Market trends and business perspectives
Parrot, a drone manufacturer, has been selected to take part in the Blue Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems (sUAS) programme by the US Army and the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU).
The DIU is a Department of Defense organisation that accelerates commercial technology for national defense.
The Blue sUAS programme is a spin-off of the Short-Range Reconnaissance (SRR) programme launched by the Army and DIU in April 2019. [Read more…] about US military selects Parrot as new supplier of drones
A Japanese startup company called SkyDrive has unveiled what it claims is the world’s smallest flying car. (See video below.)
Designed to carry one person, the vehicle could be said to be the aerial equivalent of a motorcycle.
SkyDrive says it can put the what we’ll call the “airbike” into mass production in just two years’ time, by which time there should be more regulations about aerial vehicles. [Read more…] about SkyDrive launches ‘world’s smallest flying car’
The US Federal Aviation Administration has given Amazon permission to make drone deliveries, certifying the company as an “air carrier” – basically like an airline company.
The world’s largest online retailer has been trying to get permits to operate its Amazon Prime Air drones for several years, making test deliveries by drones while it waits.
One sticking point was that the FAA had originally wanted drone operators to maintain human vision on the drone while in the air. [Read more…] about US gives Amazon permission to make drone deliveries
Robots are shaking up different aspects of the modern business world. Deloitte’s 3rd Annual Robotics Survey suggested that the implementation of robotic process automation (RPA) in organisations is in the rise.
Robotic Process Automation? What Is It?
Simply known simply as RPA, it is the use of robotics systems on computers or robots to support the processing of data, and thereby, making such data processing more effective.
RPA also comes with programs that prevent the need for human hands or humans to perform rule-based tasks that are mostly repetitive. Thus, RPA also leads to very time-efficient processes. [Read more…] about The Robots Are Here to Stay: How Automation is Affecting Global Business
To fly autonomously, drones need to understand what they perceive in the environment and make decisions based on that information. (See video below.)
A novel method developed by Carnegie Mellon University researchers allows drones to learn perception and action separately.
The two-stage approach overcomes the “simulation-to-reality gap”, and creates a way to safely deploy drones trained entirely on simulated data into real-world course navigation. [Read more…] about CMU researchers train autonomous drones using cross-modal simulated data
FLIR Systems has launched something called “FLIR Hadron”, which the company describes as the industry’s first dual sensor module for drone, robotic, and imaging original equipment manufacturers.
Designed to help reduce development costs and improve time-to-market, the lightweight, low power, and compact form factor includes a 12-megapixel visible camera paired with the FLIR Boson 320×240 resolution thermal camera with up to a 60-hertz framerate.
Paul Clayton, general manager, components business at FLIR, says: “With the introduction of Hadron, FLIR Systems is leading the way in offering low-cost, dual sensor integration across a variety of industries from commercial drones to industrial imaging systems. [Read more…] about FLIR Systems launches new sensor for drones and robots
Drone manufacturer Parrot has agreed a partnership with Hoverseen, an automatic drone solutions provider.
Through this partnership, enterprises can now use Parrot ANAFI drones as an automated, “drone-in-a-box” surveillance solution capable of dispatching and charging itself from a lightweight docking and recharging station.
Parrot’s ANAFI, ANAFI Thermal and new ANAFI USA drones offer an ultra-compact tool to gain new aerial vantage points for security and inspection professionals. [Read more…] about Parrot and Hoverseen offer drone surveillance and inspection solutions
By D. A. Rupprecht
The future for contactless product delivery is already here, and a pandemic seems to already be moving this trend forward.
It just needs companies to implement and customers to accept the new delivery and tracking methods, along with other innovations, that will make this so.
When this happens, we may one day look back and quietly thank the lowly coronavirus for catapulting us into a brighter future. [Read more…] about The Future for Contactless Delivery
Drone manufacturer Parrot is partnering with DroneSense, a software company whose comprehensive drone management platform enables public safety organizations to build, manage, and scale their unmanned aircraft programs.
The companies say that, through this partnership, public safety UAS teams are able to use the full suite of DroneSense capabilities tailor-made for the needs of first responders with their Anafi aircraft.
Parrot’s Anafi and Anafi Thermal drones offer an ultra-compact tool for professionals, helping them gain new vantage points on a situation using the drone’s aerial insights. [Read more…] about Parrot and DroneSense partner to ‘better equip’ public safety drone programs
The discovery’s potential applications include self-driving cars, smartphones that can guide the visually impaired and drones that can help firefighters at night
As the industry for self-driving cars, robots and other unmanned vehicles quickly evolves – and engineers work to overcome the limitations of sensors that use visual, infrared or thermal information – math experts at Purdue University and the Technical University of Munich have proven there’s another, equally viable solution: using sound.
Mireille “Mimi” Boutin, associate professor of mathematics at Purdue University, and Gregor Kemper, professor of algorithmic algebra at Technical University, found that a drone equipped with four microphones and a loudspeaker can precisely reconstruct the wall configuration of a room by listening to echoes, similar to how bats use echolocation to orient themselves.
Their work is significant because it demonstrates the feasibility of using sound for navigation in unmanned systems, leading to many potential applications such as cars, drones, underwater vehicles or even devices that people can carry, such as a smartphone. [Read more…] about Math experts use drones to show it’s possible to ‘see’ perfectly using sound
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