AeroVironment reported today that it has been awarded a $2.3 million contract to help develop a new type of unmanned aircraft system for DARPA. The company will work as the prime contractor with DARPA on the Tactically Exploited Reconnaissance Node (TERN) Program to develop a medium-altitude, long-endurance (MALE) UAS designed to operate from small ships
Northrop Grumman put out a release today touting its sponsorship of the UAV Challenge – Outback Rescue, a joint effort between the Australian Research Centre for Aerospace Automation and Australia’s national science agency. The goal of the competition is to grow the country’s civil UAV industry and raise awareness of civilian applications. Current Australian law
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
The Ohio/Indiana Unmanned Aircraft Systems Center & Test Complex reported yesterday that it will host the NASA Unmanned Aircraft Systems Airspace Operations Challenge in April. The goal of the competition is to help pave the way for UAS in the national airspace by developing appropriate sense and avoid technology. It will take place April 28
Three Mid-Atlantic states — Maryland, New Jersey and Virginia — recently signed an agreement to work collaboratively to support the Federal Aviation Administration’s integration of unmanned aircraft systems into the national airspace. The FAA is currently in the process of selecting six UAS test sites, which will be used to conduct research into how to
In the world of mobile robots, there are leaders and there are followers. Well, not exactly, but leader-follower formations are a common way of organizing the movement of mobile robot groups. And it’s a system that works well — unless something happens to the leader. Recent research from Missouri University of Science and Technology aims
3D Robotics, the unmanned aerial vehicle company founded in 2009 by former Wired editor-in-chief Chris Anderson, today announced a $30 million Series B financing round. The company said it will use the funds to expand its development and deployment of advanced UAV applications, with a focus on agricultural crop mapping and other commercial aerial survey
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
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
