Check out this Progressive Forward Thinking Drone Company: Matternet

I have looked at a lot of Drone UAV UAS websites in the past few months, some stand out like this company from Menlo Park, CA, USA. The site design is very intriguing to say the least. Their multirotor is intended as a Delivery Vehicle, not advertised as a "do it all" as so many say about their product. They have a vision for the future, and it is to help people in need, specifically 3rd world countries lacking infrastructure. Below is a capture from their video, showing a ground station, where the drone will refuel and continue on it's mission.

Re-Fueling Station: Matternet (click for site access)
Company Vision: TED Talk with Andreas Raptopoulos

 Go on the site and look around, I look forward to see how they progress. 

Scientists of DLR (German Aerospace Center) successfully performed a stratospheric flight with a small sized UAS being launched in 20km altitude.

Check out this video of this high altitude flight. Do you just go and do this or do you need approval first??

Michael Waller, RIT - Interview

It was my pleasure to sit with Michael during the AUVSI show in Atlanta earlier this year and talk about his Doctoral research at Rochester Institute of Technology. His official title is Fuel Cell & Solar Energy Engineer (right off his business card). Michael did a nice job speaking in terms that I could understand and hopefully make sense to my readers. 

Michael: I live in Rochester NY, currently attending RIT. We are developing a fuel cell system that can be use in unmanned applications. The System takes propane on one end and generates electricity on the other end. (I know he is trying to dumb it down for me, and that is OK). It is capable of being much more efficient than a combustion engine, with a much higher energy density, or specific energy, than batteries. 

Me: You mentioned this will be used in small UAVs....how small?

Michael: We are targeting drones up to 55 lbs. (aha, right within the FAA rules). It would produce 250 Watts to 5KW. We are working on a prototype that is a 55W system that can run on a 1lb propane tank that you can buy just about anywhere. This would give you about 5 hours of flight time. 

Me: Flight Time is a critical factor with these UAVs, straight battery powered vehicles seem very limited currently. 

Michael: Yes, Run Time is a big limiting factor, but what has surprised me after talking to many people here at the conference is the concern over Ease of Use. 

Me: I have flown RC fixed wing craft, enough to know that is can be difficult while flying line of sight. They move so fast you don't have a lot of time for corrections. The multi-rotors tend to be easier to fly out of the box. Which airframe are you pursuing with this technology?

Michael: It is nice to start with a Fixed Wing because they consume only about 1/4 of the power of a Multi-Rotor. There will be an ease of integration with our system onto any vehicle though. 

Me: I come from an Automotive Design background, where fuel cells have been under development for quite some time. Is there any knowledge to be gained from their advancements?

Michael: There is quite a bit of overlap whether it is membrane technology or fuel cell stack design.  (you're losing here a little Mike, sorry). 

Afterthoughts:  Very bright young man, he is the type of thinker/scientist that will help advance the UAV UAS Drone industry for years to come. Michael hinted that the main "buzz"  right now is all about the vehicles themselves, but once that dies down a bit you will discover that other technologies such as this will rise to the top and become the main industry focus. If you would like to learn more about this topic, here is a link to RIT and their Fuel Cell Research: Propelling Fuel Cell Technology

IdeaFly, Drone UAS UAV company from Schenzhen, China sites Honor

Interesting drop down in this Drone company from China, a tab called Honor. That is a good thing to advertise for any business. The english translation is not 100%, but you get the idea. I have never worked for a company that claimed to Honor it's employees. 

IdeaFly

40 Uses for Drones UAVs UAS

 A nice chart from Opspeculate, there are probably more uses they didn't think of. Can you?

Insitu offers 3D modeling capability from imagery captured by airborne surveillance systems

IRVINE, Calif. June 19, 2015 - 2d3 Sensing, an agile commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) technology provider specializing in the improvement, processing, exploitation, and dissemination of motion imagery and metadata, introduces a 3D modeling capability as part of the latest release of its enterprise full motion video (FMV) PED software suite that extracts information from imagery captured by airborne surveillance systems.
2d3 Sensing’s suite of motion imagery software provides the capabilities operators and analysts need to effectively process and manage FMV for tactical ISR operations – from enhancing and improving image quality, to extracting and sharing GEOINT data. This latest capability leverages the company’s long history in the field of computer vision to accomplish 3D scene reconstruction based on a video sequence or a set of still images. The modeling tool can generate a 3D reconstruction from uncalibrated sensors within minutes, a differentiator in this competitive field. Users can then leverage these models to facilitate tactical planning by providing better target understanding and situational awareness.
“Some tactical operations require a thorough understanding of the scene beyond information gleaned from 2D aerial imagery,” commented Jon Damush, VP and GM of Missions Systems Programs at Insitu Inc. and former CEO of 2d3 Sensing. “With this 3D capability, users can now perform operational planning tasks that were difficult to accomplish without 3D data, such as planning maneuvers on mountainous terrain or analyzing line-of-sight to a target, and have a more holistic perspective of the operation prior to launch.”

For more information visit here