120 Drones that Avoid Obstacles

Systems that allow drones to avoid obstacles, impediments to package delivery by UAV, the UAS registration task force kicks off and gets some help, and interviews and presentations from the UAS Industry Days conference.NewsA Drone with a Sense of DirectionThe Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich has demonstrated a multirotor drone that creates 3-D maps of its environment. The first flight must be manual so the drone can build the map. After that, the drone can fly autonomously in that environment. The system uses stereo camera and sensors, and all data collection and processing is onboard the UAV.Video: Real-Time Visual-Inertial Mapping, Re-localization and Planning Onboard MAVs in Unknown EnvironmentsNew obstacle avoidance tech lets this drone zip through a thicket at top speedMIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab (CSAIL) has developed an autonomous drone with a detection system that can navigate through obstacles. The software looks ahead 10 meters, detects hazards in the flight path, and adjusts the UAVs trajectory in real time.Video: Drone Autonomously Avoiding Obstacles at 30 MPHHere’s Why Drone Delivery Won’t Be Reality Any Time SoonPackage delivery by drone continues to get a lot of attention. Amazon, Google, and even retail giant Walmart are looking at systems that can move items by UAV. But there are many obstacles to be overcome. David Vanderhoof explains some of the challenges in this Time article.Statement: UAS Registration Task Force Day OneFAA Administrator Michael Huerta kicked off the UAS Registration Task Force on November 3, 2015. “The FAA briefed participants on the current statutory requirements and international obligations for aircraft registration before the group began initial discussions on a streamlined registration process and minimum requirements for UAS that need to be registered.”LoBiondo and Larsen Outline Priorities for Proposed FAA Unmanned Aircraft RegistryHouse Aviation Subcommittee Chairman Frank LoBiondo (NJ-02) and Ranking Member Rick Larsen (WA-02) sent a letter to FAA Administrator Michael Huerta outlining their top priorities in establishing a national registry for UAS. The letter outlines four priorities that they want the task force to consider:Streamlined ProcessFAA Access to DataEducation and TrainingIncentives for Consumers to RegisterUAS Industry Days recordingsWe have a webpage with the interviews we conducted with speakers, attendees, and exhibitors at the NUAIR Alliance and Empire State Chapter of AUVSI UAS Industry Days conference held September 22-23, 2015. We also have some of the presentations delivered at the conference.The webpage is http://theUAVdigest.com/UASIndustryDays2015 and you can play the recordings right from that page, or download them and listen later. You will also find a link to photos from the event.Interviews include Aurora Flight Sciences, Mid-Atlantic Aviation Partnership, ULC Robotics, and Lockheed Martin Information Systems & Global Solutions. We have presentations from Lisa Ellman of Hogan Lovells, Mark Aitken who is the Federal Government Regulations manager with AUVSI, and Arland Whitfield, president of The Skyworks Project. Also included are recordings of the agriculture and public safety panels.Video of the WeekStupidest Drone Crash Ever (w/pumpkin) – I’m a moronA DJI Phantom 2 visits a pumpkin farm that happens to have a pumpkin cannon. For more of this “sport” visit https://www.punkinchunkin.com/.Video: Pumpkin Cannon vs Drone - Stupidest Drone Crash Ever - I'm a moron