Flying Car News, April 14
From Zipline’s New Generation of Medical Delivery Drones, to Caribou Migration Research in Canada, there is innovation in the skies!
This week’s top Flying Car News: Zipline’s new generation of medical delivery drones, Festo’s Flying Fox, NASA’s TC3 UTM tests, AMSL Aero’s Veri-plane, and more!
Flying cars will be a significant part of the future of transportation. Recent advancements in drone technology, electric VTOL aircraft, and autonomous systems have paved the way for an aerial transportation revolution. We created the Udacity Flying Car News Series, to ensure you stay up-to-date on all the latest Flying Car and Autonomous Aircraft stories!
Zipline’s New Generation of Medical Delivery Drones
California startup Zipline, which has performed over 7000 blood delivery fights in Rwanda, has announced their 2nd generation of fixed wing delivery drones in their bid to provide high speed medical delivery for the planet.
“The company has shown off some of its technology before, but now it’s revealing its faster new drone models — they travel up to 80 mph, up from 68 mph — along with an upgraded delivery system that can handle 500 flights a day.”
Festo’s Flying Fox
German automation company Festo has created a lightweight bionic flying fox using a flexible ultralight membrane, and machine learning, to mimic natural flight.
“Festo uses machine learning to optimize the BionicFlyingFox’s flight behavior, such that every time it performs a maneuver, it gets just a little bit better.”
NASA Completes TC3 UTM Tests
NASA has completed their third testing stage out of four for their Unmanned Air System Traffic Management, in coordination with the FAA and industry.
“The recent testing period in Nevada, labeled as ‘Technical Capability Level 3,’ simulated scenarios that tasked the UTM to operate drones safely and efficiently, simultaneously, above populated airspace.”
AMSL Aero’s Vertiplane
Australian startup AMSL aero has demonstrated a ⅕ size prototype for their electric autonomous vtol called the Verti-plane.
“The Verti-plane uses patented technology that tilts the two wings to enable vertical flight for take-off and landing, and horizontal flight for fast (300km/hr) cruising flight. It flies autonomously and is electric, which means it is far safer than helicopters and is also quiet and emissions-free.”
Drones Help Caribou Migration Research
Drones were used by researchers to track caribou migration in the Canadian Arctic and learned new social behaviors of herds using computer vision technology.
“Scientists have studied caribou migrations by counting passing animals, taking aerial photos and attaching GPS collars to track the movements of a few members. But drone videos offer a more complete view of the varying behaviors of migrating caribou.”
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