The U.S. Army recently placed an order for $20 million worth of AeroVironment’s Mantis i23 gimbaled sensor payloads to upgrade its fleet of RQ-11B Raven unmanned aircraft systems. The Mantis is a multi-axis pan, tilt and zoom sensor that enhances the capability of the small, hand-launched RQ-11B Raven. AeroVironment says U.S. government fiscal 2013 appropriations provided funding
Northrop Grumman Corporation, one of the largest defense contractors in the world and a leading manufacturer of unmanned systems, was recently recognized for its actions to reduce carbon emissions by United Kingdom-based environmental watchdog CDP. CDP, which was known as the Carbon Disclosure Project until it outgrew its original focus, is an international not-for-profit that
During the past few weeks, AeroVironment has received $36.7 million in new orders under a U.S. Army contract for its Switchblade tactical missile systems, the company reported today. The orders were issued on Aug. 20, Sept. 4 and Sept. 5 under a sole source contract established last year. AeroVironment and its strategic teammate for advanced
DARPA reported today that it has selected this year’s class for its Young Faculty Award program, several of whom will concentrate of robotics-related research. From a group of 226 applicants, 25 tenure-track researchers were chosen to receive up to $1 million each over three years. Recipients receive two years of funding at $250,000 each year,
Earlier this month, DARPA hosted a “Proposer’s Day” at Johns Hopkins University to share details of its futuristic Hydra program with companies who might be in a position to help make it a reality. The goal of Hydra is to create an unmanned undersea system that can rapidly deploy unmanned aerial and underwater vehicles worldwide. Pretty
Part crowdsourcing platform, part recruiting tool, part STEM education showcase, the Air Force recently launched its “Collaboratory” — an interactive platform that invites technology-minded people to submit solutions to real-world Air Force problems. The site particularly targets students studying the STEM disciplines (science, technology, engineering and mathematics), offering video game-like achievement badges in exchange for
In July, AeroVironment’s Puma AE became one of the first two small unmanned aircraft systems to receive approval from the Federal Aviation Administration for commercial missions. At AUVSI’s Unmanned Systems conference earlier today, the company shared a new milestone, reporting that an in-development solar-powered version of the Puma AE lasted more than nine hours during a
The U.S. Navy’s Knifefish, an unmanned undersea vehicle designed to modernize the Navy’s mine-hunting capability, is one step closer to reality after completing a comprehensive risk reduction program. General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems, the company behind the Knifefish, says the tests were designed to uncover potential defects early in the program’s development phase to prevent
A DARPA-funded team led by Honeywell International Inc. has developed a novel optical fiber design using a hollow, air-filled cores that researchers say could lead to a new generation of high-power sensors. Hollow-core fiber has previously been available from overseas suppliers, but DARPA says its ongoing Compact Ultra-Stable Gyro for Absolute Reference (COUGAR) program has
DreamHammer, the company behind the Ballista drone operating system, reported today that it has completed a series of successful demonstrations of its technology with the U.S. Defense Department and UAS prime contractors. The Business of Robotics recently wrote about how Lockheed Martin was able to successfully control multiple unmanned aerial systems using Ballista. DreamHammer says
