Because 3D printing allows one-off items to be
created quickly and cheaply, it should come as no surprise that the
technology has already been used
to produce unmanned aerial vehicles, or UAVs. Engineers at the
University of Sheffield's Advanced Manufacturing Research Center (AMRC),
however, have taken things a step farther. They've made a 3D-printed
UAV airframe that's designed to minimize the amount of material needed
in its construction, and that can be printed and in the air within a
single day. Read More
A couple of years ago, a man named Rick Hamel
created one of the most insane remote-controlled flying machines you'll
ever witness. No, it's not an airplane or helicopter, or anything that
mundane. Instead, he created a dragon that actually shoots fire and
reaches airborne speeds of up to 70 mph (112.6 km/h). Now, this beast is
actually for sale via Hammacher Schlemmer, with a staggering US$60,000
price tag. Read More
Satellites may be very useful for communications,
navigation and other applications, but they're awfully expensive to
build and launch, and once they're in orbit ... well, there's no reusing
them. That's why a consortium led by Thales Alenia Space
is developing the StratoBus. It's a planned autonomous airship that can
be launched like a regular blimp, but that will be able to hover at an
altitude of 20 km (12 miles) – that's up in the stratosphere, hence the
name. Read More
A couple of years ago, France’s Lehmann Aviation
introduced its LA100, a fully autonomous fixed-wing UAV designed to
carry a user-supplied GoPro Hero camera. Now, the company has announced
the LA100 Version2, which features Wi-Fi connectivity and a new Windows
Phone 8-based OperationCenter control interface app. Read More
The Triton UAV's initial flight test program, which kicked off with the unmanned aircraft's first flight last May,
has been completed. Now cleared to fly at various altitudes, speeds and
weights, the Triton is on track to be introduced into the US Navy fleet
in 2017. Read More
The higher the temperature at which an aircraft
engine is able to run, the more efficiently it uses fuel. In order to
run at those high temperatures, the metal components of airplane engines
are presently treated with heat-shielding coatings. Scientists at
Sweden's University West, however, are developing a new such coating
that is said to be far more effective than anything presently used – it
could extend the service life of engines by 300 percent. Read More
The Goodyear blimp
may have been flying around for almost 90 years, but it still manages
to turn heads. On Friday, there was another reason to look beyond
nostalgia for the days of the great airships of old as Goodyear unveiled
its new state-of-the-art blimp to the media, Goodyear associates and
dealers at its Wingfoot Lake hangar in Suffield, Ohio. Built in
partnership with the Zeppelin company, the new craft that replaces the
45-year old GZ-20 blimp fleet is not only larger and faster, it isn’t
even a blimp, but a semi-rigid airship. Read More
Helicopters and other rotorcraft are impressive
bits of technology, but the only place where they match the performance
of fixed-wing aircraft is in bad 1980s television. That may soon change
with DARPA announcing the selection of four companies to compete in the
next phase of its Vertical Take Off and Landing Experimental Plane (VTOL
X-Plane) program. The four companies are tasked with developing
unmanned demonstrator aircraft designed to increase the performance of
VTOL rotor aircraft while reducing their complexity. Read More
Since first taking to the air in June 2009,
trials of the UK's homegrown Watchkeeper tactical unmanned aerial
vehicle have been conducted by industry partners including QinetiQ.
The UK Ministry of Defence has now announced the aircraft has been
awarded a Release To Service, clearing the way for flight training to
begin with the Royal Artillery. Read More
Helicopters are an invaluable military resource
for transporting supplies, carrying out surveillance and reconnaissance,
and evacuating casualties from rugged terrain. Unfortunately, they are
also a finite resource. That's why DARPA is looking to share the load
with the Aerial Reconfigurable Embedded System (ARES) concept, a
compact, high-speed and highly-automated delivery system with vertical
take-off and landing (VTOL) capabilities. Read More
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Spike S-512 Supersonic Jet will have screens instead of windows
By Stu Robarts
February 19, 2014
Aircraft windows have always been a sticking
point in the bid to go faster, cheaper and safer. As well as creating
drag, the additional structural support and parts required for windows
add weight to the plane. Spike Aerospace is set to overcome these
problems by doing away with cabin windows altogether in its S-512 jet,
and replacing them with video screens embedded in the interior walls.
Read More
UAV successfully sees and avoids another aircraft while in flight
By Ben Coxworth
February 10, 2014
In a recent flight test in Australia, a Scan Eagle
UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) succeeded in visually identifying an
approaching Cessna aircraft, and letting its own ground-based operators
know that evasive action was required. It's being hailed as a major step
towards the allowance of UAVs in commercial airspace. Read More
Review: The camera-packin' Hubsan X4 FPV mini quadcopter
By Ben Coxworth
January 26, 2014
It was just a few months ago that we showed you
what is probably the world's smallest consumer quadcopter, the tiny Estes Proto X.
Although it's a marvel of modern engineering, Gizmag writer Jonathan
Fincher noted that it lacks any particularly interesting features, such
as a camera. Well, late last year, Hubsan released its X4 H107D FPV.
It's not much bigger than the Proto X, and it has a camera that transmits a real-time video signal to the user. When I heard about it, I knew I had to try it out. Read More
FlexFoil aims to seamlessly boost airplanes' fuel efficiency
By Ben Coxworth
January 17, 2014
If there's one thing that needs to be
aerodynamic, it's an airplane wing. Conventional wing designs however,
suffer from a glaring weakness in this respect: the joint where the main
wing meets the trailing flaps. Michigan-based FlexSys has developed a
way to optimize wing aerodynamics with FlexFoil, a seamless variable
geometry airfoil system that could deliver fuel savings of up to 12
percent. Read More
Boeing examines "green diesel" as a sustainable aviation biofuel
By Ben Coxworth
January 15, 2014
Over the past few years, we've heard about
"green" airliners running on a mixture of jet fuel and biofuels made
from things like plants and recycled cooking oil. Now, Boeing is looking at blending jet fuel with green diesel, which is already used to fuel trucks. Read More
Aerial drones to help protect endangered species of rhino
By Nick Lavars
January 14, 2014
Aerial drones, whether they be dropping bombs, books or burritos,
have attracted a certain degree of controversy in recent times. While
the potential of the technology is plain to see, many aren't convinced
that the benefits will outweigh the risks associated with unmanned
vehicles zipping about in the sky above. With its recent field testing
of an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) designed to protect an ailing rhino
population, Airware are determined to help the industry shed some of
these negative connotations. Read More
The original DJI Phantom
quadcopter is now priced below US$500, and it's designed to carry a
GoPro camera. However, while the copter could conceivably be stuffed
into a backpack, doing so might be a little ... awkward. That's why the
guys at San Diego-based AirDroids created the Pocket Drone. It squeaks
in under the $500 mark and is made to carry a GoPro, but it also folds
down for easy transport. What's more, its battery runtime is about twice
that of the Phantom. Read More
DJI releases mid-priced Phantom 2 and Phantom FC40 quadcopters
By Ben Coxworth
January 9, 2014
Last year right around this time, DJI Innovations released its original Phantom
quadcopter. The fact that the aircraft was designed to carry a GoPro
camera made it quite popular. Then in November, the company started
selling the Phantom 2 Vision
model, which features its own built-in Wi-Fi-controlled HD camera. It's
pretty awesome, but at US$1,199 it's priced $720 more than the base
Phantom. Now, DJI has introduced two new models that occupy the middle
ground between those two price points. Read More
Aerospace is one of the industries set to benefit from the 3D printing revolution, with last year's test of 3D-printed rocket engine components
by NASA being just one example of the shape of things to come. Now BAE
Systems has revealed that 3D-printed functional components designed and
produced by engineers at the Royal Air Force (RAF) Marham military
airbase have flown for the first time in Tornado fighter jets taking off
from BAE Systems' company airfield at Warton in Lancashire. Read More
Although aerial drones been around in one form or
another since World War I, it hasn’t really been until the last decade
that they’ve really taken off, so to speak. Where they were once
restricted to a spot of battlefield reconnaissance, in addition to
military applications, drones are now used for everything from
agriculture to oil prospecting and by everyone from rescue workers to
real estate agents. Although the technological advances and
proliferation of drones has accelerated over the past decade, 2013 was
the year that the technology really entered the public consciousness. So
let’s have a look back at Gizmag’s pick of the top drone stories of
2013. Read More
It’s almost 2014 and time for a bit of
aeronautical reflection as we look back at what records were broken,
which new prizes were won, and what new technologies promise us a
hypersonic, jet-packed future of aviation and innovation. So let’s have a
glance at Gizmag’s pick of the top five aeronautical achievements of
2013. Read More
Spike S-512 could be the world's first supersonic business jet
By Darren Quick
December 26, 2013
With the Cessna Citation X set to receive FAA certification in early 2014 and knock the Gulfstream G650
off it's world's fastest civilian aircraft perch thanks to its maximum
operating speed of Mach 0.935, Boston-based Spike Aerospace is looking
to leave both those aircraft in its wake with its S-512. Spike says its
S-512 will be the world's first supersonic business jet, boasting a
cruising speed of Mach 1.6, and a maximum speed of Mach 1.8. Read More
If you saw The Dark Knight Rises, then
you no doubt remember the very cool-looking Batwing aircraft in which
Mr. Wayne flew over the streets of Gotham. Perhaps you thought that
while it was pretty impressive, there was no way that anything like it
could work in real life. Well hey, guess what? The Batwing-like AirMule
VTOL (Vertical Takeoff and Landing) prototype aircraft recently
demonstrated its ability to fly autonomously, bringing it one step
closer to carrying out a full mission demo. Read More
Palmdale, CA. General Atomics Aeronautical
System, Inc. (GA-ASI), the maker of the Predator and Reaper Unmanned
Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) successfully completed the first of several
flight tests of a prototype Sense and Avoid (SAA) system, that allows a
UAV to see and avoid other aircraft in flight. Read More
We've seen autonomous MAVs (micro air vehicles) before, and we've seen flapping-wing MAVs
before. According to a group of researchers from the Netherlands' Delft
University of Technology, however, we've never seen an autonomous
flapping-wing MAV – until now. Yesterday the four-man team announced its
DelFly Explorer, which is described as "the first flapping wing Micro
Air Vehicle that is able to fly with complete autonomy in unknown
environments." Read More
The maiden flight of e-volo's 18-rotor Volocopter electric aircraft prototype
last month seems to have impressed quite a few people. The company is
claiming a European crowdfunding record after raising €1.2 million in
under four days. Read More
SkyJack: The drone that hijacks other drones in mid-air
December 8, 2013
Amazon's Prime Air
announcement last week brought concerns about the use of commercial
drones to the fore, but one programmer may have just muddied the waters
even more. Notable hacker Samy Kamkar recently modified a Parrot AR.Drone 2
with his custom software, called SkyJack, allowing it to seek out the
wireless signals of other UAVs and take control of them, even while in
flight. Read More
Early this year we first heard about PowerUp 3.0,
a kit that converts an ordinary paper airplane into a powered,
smartphone-controlled flying aircraft. Inventor Shai Goitein has made
some improvements to the product since then, and recently launched a
Kickstarter campaign to finance its large-scale production. At the time
of this posting, he's exceeded his funding goal by over 960 percent.
Read More
Algorithm lets quadcopters keep flying on three or less propellers
By Ben Coxworth
December 5, 2013
Whether it's for Amazon-purchased goods, text books or defibrillators,
unmanned multicopters are increasingly being considered for use as
delivery vehicles. Given that this would involve their flying over
heavily-populated areas, however, many people are rightly concerned
about the aircraft malfunctioning and crashing down onto someone below.
That's why researchers at ETH Zurich have created a control algorithm
that allows any quadcopter to keep flying, even if it loses multiple
motors or propellers. Read More
As early as 2015, your Amazon purchases could be
dropped at your door within 30 minutes courtesy of unmanned aerial
drones. Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos revealed plans for the delivery service
dubbed Prime Air (an extension of Amazon Prime which guarantees two-day
shipping) in a 60 Minutes interview on Sunday night. Read More
"World's first" smartphone-controlled SmartPlane takes off
By Darren Quick
November 25, 2013
Parrot's AR Drone quadcopter
has been strutting its smartphone-controlled stuff for a few years now,
but fixed wing remote controlled aircraft have been a little thinner on
the ground – and in the air. TobyRich, a German company specializing in
smartphone-controlled gadgets, has now launched its SmartPlane, which
it calls "the first smartphone-controlled airplane in the world." Read More
Prototype "flying jellyfish" takes to the air
By Ben Coxworth
November 25, 2013
What could be better than a jellyfish-inspired machine that swims underwater?
Well, how about one that flies in the air? A group of scientists from
New York University have created just such a contraption, and it could
have big implications for tiny flying robots. Read More
Zee.Aero, a small company located near the
GooglePlex, home to Google, is working on a flying car concept that can
take off and land vertically using a plethora of small electric motors
turning four-bladed propellers. According to illustrations included with
the patent filings, one version of the vehicle is narrow enough to fit
into a standard shopping center parking space. Read More
Hammerhead UAV takes to the skies over Italy
November 21, 2013
There was an unusual shape in the skies over
Italy last week as the Piaggio Aero Company and Selex ES successfully
completed the first flight of the aptly-named Hammerhead UAV on
Thursday, November 14, near the Trapini Air Force Base. The aircraft was
remotely controlled from the ground, with no crew on board, while two
chase planes kept the UAV in sight during the flight. Read More
E-volo’s 18-rotor electric Volocopter makes maiden flight
By Heidi Hoopes
November 21, 2013
E-volo recently celebrated the maiden launch of
its electric two-passenger, 18-rotor VC200 "Volocopter," touting the
vehicle's safety and simplicity after an indoor flight inside the
Dm-arena in Karlsruhe, Germany on November 17. While the copter is
similar in form to both quadcopters and helicopters, the company resists
the helicopter label, pointing out the numerous radically different
safety and design choices that set the vehicle apart. Read More
Economy airline seats have a one-size-fits-all
design that seems to fit hardly anybody and often makes flights of any
length into an extended exercise in discomfort. Last week, London-based
design firm Seymourpowell presented Morph – a new concept economy seat
for airline travel that uses stretched fabric sheets and movable
supports to allow passengers to customize their seats and even purchase
extra width. Read More
Boeing's fuel-efficient 777X features folding wings
By Stu Robarts
November 18, 2013
Boeing has launched its newest airliner, the
777X, at the 2013 Dubai Airshow. The aircraft is designed with folding
wing-tips that will increase wingspan and, as a result, fuel efficiency
without limiting access at airports. Read More
You may have noticed that we enjoy our quadcopters here at Gizmag, from the GPS-equipped Phantom 2 Vision to the palm-sized 1SQ V-cam.
Recently though, we had a chance to try out a somewhat unusual style of
quad in the form of the tiny Proto X from Estes. It may not have a
laundry list of features under its belt, but the Proto X does hold the
distinction of being the smallest quadcopter we've ever reviewed ... by a
huge margin. Read More
Sometimes, success brings its own problems.
London’s airports may have managed to grab a considerable chunk of the
passenger air market, but the result has been congestion over the south
of England and a desperate clamor for new runways. This week, the Thames
Estuary Research and Development Company (Testrad) consortium unveiled
details of a scheme designed to take the pressure off. Its London
Britannia Airport proposal involves building an artificial island in the
Thames Estuary near the Isle of Sheppey to provide the capital with a
larger airport, which would replace Heathrow. Read More
As evidenced by ongoing efforts in the
Philippines in the wake of Typhoon Haiyan, getting aid and support
personnel in and victims out of disaster-stricken areas is a major
problem when infrastructure such as runways has been rendered unusable. A
new aircraft concept combining features of an airship, plane,
helicopter and hovercraft that is being developed as part of the
European Commission's Extremely Short Take Off and Landing On any
Surface (ESTOLAS) project could help address the problem. Read More
The European Aviation Safety Agency is following in the footsteps of the US Federal Aviation Administration by easing restrictions on the use of Personal Electronic Devices (PEDs) by passengers during flights. Read More
Review (with video!): DJI Phantom 2 Vision quadcopter
By Ben Coxworth
November 13, 2013
It was less than two weeks ago that DJI Innovations released its Phantom 2 Vision quadcopter, the camera-equipped successor to its popular Phantom
model. Since then, I've received a review unit from the company, which
I've had a few chances to try out – between snowfalls and high winds,
that is. My verdict? It's awesome, despite a couple of surprising shortcomings. Read More
The Hirobo stand at the International Robotics
Exhibition in Tokyo this week was full of surprises. The first was the
appearance of the HX-1 unmanned electric helicopter, due to go into
production before the end of the year, but an even bigger surprise was
in store when you opened the brochure – details of the company's planned
personal (manned) BIT electric micro helicopter. Read More
In the wake of the Gulfstream G650
claiming a new around-the-world speed record for a certified civilian
aircraft, Cessna is signaling that the record will be short lived. On
its way to certification, Cessna's Citation X
recently wound up all high-speed certification flights with the FAA,
which confirmed the aircraft as the fastest civilian aircraft in the
world. Read More
Maiden flight of next-gen MQ-8C Fire Scout unmanned helicopter
By Darren Quick
November 3, 2013
The next-generation MQ-8C Fire Scout unmanned
helicopter has taken to the air for the first time at Naval Base Ventura
County in California. Built by Northrop Grumman around a Bell 407
helicopter, the MQ-8C is designed to boast twice the endurance and three
times the payload capacity of the MQ-8B variant that has clocked up over 5,000 flight hours in Afghanistan. Read More
FAA relaxes rules on in-flight use of electronic devices
By David Szondy
November 3, 2013
On Thursday, the US Department of
Transportation’s Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) eased regulations
against airline passengers using their Personal Electronic Devices
(PED) during the flight. On Friday at 4:30 PM EDT, only 15 minutes after
receiving FAA approval for the regulation change, JetBlue’s Flight 2302
from New York's JFK to Buffalo became the first commercial flight to
allow passengers to use their PEDs gate-to-gate. Read More
Lockheed Martin developing successor to the SR-71 Blackbird
By David Szondy
November 2, 2013
When the last SR-71 Blackbird was grounded in
1998 it was a double blow. Not only did aviation lose one of the most
advanced aircraft ever built, but also one of the most beautiful.
Lockheed Martin’s Skunk Works has now revealed that it is building a
successor to the Blackbird: the SR-72. Using a new hypersonic engine
design that combines turbines and ramjets, the company says that the
unmanned SR-72 will be twice as fast as its predecessor with a cruising
speed of Mach 6. Read More
Back in 2008, we heard about a parasail-equipped dune buggy, known as the Parajet Skycar.
It could scramble over rough ground like a true off-roader, but then
take to the skies when needed. One epic 6,000-km (3,728-mile)
drive/flight from London to Tombouctou later, its creators got some
ideas about how the design could be improved. The result is the lighter,
better-flying and less-polluting SkyRunner – and you can order one now.
Read More
DJI releases camera-equipped Phantom 2 Vision quadcopter
By Ben Coxworth
October 31, 2013
DJI Innovations unveiled its GPS-enabled Phantom quadcopter less than a year ago, and since then it has become perhaps the go-to aerial platform for the GoPro HERO actioncam. In April, the company provided us with a sneak peek
at the next model in the line, the Phantom 2 Vision. While there
weren't many details available at the time, that's changed as of today,
with the Vision's official commercial release. Among its new features
are improved battery life, a video-stabilizing platform and most
significant of all, an included HD video camera that allows for
first-person-view via a mobile device. Read More
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