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Article

Lockheed Martin and Drone Racing League pits AI-enabled UASs against human pilots

2018-09-07

Lockheed Martin and the Drone Racing League (DRL) is challenging the engineering community with a new twist on drone enthusiast racing competition: develop artificial intelligence (AI) technology that will enable an autonomous UAS to race a pilot-operated drone and win against human first-person view (FPV) operators. The call for advanced autonomy, dubbed the AlphaPilot Innovation Challenge, came during the TechCrunch Disrupt technology startup conference in San Francisco.

Article

Advances in adhesive joining of structure components focus of new book from SAE International

2018-08-16

Adhesive joining of structural components will assume an increasingly important role in designing and manufacturing lightweight structures for aerospace platforms. The latest book from SAE International, Adhesive Joining of Structural Components: New Insights and Technologies explores recent advancements in adhesive bonding, used in the manufacture of primary aircraft fuselage and wing structures since 1945.

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Boeing completes autonomous synchronized flight tests in Australia

2018-08-21

Boeing has successfully completed the first suite of synchronized unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) flight tests using new onboard autonomous command and control technology developed by the company in Australia.

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UAV Turbines designs purpose-built microturbine engine for Class 3 and 4 UAVs

2019-05-02

UAV Turbines, Inc. has developed a new microturbine, turboprop engine designed for defense and commercial Group 3 and 4 unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) or “drone” applications. UAV Turbines’ Monarch RP is designed to operate reliably, quietly, and powerfully on various qualities of heavy fuel and outperform conventional reciprocating engines.

Article

DARPA’s latest drone swarm sprint focuses on virtual environments

2019-05-13

Through OFFSET, DARPA envisions swarms of 250 collaborative autonomous systems – including unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) – providing critical capabilities to ground units in urban areas where challenges such as tall buildings, tight spaces, and limited sight lines constrain essential communications, sensing, maneuverability, and autonomous operations.

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New university-led Air Force Center of Excellence focuses on securing autonomous systems operating in contested environments

2019-05-22

The researchers at the COE for Assured Autonomy in Contested Environments – all of which histories of innovation for Department of Defense problems of interest – will focus on the availability, integrity, and effective use of information by leveraging its diverse expertise in dynamics, mathematics, control theory, information theory, communications, and computer science.

Article

Abaco’s FORCE2 flight computer enables national and international ground control station certification

2019-04-24

Earlier this month, General Atomics Aeronautical System, Inc. (GA-ASI) completed an entire MQ-9B SkyGuardian remotely piloted aircraft (RPA) flight – from takeoff to landing – using a GA-ASI certifiable ground control station (CGCS). At the core of the CGCS is Abaco Systems Inc.’s (Abaco’s) certifiable FORCE2 Open Reference Computing Environment.

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Ford and University of Michigan team up on first-ever sustainability study of urban air mobility

2019-04-23

According to a new study published in Nature Communications, electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) urban air mobility (UAM) vehicles – commonly referred to as “flying cars” – are better suited to longer flights than shorter commutes.

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Novelis creates first aluminum sheet battery enclosure for mass electric vehicle production

2019-05-01

Battery weight and power density is a major design consideration when it comes to electric and hybrid-electric vehicles. To reduce platform weight for next-generation electric vehicles, Atlanta-based Novelis, Inc. (Novelis) has used direct feedback from industry partners and automotive design engineers to develop the first aluminum sheet battery enclosure.

Article

Aitech Defense will provide data interface technology for Boeing’s unmanned MQ-25 refueling platform

2019-05-09

As outlined in the contract, Aitech Defense will supply an advanced, customized remote input/output (I/O) interface controller based on the company’s commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) modular, dual-core Ai-RIO remote interface.

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First operational use of Aurora’s AACUS system

2018-05-24

Last week, Aurora Flight Sciences’s Autonomous Aerial Cargo Utility System (AACUS) achieved a major operational milestone when it successfully delivered cargo to US Marines in the Integrated Training Exercise at the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms in California.

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The eVTOL disruption goes viral

2018-06-05

Even at the early stages of this new era of urban air mobility, there is already a scramble amongst well-known aerospace giants, as well as start-ups, to develop and evaluate the civil VTOL market. And this all starts with air-taxi concepts.

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Beyond catch and release

2018-05-07

Under the OFFSET program, BBN Technologies (a subsidiary of Raytheon) is developing direct and control solutions for swarms of small, autonomous air, and ground vehicles.

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Connect them all

2018-03-15

Lockheed Martin’s VCSi software can simultaneously control multiple UAV types, operating anywhere on Earth.

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LIFT Aircraft unveils personal multirotor aircraft for experiential entertainment

2018-12-19

LIFT has developed an electric, vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft called “Hexa” and plans to open LIFT locations in scenic and uncongested areas near major metro areas, tourist destinations, and entertainment hubs where individuals can rent and operate Hexa aircraft without a pilot's license.

Article

Vertical Flight Society applauds eVTOL innovation, Bell Nexus UAM concept

2019-01-10

The electric vertical-takeoff-and-landing (eVTOL) revolution is gaining momentum, as evidenced by the unveiling of the Bell Nexus hybrid-electric VTOL air taxi concept at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES), affirms Mike Hirschberg, executive director at the Vertical Flight Society (VFS), a non-profit organization working to advance vertical flight, in Fairfax, Virginia.

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Boeing to modernize Spanish Chinook fleet with autonomous-ready avionics and flight control systems

2019-01-07

The digital automatic flight control system can be programmed for autonomous operations such as flight stabilization and unmanned flight to set checkpoints; however, Boeing is currently working with the Canadian military to increase the Chinook’s autonomous capabilities.

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PAE ISR engineers boost Resolute Eagle UAS networking, endurance, payload capacity with Persistent Systems MPU5

2018-12-21

PAE ISR engineers in Sterling, Virginia, have selected MPU5 Wave Relay mobile ad hoc networking (MANET) technology from Persistent Systems LLC in New York for the company’s Resolute Eagle unmanned aerial system platform. The MPU5 helps to free space and weight, and maximize mission success, officials say.

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Airbus Helicopters VSR700 makes first fully-autonomous flight

2018-12-28

The flight established compliance with demanding regulatory and safety systems necessary for future unmanned flight in France. During the exercise the VSR700 demonstrator performed a 30-minute flight, successfully executing a variety of flight patterns before landing in an autonomous mode.

Article

Additive manufacturing is transforming mobility engineering, driving the factory of the future

2018-12-27

Two new installments in the burgeoning SAE International Podcast Series cast a spotlight on additive manufacturing, which is fueling innovation, greater efficiencies, and the future of mobility engineering. Additive manufacturing continues to advance and transform mobility engineering, as aerospace and automotive firms increasingly adopt and invest in 3D printing technologies, which are becoming more capable and cost-effective.