Unmanned Vehicles

Parimal Kopardekar, principal investigator for NASA’s Unmanned Aerial Systems Traffic Management (UTM) project, is working to create a systemthat would help make it possible for UAS to operate in specified low-altitude zones within the national airspace. He talked with AVweb’s Mary Grady about the technology and its timeline. Duration: 9:45 File Size: 9.1 MB download […]

With the explosions from the 4th of July celebration finally subsiding, this video has gone viral on YouTube and I wonder if its going to ignite some post holiday explosions of its own. (Thanks to Edd Weninger for sending the link; the video popped up on numerous sites over the weekend.) First, the particulars. The […]

Letter of the Week:UAV Technology Won’t Wait for FAA A UAV (or any remotely controlled air vehicle) flown under 400 feet still has the potential to easily take down a manned aircraft, particularly if flown near final approaches to airport runways. I’d imagine that the 400-foot altitude limitation would also make low-flying manned aircraft vulnerable, […]

In Japan, remotely piloted helicopters made by Yamaha are a common sight and have been for more than 15 years. Now the company wants to move into the U.S. market with a new model called the FAZER. Yamaha’s Steve Markofski gave AVweb a briefing on this new UAV at the AUVSI show in Orlando this […]

To answer todays burning question-and burning is probably an understatement-you need to watch this video. Its quite engaging. Click back when youre done; Ill wait. So the question is, does the FAA have a compelling responsibility to protect the public from potential harm that could accrue from such filming using small UAVs? Should the agency […]

At the AUVSI in Orlando on Monday, I ran into my old friend Jon Doolittle, long-time pilot and aviation insurance broker. I shouldnt have been surprised that hes branched out and started selling insurance for UAVs. Of course, the underwriters are baffled about what to charge for such coverage because theres no loss history worth […]

The Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International opened its annual conference and show this week in Orlando. AVweb was there and spoke to AVUSI president Michael Toscano about the state of the industry. view on YouTube

At the Association for Unmanned Vehicles International show in Orlando this week, dozens of UAV companies are displaying the latest in drone technology. In this exclusive AVweb video, Prioria’s Derek Lyons shows us a cool one – a carbon-fiber bird called the Maveric. view on YouTube

If the UAS industry thought the FAA might be about to relax its stance toward enforcement actions against illegal drone operations, the FAA on Tuesday removed any doubt. The FAAs Jim Williams, who heads the agencys unmanned aircraft integration office, told several hundred attendees at the AVUSI show in Orlando that the agency will continue […]

Just as a combination of radar, transponders and active traffic systems improved flight safety for manned aircraft, the UAS industry may benefit from different twists on the same technology. At the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International show in Orlando this week, General Atomics, the maker of the Predator UAS, explained its novel approach to […]