News Categories
Let’s talk about Grant Funding
Following the economic impact of the pandemic, at Swoop we have continued to see an increase in demand for grant funding - particularly innovation funding.The most appealing thing with business grants is that the money doesn’t have to be paid back. However, they often come with a match funding requirement (typically 25% - 50%) in place. Another consideration is that during the application process your business may have to set and agree the expected outputs to be achieved from the activity that is to be funded by the monies provided.The good news is there are thousands of grants available in the UK, both at a national and regional level. Many grants are also sector-specific. In the Spring Budget March 2021, a number of grants were discussed like the: Read More »
Hydrogen, Drones, Sustainable Aviation and Green Airports
The European goals are clear, carbon neutrality must be achieved by 2050, essentially with any means necessary. Transportation is responsible for about 25% of all greenhouse gas emissions and aviation is 12% of that.While no silver bullet exists for everything then one of those technologies, which can make a dramatic impact has been hydrogen. Instead of theoretically carbon-neutral fuels such as biofuels, hydrogen vehicles produce no emissions and Europe has recognised its potential with clear and ambitious production targets of 1M tonnes by 2024 and 10M tonnes by 2030. The use in transportation being one of the key priority areas. Read More »
Drone Cage is flying high
It was while working as a drone pilot for a company providing inspections in difficult to reach places that James Dyke realised there was a massive gap in the market. And that with the critical knowledge and experience he possessed as a pilot, an engineer and using the latest 3D printing technology, he could create a business that would potentially save huge amounts of money for companies around the world.Just a few years on he is supplying Drone Cages to the armed forces, law enforcement agencies, search and rescue, as well as the professional UAV community, globally.The drone James piloted for the survey company had a protective barrier, so should the drone have a bump, the barrier should protect it – potentially saving the owner the cost of a new UAV. Read More »
New Solution For Coastal And Maritime Surveillance A Technology Breakthrough
A proud new supplier to Drone Major, FLY-R develops a unique range of rhomboid wing UAVs that has many technical, operational and financial advantages over traditional aircraft. This aerodynamic configuration take the benefits of the fixed wing aircraft, while significantly improving the speed range, endurance and radius compared to aircraft of comparable size. Compared to these conventional aircraft, the Rhomboid formula offers: Read More »
Liverpool City Region set to become a global driving force in drone technology
Drone Major Group unveils world’s first sustainable pathway for the deployment of commercial autonomous systems[London: 24 March 2021] Today, Drone Major Group* has announced the launch of the first ever drone technology ‘Test and Development Area’ project, to be created in the Liverpool City Region. The project is to be delivered in partnership with Liverpool City Region Combined Authority (LCRCA) and is expected to put the region on the path to become a global leader in the deployment of cutting-edge drone technology. This pioneering initiative, entitled Phoenix I, is the first in a series of interconnected projects developed by Drone Major Group, with several regional partners, to deliver, for the first time, commercially viable, scalable and environmentally sustainable drone services across all environments (surface, underwater, air & space), and in all the sectors that are vital for the UK and world economy. The transformational project promises numerous benefits to t Read More »
Aerobility launches Armchair Aurora to ‘Light Up Lockdown’ with impressionist Jon Culshaw
Building on the success of Armchair Airshow, Aerobility, the UK’s leading disabled flying charity, along with Impressionist Jon Culshaw and Astronomer Pete Lawrence, is lining up a host of astronomers, scientists, aviators and artists for an hour long, live-streamed Armchair Aurora event on Saturday, March 13th at 18:00.The free to attend event will livestream via armchairaurora.com and will take viewers on a journey of wonder from their armchairs and into the skies.Bringing together spectacular Aurora footage, interviews and Q&A with scientists, there will be insights on polar aviation and the workings of the Aurora, all beamed to living rooms around the UK and worldwide. “This event is just one example of how we continue to support the disabled community and continue to inspire ability through aviation during lockdown, while aircraft are grounded. If I were to describe what it will be like, I would say, think ‘Spring Watch meets the Sky at Night’, exclaimed Aerobility CE Read More »
DRONE CONTROLLING DEVICE
SKYCORP OÜ, specialist hydrogen drone manufacturer, technology integrator and autonomous aerial ecosystem builder, is pleased to announce it has filed a patent submission with the European Patent Office for its Internet of Drones enabling Drone Controlling DeviceThis new patent-pending module provides enhanced communications, locational intelligence, command and control and means that drones can now be traced also when not operational, introducing additional redundancy, increasing safety, and enabling new applications.These features are particularly necessary when looking to integrate with Unmanned Aircraft System Traffic Management (UTM) while looking to enable autonomous operations during remote beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) operations. “This idea started from tying our own holistic hydrogen drone ecosystem together while adding redundancy to communications and control channels for increased safety and autonomy. Read More »
AgEagle Aerial Systems and Valqari Piloting On-Demand Drone Delivery of Food and Beverages to Golfers
WICHITA, Kan. & Chicago – February 16, 2021 – (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) – AgEagle Aerial Systems Inc. (NYSE American: UAVS) (“AgEagle” or the “Company”), an industry leading drone systems and solutions provider, and Valqari, LLC, creator of the patented Smart Drone Delivery Station, today jointly announced that the companies have teamed to produce a turnkey, fully automated, on-demand drone delivery system for order and delivery of food and beverages to golfers while they are in active play on a golf course. Earlier this week, AgEagle and Valqari demonstrated its innovative new drone delivery system to officials at the Sun City Country Club, the proud home of the 2015, 2016 and 2017 Arizona Women’s Open and the 2015, 2017 and 2019 Arizona Special Olympics State Golf Championship. The primary objective of the demo was to test and affirm the functionality of the system hardware and mechanical components of the drone delivery system in a real-world use case. A food a Read More »
Successful flight of Japan's largest transport drone (49kg PL)
Onozuka Seiki Co.Ltd has developed ESC, a high-efficiency motor for large-sized transport drones using electromagnetic steel sheets for high-speed rotary motors made by Nippon Steel. They succeeded in flying a drone with 49kg PL. The multi-pole high-speed rotary motor has a high motor drive frequency and is highly effective in reducing eddy current loss due to the thinning of the thickness of the electromagnetic steel plate used for the motor core. The technology cultivated in EV (Eco-run solar car) is applied to this motor, it has higher efficiency & lower heat generation than conventional large drone motors. Thus, it can withstand operations under summer high temperatures. By making the motor and ESC double redundant, consideration was given to the reliability required for large transport drones in the event of a failure. By optimizing the control characteristics of the drive system for large-scale transport drones, it is no longer necessary to adjust the parameters Read More »
CAP2000: Clued Up Autumn 2020: Electronic Conspicuity
The Clued-up publication is devoted to the subject of electronic conspicuity in our developing airspace infrastructure. Why do we need it, what has changed, what does it do, where can i get it and what will it cost? Who will benefit, where is it likely to be necessary, when is it likely to be mandatory and will it be required by all air vehicles and in all classes of airspace? This Clued-up publication looks at all of those aspects and tackles each in a very practical manner. It is a very informative publication packed with very current information. Read More »
Aeronext and its 4D GRAVITY technology opened a test line in Kosuge Village
Aeronext and its 4D GRAVITY technology opened a test line in Kosuge Village in anticipation of social implementation of logistics drones.Logistics systems that utilize drones are attracting attention as a solution for areas where land transportation is difficult or where there is a lack of delivery personnel.The logistics drone "Next DELIVERY ®" developed by Aeronext adopts the original center of gravity control technology "4D GRAVITY ® ︎" to realize horizontal transportation of luggage regardless of the orientation of the aircraft. By eliminating the bias of luggage during transportation, it is possible to transport medical and precision equipment and deliver meals, which is difficult with conventional drones. Read More »
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries will commercialize a system that can operate multiple drones from a distance of 1,000km by 2022.
The defence technology that enables stable flight of the aircraft is being diverted to the private sector: for disaster prediction and monitoring of power transmission lines.MHI’s fighter jets and submarines can control their own movements while automatically following an adversary and notifying users of abnormalities. The commercial adaptation will use secure internet connections to control drones flying through wind gusts of 30m/s. The system will allow a controller in Tokyo to direct drones to Tanegashima, an island 1000km South.MHI also plans to launch an analysis service for data taken with drones, using defence technologies such as artificial intelligence and precise image processing that makes full use of artificial satellites. Read More »
Photographic & Survey Equipment Cover
Moonrock Insurance have launched a new drone insurance product in response to growing demand from customers, including UAV operators in the media, emergency services, agriculture, inspection and construction sectors.Moonrock now offer drone insurance that also provides cover for non-drone related items in one single policy, including all camera, video and survey equipment, as well as devices like laptops and mobile phones.We have had an uplift in requests from customers over the past couple of years seeking a single policy encompassing many of their insurance requirements in one place, and we have sought to meet this with our specialist cover. Read More »
Guest-blog: Stephanie Barnes discusses the importance of knowledge management
Peter Drucker once said: ‘that today knowledge has power because it controls access to opportunity and advancement’.The 4th Industrial Revolution is undoubtedly the century of knowledge. The everyday usage of available advanced information, business and internet technologies in business activities confirm that this is not only a phrase from the literature, but true reality.Globalisation has brought many modern trends, and companies have the task to be flexible and adapt as quickly, easily and painlessly as they can in order to survive in the competitive market. Read More »
The importance of post era newfound entrepreneurial spirit
While small businesses are becoming increasingly purpose-driven, it looks like businesses are also becoming increasingly digital, and embracing agile business models that allow them to quickly adapt to new environments.Throughout human history, crises have been pivotal in developing our societies.Pandemics have helped advance health-care systems, wars have fuelled technological innovations and the global financial crisis helped advance tech companies. The present coronavirus pandemic will arguably not be an exception; entrepreneurs can be expected to rise to the challenge. Read More »
Automatic inspection of wind power plants using J-Power, KDDI and drones
The blade was inspected by remote control by taking a picture of the wind power plant with a drone equipped with auto flight software. It is thus possible to shoot three blades of a stopped wind turbine from four directions in one flight.By using auto-flight technology, local maintenance personnel can inspect the blades with simple settings and can quickly inspect during an emergency such as a lightning strike.The team was able to take a picture of the entire wind power generator (blades, towers, etc.). It can be taken in about 20 minutes per unit, and the time can be shortened to 1/10 compared to usual inspection methods. Read More »
Kawasaki Heavy Industries succeeded in flight test of unmanned compound helicopter "K-RACER
Kawasaki Heavy Industries succeeded in flight test of unmanned compound helicopter "K-RACER" The technology was demonstrated by an unmanned tester aiming at high speed, which is technically limited in the conventional helicopter, and in this test, stable flight by autonomous control was confirmed. The K-RACER is a special type of testing machine called a compound helicopter that has a main rotor (4 m in diameter), main wings and propellers on both sides instead of a tail rotor. The left and right propellers can cancel the torque associated with the rotation of the main rotor and generate forward thrust. In forward flight, the main wing shares the lift to reduce the burden on the main rotor, and the concept is to enable high-speed flight that cannot be achieved with conventional helicopters. The power source is the supercharged engine of the company's motorcycle "Ninja H2R". Kawasaki Heavy Industries will utilize the results obtained in this test for the development of VTOL ma Read More »
Mission possible for unmanned aircraft systems
During the COVID-19 pandemic, air drones or unmanned aircraft systems have played vital roles, from delivering aid to monitoring social distancing. However, issues such as safety, security and the sharing of airspace have continued to delay their full commercial use.Unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) have undoubtedly become the technology of the moment which, from humble beginnings, is set to create an industry to rival the automotive and aviation industries combined. UAS gained notoriety as toys, but have quickly evolved into the basis for a high-value, rapid-growth industry spanning almost all sectors, including logistics, medical, surveying, security and transport, and are being used in almost every environment on the planet. UAS, which can be remotely controlled, but are increasingly being equipped with autonomous capabilities, have been around for a long time. It has only been in the past five years that the technology to make them commercially viable tools in a huge range of applic Read More »
EU UAS Implementing Regulation 2019/947 Delayed
Whilst the European Commission have delayed the EU UAS Implementing Regulation 2019/947 until 31 Dec 2020, they have not announced a delay to EU 2019/945 (unless we missed that announcement here at the DDG). This effectively means that new Drones introduced into the European market after 1 July 2021 have to abide by the EU Conformity rules in 2019/945 and must be CE marked. So if you are a UK Drone designer, how do you go about getting the relevant CE mark for your Drone? Well, unless you are in the very lowest (C0) category, you will need to have your design and productions processes, and of course your drone capability, reliability and claimed specifications assessed by a Competent Assessment Body (CAB). The CAB would assess your product against a UK Scheme. Let’s just run through that again. In order for your Drone system to be assessed the UK has to set up a UK Scheme. This UK Scheme would need to be created and owned by a UK Gov Department, most likely the DfT. Read More »
Successful development of an intensity measurement system using Kansai TV and drone
Kansai TV has developed a radio wave measurement system for terrestrial digital broadcasting using drones to measure the radio wave radiation pattern (graph of the direction and intensity of radio waves emitted from the antenna) of TV relay stations in Japan. An intensity measuring unit consisting of a PC & an intensity measuring instrument is connected to the communication port that normally connects the camera, and GPS data (flight position and time) obtained from the drone during flight and the intensity measuring instrument are connected. By transmitting the electric wave strength obtained from the above to a tablet on the ground via wireless LAN, the measurer can check the radio wave emission pattern directly after the flight by a simple menu operation. In the verification flight, the practicality of this system was confirmed by measuring the radio wave radiation pattern in the horizontal direction at the same time as the visual inspection by the drone camera at multiple rel Read More »