altitudes above weather and regular air traffic, Zephyr is the first continuous stratospheric unmanned aircraft system in the world. It weighs less than 166 pounds and has a wingspan that is just over 82 feet longer than two school buses positioned end-to-end. On June 15, at a height of 70,000 feet over Arizona, the Air Forces Assured Positioning, Navigation and Timing/Space Cross-Functional Team launched the aircraft. The pilotless aircraft had previously set a record in 2018 of roughly 26 days.
According to Michael Monteleone, the director of the APNT/Space CFT, “this experimentation allows us to build on that knowledge by demonstrating multiple payload types, thoroughly exploring the military utility of stratospheric operations, and modernizing areas of deep sensing, long-range targeting, and resilient communications.” As a component of the Army’s diverse multi-layered architecture, ultra-long endurance unmanned vehicles have the potential to offer considerable operational capabilities and increased confidence.
The Zephyr drone uses its onboard solar panels to harvest solar energy during the day and saves extra energy in battery cells for use during the night. This makes it possible for flights to be prolonged across several days, weeks, or even months in the future.
The Airbus Zephyr Drone, as shown in the featured image, was given by Airbus.
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