Robotic Blogs

The Sacramento, California police department is developing a specialized Unmanned Aerial Vehicle, UAV, as a low cost alternative to helicopter cops.

They currently have two helicopters that can stream live video to remote terminals in police cars or command centers.

Their UAV's are 5 feet long, weigh 12 pounds and hand launched. They can keep their multiple video cameras aloft for 45 minutes. They are almost autonomous and have the capability to track subjects with their camera eyes.

The police are looking forward to reduced costs and better availability of the flying robots compared to expensive helicopter teams.

They also like the silent operation of the spy planes.

"Police Chief Albert Najera, who said the department gets many complaints about the noise of the helicopters. "The noise factor is huge. This is almost silent, you can't hear it," he said. "Not many police departments can afford a helicopter, but most will be able to afford this.""

The aircraft still need to get FAA clearance before they are put on duty.

Sacramento Police Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Program Gaining Altitude - Government Technology

Boeing announced that they have successfully completed first flight tests on its unmanned helicopter the A160T Hummingbird.
The A160T is the turbine-engine version of the A160 unmanned helicopter under development by Boeing since they purchased Frontier Systems in 2004.

The Hummingbird is an advanced design helicopter with performance advantages over a traditional manned craft. It can fly up to 2500 miles and stay aloft for 24 hours with a 300 pound payload. It is expected to be able to fly at up to 140 knots forward speed at altitudes up to 30,000 feet.
It has variable speed rotors so that it can hover longer, fly quieter and use fuel more efficiently than a regular chopper.
The Hummingbird is 35 feet long with 36 feet diameter rotors.


Boeing: Boeing Completes First Flight of A160T Hummingbird Unmanned Helicopter

Police in Merseyside,UK are testing an unmanned flying robot to help control the population. The BBC reports that the machine will be used "mainly for tackling anti-social behaviour and public disorder."

The unit is a small 2 pound vertical takeoff helicopter with four blades. It can have visible and infrared cameras. It can be programmed to follow a course using GPS or controlled remotely by a police officer on the ground.


The ground person watches the action from the sky high robot's point of view through video glasses display.

The robot is very quiet so you may not even know you are being watched. But it only flies for 20 minutes.

There is no word on when it will be fitted with weapons.


BBC NEWS | England | Merseyside | Pilotless police drone takes off

The government of Abu Dhabi announced last week the creation of the Abu Dhabi UAV Investment Company, AD UAV.
The company will design, develop, manufacture and integrate unmanned aerial vehicles for both civilian and military customers.
They will have fixed wing and vertical take off type vehicles.

AD UAV is an offshoot from the UAE military's UAV Research and Technology Center based in Abu Dhabi.
The largest client for AD UAV is expected to be UAE's military forces.

UAE has had an active interest in producing domestic UAV technology for a few years. The US declined to sell them Predator UAV's in 2002.

They currently operate two models of VTOL aircraft for patrolling their borders. The APID 55 was built in partnership wiuth Swedish company CybAero. The Al-Sber was made with Austrian company Schielbel. The ground control systems for both aircraft were developed cooperatively with the Korean company Ucon System. Locally, Gulf Aircraft Maintenence Company, GAMCO, provides ground support.

Abu Dhabi UAV Investment will help to kick-start the local manufacture of UAV's by providing an incubator for new UAV businesses as well as a matchmaker for international cooperative efforts. They hope to grow a worldwide client base with a globally recognized brand.

albawaba.com middle east news information::The Abu Dhabi Government launches Abu Dhabi Uav INVESTMENT Company IN Abu Dhabi: "Abu Dhabi Uav INVESTMENT Company"

The Australian Research Centre for Aerospace Automation, ARCAA, has launched a competition for students and hobbyists. The UAV Challenge - Ouback Rescue will be held in Queensland, Australia in September 2007.

The contest will have prize money up to $40,000 (US $30000) in categories of airborne delivery and search and rescue. There will also be a category for the best documentary film on how the participating team created their contest entry.

The judging for the contest will be based on the performance of the unmanned flyer through a course as well as a report and presentation of the design.

The vehicles will be limited in size to weigh no more than 100 kg (rotary) or 150kg (fixed wing) in the competition configuration.

The contest is open to high school students only from the state of Queensland but to university students or hobbyists worldwide.

more info...
ARCAA | UAV Outback Challenge 2007

Just posting this because when I first read it I didn't know if it was from planet Earth or Stargate SG1.

word for word:

UAV to hover over eastern Maha skies to counter Naxalism

Nagpur, Feb 20: Unmanned Ariel Vehicle (UAV) is all set to be deployed in eastern Maharashtra to trace the movements of Naxals, a senior police official of Anti-Naxalite Operation (ANO) said today.

The UAV over Naxal-infested Gadchiroli district is likely to be operational sometime next week, said inspector general of police, anti-Naxal operations, Pankaj Gupta.

Gupta told reporters that UAV's operation in Chhattisgarh was quite successful and the authorities have received photo and video images both from cameras fitted in the flying machine.

It has traced movement of Naxalites near the hilly terrain of Abuzmadd in Bastar district which is a virtual den of the outlawed extremists.

The images of Naxal training camps, organised in thick and dense forests in Abuzmadd area of Bastar region of Chhattisgarh are very clear and reveal a lot of things which the official declined to mention.

Bureau Report

Zee News - UAV to hover over eastern Maha skies to counter Naxalism

US Army researchers are working on fitting a high powered human-immobilizing spotlight onto an autonomous flying robot.

The light is a modified Maxa Beam light from Peak Beam Systems Inc. The high intensity xenon light is already available in a handheld and remote perimeter security models.
The powerful light can shine up to 7,500,000 candlepower and switch from spotlight, floodlight or stobe mode. By varying the frequency of the strobe the light can be used to disable and disorient enemies.

The army plans to use the unmanned autonomous non-lethal weapon as a "immobilization / deterrent device."

It could also be used to goof on people into thinking they were abducted by a UFO. That would be fun.

PRESOL | A | Design and fabricate a light-based immobilization / deterrent device and integrate it with an UAS. | 11-Feb-07 - FBO#1903

Ottawa, Canada company Mist Mobility Integrated Systems Technology Inc. (MMIST) and Technology Partnerships Canada, TCP, have announced that TCP will be making a $30 million investment in development of MMIST's unmanned cargo delivery aircraft.

The improved designed will be based on MMIST's SnowGoose UAV to improve range and payload capacity.

The SnowGoose is a parafoil winged UAV that can be launched from the ground or dropped out an airplane.

It has a cargo capacity of up to 600 pounds and an endurance range of up to 20 hours, depending on the cargo. The guidance system is based on MMIST's GPS guided SHERPA system.

Currently, the largest customer for the unmanned fliers is the US military. The TCP
announcement says the delivery robots also "can be used to deliver
medical assistance and emergency food aid to remote communities."

MMIST Inc.

Spanish company Aerovision demonstrated their Fulmar unmanned flyer for use as a forest fire monitor.

The Fulmar aircraft is 3 meters wide and weighs about 20 kg (under 50 pounds)fully loaded. It is launched with a sling-shot and can stay aloft for up to 8 hours.
The Fulmar can carry both video and infrared cameras and transmit back from up to 50 km away to a base station in a laptop pc.

The flight plan, including take-off and landing, can be pre-programmed in the base station or the unit can be flown by joystick control.

The Fulmar system was designed as a low cost system for civilian applications.

AEROVISION

Minnesota company VeraTech Aero Corporation makes the Phantom Sentinel, a powered unmanned flying vehicle for surveillance that is invisible in flight.
"Invisible," you say?

The UAV is sort of like a powered boomerrang. The whole aircraft spins so fast that it simply disappears from sight. It relies on human 'persistence of vision'.
Watch the videos here!
The Phantom can fly by GPS or remote control and can hover in place. They can be any size from 2 to 10 feet across and are foldable for storage.
It runs off batteries - the specs do not say how long it can stay aloft.

VeraTech Aero Single Rotor Phantom Sentinel

US Patents: 7104862, 7101246, 7059931

The US Air force chief of Staff, Gen. T. Michael Moseley, announced that the UAV Predator MQ-9 has been named the "Reaper"

Says the general, "It's fitting as it captures the lethal nature of this new weapon system."

The Predator MQ-1 was originally designed for unmanned aerial surveillance but was modified to carry hellfire missiles.
The Predator B MQ-9 version from General Atomics is much larger and was created as a weapons system. The Reaper has a 64 foot wingspan and is powered with 900 hp turboprop engine. The reaper can carry up to 14 hellfire missiles or 500 lb (227kg) JDAM 'smart' bombs.

General Mosely says the Reaper has, "a true hunter-killer role." The most important advantage of the Reaper, the general says, is the "persistence and precision." It can stay aloft for over 14 hours with a full payload.

I would really not like to have one of these things after me.

'Reaper' moniker given to MQ-9 unmanned aerial vehicle

Aberporth, Wales.
"Non-violent direct action" are planned for the site of a UK national UAV center.
The West Wales UAV Centre is a partnership of West Wales Airport and defense corporation QinetiQ for testing and coordinating unmanned and autonomous flying machines. The center is part of the national ASTRAEA (Autonomous Systems Technology Related Airborne Evaluation and Assessment) program with the goal of getting UAV's to routinely fly unrestricted in UK airspace. The Welsh Assembly Government has given its full backing to the programme and is providing approximately £3M (US$5.6M) over 3 years to help industry open up UK airspace for routine operation of UAVs.

The protests were called for at the monthly meeting of activist group Bro Emlyn for Peace and Justice. The reason for the demonstrations are to raise awareness of the nature of the work being done at parc Aberporth.

Harry Rogers of BEPJ is reported as saying, "This project is extremely worrying for we ordinary mortals living in west Wales as most of us only get to hear about the... trumpetings of new jobs and economic development opportunities, but nothing about what is actually being planned at Parc Aberporth.
To put it simply, what kind of jobs are they going to be and what will the products arising out of this industrial development be used for?"

This shows that not everyone is impressed by the recent innovations in unmanned warfare. To many, flying robots are just another weapon.

Peace Demo For Uav Sites (from Tivyside Advertiser)