The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA)has awarded researchers at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and Creare LLC with a $1 million grant from to develop a highly sophisticated autonomous flight control system to navigate unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in unknown dynamic environments, such as crowded urban locations, or in dangerous or hostile … [Read more...] about Embry-Riddle and Creare Receive $1 Million to Develop Autonomous Flight Vehicle
DARPA
Recording-breaking Drone Flies for 56 Straight Hours
A fixed-wing drone backed by DARPA soared into history books last month after achieving a world-duration flight record for drones in its class. Manufactured by Vanilla Aircraft, the diesel-fueled VA001 flew for nearly 56 uninterrupted hours at an altitude of 6,500 to 7,500 feet after being launched on Nov. 30 from New Mexico State University’s Unmanned Air Systems Flight … [Read more...] about Recording-breaking Drone Flies for 56 Straight Hours
DARPA Works on Drone Dragnet
The U.S. military’s top think-tank is thinking of ways to map and track potentially harmful drones over major American cities. Last month, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency announced the launch of the Aerial Dragnet program “to provide persistent, wide-area surveillance of all [drones] operating below 1,000 feet in a large city,” according to a DARPA … [Read more...] about DARPA Works on Drone Dragnet
SkyWall Dominates Anti-Drone Contest
An anti-UAV company’s drone-dropping launcher proved to be Top Gun during a recent industry competition. Start-up firm OpenWorks Engineering won the Best UAS Interdiction Award at the Countering Unauthorized Unmanned Aircraft Systems Challenge in August. The company’s flagship product, SkyWall, stopped the most drones out of seven finalists. Staged at Quantico Marine Base … [Read more...] about SkyWall Dominates Anti-Drone Contest
DARPA Wants You! To Down Rogue Drones
The Pentagon’s futuristic think tank is thinking about how to stop errant drones and it wants the public’s help. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s Tactical Technology Office this week announced a request for information to help create “novel, flexible, mobile layered” anti-drone solutions to defend “fixed and mobile ground and naval forces from possible drone … [Read more...] about DARPA Wants You! To Down Rogue Drones