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A Partnership for Safety & Innovation with McGuireWoods Consulting , Amazon Prime Air , Wing , Intel , Kespry , PrecisionHawk , Verizon , Airmap , T-Mobile , AGI , Flirtey , DRONEcourse , Percepto , Aeronyde , Yamaha , Loveland Innovations , Airspace Link . The Small UAV Coalition is a partnership of leading consumer and technology companies who believe that U.S. leadership in the research, development, production, and application of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) will benefit consumers in all walks of life. The Department of Transportation’s economic report regarding UAS innovation suggests there are hundreds of use cases for such technology. As a group, we support and advocate for a range of law and policy changes that will not only embrace, but encourage, the growth of the UAV industry. These include measures to: Permit the operation of small UAVs beyond visual line-of-sight. Support the development of infrastructure to safely manage the widespread use of low-altitude airspace. Enable broader UAS access to commercial mobile services and unlicensed spectrum vital to the safe and widespread integration of UAS. Embrace the carriage and delivery potential of UAV technology in a wide array of capacities, ranging from humanitarian aid to commercial operations. We believe that in order to realize the vast economic potential and consumer benefits possible through the integration of UAVs around the country, our government must implement thoughtful regulations that reflect and anticipate the rapid growth of the industry. Ultimately, these policies must enable, rather than hinder, its progress. As a Coalition, we are working to resolve existing policy and regulatory barriers that inhibit small UAV development, sales, job creation, and services. Under a new and forward-thinking regulatory framework, these facets of the UAV industry have the potential to revolutionize our economy and benefit consumers across the United States and around the globe. Why we joined: Airspace Link provides UAV solutions for federal agencies (e.g. FAA), state & local governments and drone oriented businesses, all while keeping citizen-voice at the forefront during regulation and ordinance creation processes. While Airspace Link may not agree on every approach and issue, we strongly support the mission of the UAV Coalition. The Coalition is advocating for risk-based regulations which will allow for the safe and expedited integration of small UAVs into the national air space (NAS). The Small UAV Coalition is working with policymakers and regulators to achieve these objectives, ultimately allowing for the safe commercial operation of small UAVs in the foreseeable future. Public Interest Concerns: Perceived safety, privacy, nuisance, and other public interest concerns could derail or delay the work of the Coalition. Legislators and regulators often react unpredictably to new technologies and, all too often, choose political expediency over sound policy. The Coalition works to educate lawmakers, regulators, and public interest groups that safety is always of utmost concern, and that UAS operators and users will respect reasonable expectations of privacy. Finally, the Coalition was an active participant in the NTIA multi-stakeholder process on privacy and expects to continue its work to ensure consumers’ privacy. Roles and Responsibilities of Federal, State and Local Governments: The Coalition advocates for a national ...
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Tweet by AUVSI News On July 10, Fortress UAV, a newly formed subsidiary of Fortress Solutions, officially announced a new North American repair service for commercial and consumer UAS . With three facilities in the United States, and over 220 employees in repair services, Fortress UAV is in position to be the largest and most comprehensive facility for UAS repair in North America, especially since thus far, UAS repair facilities have mainly been housed at hobby shops, or been a product of drone enthusiasts launching new repair businesses. “We have been eyeing the expansion into drone repair and logistics and preparing for the launch of Fortress UAV for the better part of a year,” says Brendon Mills, president and CEO of Fortress UAV and Fortress Solutions. “We have expanded and trained our staff to address this unique market, and silently launched our services in February. Today, we are excited to officially launch Fortress UAV and aggressively expand our business to fulfill the critical repair and logistics needs for both enthusiasts and commercial operators alike.” As an authorized dealer and repair service center for Yuneec UAS, and an authorized dealer for DJI, Fortress UAV can repair all variants of Yuneec Typhoon and Breeze products, as well as DJI Phantom, DJI Mavic, and DJI Inspire products, and the DJI Matrice 600 commercial UAS. Soon, Fortress UAV will begin repairing the DJI Spark and the Matrice 200/210 products. The company supports out-of-warranty and crash-damage repairs for DJI and Yuneec brand UAS in the United States, Canada, and Mexico, and in as little as two days, they can return a repaired unit to a user. A UAS owner can send their drone to Fortress UAV for a free, detailed estimate on how much repairs will cost on their unmanned system. Through the company’s website, which is now live at http://www.fortressuav.com/ , customers can follow their repair process, as well as initiate a new repair order, receive shipping logistics information, and track and pay for the repair process. << Back to the News
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Tweet by AUVSI News Deveron UAS Corp., which provides enterprise drone data services for agriculture, and is a nationally compliant, Transport Canada-licensed UAS operator, has announced a collaboration with FS PARTNERS (FSP), which is a leading agronomy service provider in Ontario, Canada that has six hubs that span across the province. As a result of the partnership, FSP will offer its customers Deveron’s on-demand UAS data service, and Deveron will fly more farm acres with UAS. “This is yet another important relationship for us as it increases our market penetration in Ontario, where there are over 7 million acres of farmland,” says David MacMillan, Deveron’s President & CEO . “It also highlights the value of Deveron’s business model, which is that farming companies don’t want to own drones - they want to focus on making decisions from data that help their customers grow crops more efficiently.” Steve Rongits, Agronomy and Energy Risk Manager at FSP, adds, “our new partnership with Deveron allows for greater efficiency in our operations, and greater coverage by air. This will allow for even more precision agronomy opportunities across our service area, allowing more local growers to optimize their efforts in real time in the field.” << Back to the News
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Tweet by AUVSI News The United States Coast Guard is looking for a small UAS to use on its Legend-class national security cutters, to enhance the performance of these already versatile systems. Among many missions, the cutters are used to intercept suspect vessels, patrol coastal waters, and undertake homeland security and counterterrorism missions. “As long as we have been talking about this class of ship, there has always been the expectation that there would be an unmanned system involved,” says Cmdr. Dan Broadhurst, unmanned aircraft systems division chief in the Coast Guard's aviation capabilities office, via C4ISRNET.com . The service will evaluate different platforms under a draft request for proposals (RFP) that was issued in the spring. The hope is that a full RFP, which is asking for “a holistic package, including the people, the antennas, the software,” can be issued by the end of the year. According to C4ISRNET.com, a fiscal 2018 award “would bring advanced intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities along with search-and-rescue enhancements to nine vessels.” Thus far, the service has looked at several systems that are capable of being used, but these UAS have price tags extending into the millions, so the service is looking for cheaper alternatives from the industry. The core of the payload for whatever UAS is chosen will be mainstay electro-optical and infrared systems, but the Coast Guard is also looking for a platform that can offer persistence, or the ability to execute missions for up to 12 hours at a time. The Coast Guard is also looking for a vendor that can supply the platform, as well as the expertise necessary to operate the UAS, since operating UAS requires a certain level of technical proficiency that is not readily available across the service, according to Jeffrey Bishop, program manager for small unmanned aircraft systems. Bishop elaborates on this point by saying, “at this point, the government as the operator is definitely off the table for this piece of the acquisition. We don’t have the people with the needed skill sets to operate these vehicles.” Eventually down the line, the Coast Guard would like to see its UAS fleet incorporate a degree of autonomy, so that it can, among many things, be able to detect other craft and avoid collisions. “These are going to be the keys to the kingdom with unmanned systems,” says Broadhurst. << Back to the News
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Tweet by AUVSI News The SAIC Innovation Center in Silicon Valley, which in 2015 was established as a subsidiary of China’s state-owned automaker SAIC Motor, has received a permit to test its autonomous vehicles on the roads in California. SAIC Motor is the 35th organization to receive a permit from the California Department of Motor Vehicles to test its autonomous vehicles in the state. The permit covers two vehicles and one driver, according to an email that was sent to CNBC from a DMV spokesman . Earlier this year, SAIC said its self-driving cars have compiled more than 12,000 miles each in road tests, but it did not say how many self-driving vehicles were in its fleet. << Back to the News
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Weekend Roundup

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Tweet by AUVSI News AkitaBox, which is a facility management software company that automates maintenance, planning and inspections, has announced a partnership with commercial UAS and data company PrecisionHawk, which will result in the two working together to integrate aerial data into the facility management workflow. Through the partnership, AkitaBox’s customers will have access to PrecisionHawk’s UAS packages and services to improve visibility for inspections, surveys and scans of a worksite. AkitaBox is hopeful that by offering better data capture capabilities, it will advance technology in the facility management space, which can ultimately yield better business outcomes for its clients. “AkitaBox understands the facilities process and the gaps that drone data can fill,” says Jeff Freund, VP Construction at PrecisionHawk . “By integrating PrecisionHawk technology they are providing their customers with another layer of information on top of their already robust software platform.” Using PrecisionHawk’s platform, a UAS can be flown to capture data and automatically generate a 3D point cloud, 2D orthographic views and 3D mesh data models. This information can be fed into AkitaBox, and utilized for further analysis and long term planning. “PrecisionHawk brings an easy to use, cost effective and timely platform that gives our clients a complete picture of their external assets that can be used for everything from facility maintenance to cost planning,” says Josh Lowe, Chief Customer Officer at AkitaBox. PrecisionHawk’s Smarter Package includes a UAS equipped with sensors and software that allow for “the automatic, visual assessment of all external areas of a site and places that otherwise would be difficult to see.” Through this process, a project manager no longer needs to physically inspect every aspect of a site. The PrecisionHawk Smarter Package is also extremely supportive of urban property management, as it allows for users to cover a larger area and receive close to real time data without resolution limitations. << Back to the News
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Tweet by AUVSI News About 60 students and staff from Oklahoma State University (OSU), and the universities of Kentucky, Oklahoma and Nebraska, are spending the week of June 26 flying UAS at OSU’s Unmanned Aircraft Flight Station, to collect data on weather. This is the second year that the universities have come together to test UAS and their ability to improve weather forecasting, and the students seem to enjoy the collaborative environment as they work with students from different universities on a shared challenge. “We look forward to this every year,” says Caleb Canter, a mechanical engineering master’s student at University of Kentucky, via an article from the Stillwater News Press . Canter, who collected data on turbulence, adds, “we get to compare how other schools use drones and learn from it.” Thanks to being accessorized with sensors, approximately 20 UAS of various shapes and sizes were used to collect different types of data, including temperature, wind speed, humidity and pressure. One of the UAS used, named Maggie, made its maiden voyage, and it performed admirably, as it collected data from multiple elevations during its 40 minutes in the air. The research being conducted by the four universities, which is being funded by a four year, six-million-dollar grant from the National Science Foundation, is a part of the CLOUD MAP project, which stands for Collaboration Leading Operational UAS Development for Meteorology and Atmospheric Physics. << Back to the News
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