Category Archives: Aerial/UAS
Anti-Anti-Drone Technology
Why we need it and what form it might take. I was walking down the UAS-tech-laden hall of the 2018 Commercial UAV Expo when I spied two booths touting anti-drone technology. I thought to myself, “My issue is the opposite—keeping my UAS in the air. I don’t need any help crashing it.” Yet, looking back,...
Lava Mapping
sUAS provide data for response to an unstoppable disaster. To most people living in Hawaii, it is not unusual to hear of an active lava event somewhere in the islands at any given time. Despite the nearly 70 earthquakes of magnitude 2.5 or stronger a week prior to the Kilauea lava event, it might have...
UAS for Confined-space Inspections: the DARPA Connection
Dangerous, difficult, and dirty: these are missions that drones are often tasked for. Let’s look at one of the most dangerous tasks out there: inspection of confined spaces. Boilers, tunnels, storage tanks, underground storage areas, and vaults are a few good examples. How dangerous are these places? Here’s what the National Institute for Occupational Safety...
AI-enabled UAS Inspection
AI provides UAS users with biased analytics, the ability to analyze data for insights, and the knowledge of when to act. Artificial intelligence (AI) is at the center of controversies regarding jobs and employment. Will AI take away all our jobs? While some jobs will indeed change or disappear as they have always and will...
2018 Commercial UAV Expo Roundup
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: attending the Commercial UAV Expo is the closest you’ll get to drinking out of a fire hose, data-stream-wise, without incurring physical damage. I’m talking metric tons of new and cool UAS stuff. This year I had the honor to be included as a judge in the...
After the Storm
Above image: Puerto Rico was surveyed using the Coastal Zone Mapping and Imaging Lidar system to provide efficient damage assessment. Image courtesy of the Joint Airborne Technical Center of Expertise. Post-hurricane coastal mapping is a complex process made easier with airborne bathymetry. Lately, large storms such as hurricanes, cyclones, and typhoons have been wreaking havoc...
