18 UAV Engines, Servos, Parachutes, and Bob

This Episode:Guest Bob Schmidt is President, UAV Propulsion Tech, a U.S. technical sales rep firm that markets German and Australian technology into the U.S. Unmanned Aerial Vehicle market. We talk about A Mexico Mayor buying drones, the secret RQ-180, a sub-launched stealth, and drones that heal themselves.UAV Propulsion Tech solutions include consumer off the shelf (COTs) and custom propulsion and servo solutions, as well as rescue/recovery parachute solutions that protect high value air vehicle and payload assets. Companies represented are: Orbital Australia and Hirth Motors for propulsion systems, Volz Servos for actuators and Skygraphics for rescue/recovery parachute solutions.The News:Tijuana Mayor to buy DronesTijuana plans to buy 3D Robotics RTF quadcopter drones to monitor traffic, evaluate accident scenes, detect landslides, and control wildfires.Secret New UAS Shows Stealth, Efficiency AdvancesAn AviationWeek exclusive describes the secret RQ-180 designed for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) missions. Developed by Northrop Grumman and now flying, this stealth UAS could be operational in 2015.U.S. Navy Fires “XFC” Drone from Underwater SubmarineThe XFC UAS is an all-electric, fuel cell-powered, unmanned aerial systemDrones learn how to keep flying when damagedAircraft maintain flight stability based on a fixed vehicle configuration. When something breaks on a drone, like a rotor blade, it crashes. Unless the control software is intelligent enough to detect the changed configuration and adaptively react.In this video, the vibrating propellor on a quadcopter breaks off. Without the adaptive software, it drops like a stone. With adaptive software, it starts to tumble, reacts and becomes partially stable, and lands itself quickly and safely.Max’s Quadcopter:No flights this past week as Max was taken out by a bad cold.