Innocorp has a new drone that is a flying submarine. It is an unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV), unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) drone and iot can transitio from water to air to land without any individual or multiple deployments, fission of elements, (as in rockets), or complicated maneuvering. 

Like the Murres, a unique seabird which can circumnavigate in the air and in water, SubMurres does both in unprecedented fashion. SubMurres has all the key features of a submarine, including complete marine functionality, communication tower with periscope for panoramic viewing of above-water landscape, dual propulsion blades, fully-articulated rotors that emerge as needed, sensors, and more. But it doesn’t end there.

The dual submarine aircraft moves ubiquitously from water to air. As a submarine, Submurres glide silently underwater performing its mission as it surfaces. Once on the water surface its flight system is engaged and its four rotors emerge from their compartments as vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) is initiated. Once airborne, there is no expulsion of parts. SubMurres simply flies unfettered, with all components intact. Its landing apparatus allow it to settle on terrain, and its second camera system allows it to fully capture surroundings. From land, it can be directly re-dispatched to water. No need to redeploy or to be picked up by another carrier aircraft, unlike any of the chief aeronautic industry or Navy-funded university’s latest submersive drone models.

 

SubMurres, can return to the water without redeployment from another submarine or any other transport vehicle. Unlike other drones in use today, the device is controlled by command rather than by a thin tethered wire or other medium.

SubMurres is a diesel/battery powered vehicle. It has a main diesel engine, a generator, and a battery bank. The diesels engine can either power the vehicle or run the generator that recharges the battery bank. 

As a diesel/battery powered UUV/UAV, SubMurres surfaces to run its diesel engine to charge the batteries. Once fully charged, SubMurres can head underwater using the battery-powered electric motors to drive its thrusters, sensors, cameras, and related equipment. While diesel/battery powered submarines are nothing new, InnoCorp is the first to implement this technology in a UUV/UAV drone, thereby significantly extending its operational capacity.

Even better than fictional Thunderbird 4 and UFO Skydiver

Thunderbird 4 was a fictional vehicle that was a submarine and a fast surface ship which could be carried in the air by Thunderbird 2.

Skydiver in the TV show UFO was a submarine that could launch a fighter plane

Researchers at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland, have developed an innovative unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) that can stay on station beneath the water, then launch into the air to perform a variety of missions.   The Corrosion Resistant Aerial Covert Unmanned Nautical System — or CRACUNS — is a submersible UAV that can be launched from a fixed position underwater, or from an unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV).  Credit: Johns Hopkins APL The Corrosion Resistant Aerial Covert Unmanned Nautical System — or CRACUNS — is a submersible UAV that can be launched from a fixed position underwater, or from an unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV). A team from APL’s Force Projection Sector worked with fabrication experts in the Research and Exploratory Development Department to create a new type of unmanned vehicle that can operate effectively in two very different arenas: air and water. “Engineers at APL have long worked on both Navy submarine systems and autonomous UAVs,” said Jason Stipes of APL’s Sea Control Mission Area, project manager for CRACUNS. “In response to evolving sponsor challenges, we were inspired to develop a vehicle that could operate both underwater and in the air.” The resulting CRACUNS prototype system was developed and tested using internal research and development funding. CRACUNS enables new capabilities not possible with existing UAV or UUV platforms. Its ability to operate in the harsh littoral (shore) environment, as well as its payload flexibility, enables a wide array of potential missions. The most innovative feature of CRACUNS is that it can remain at and launch from a significant depth without needing structural metal parts or machined surfaces. To make that possible, the team needed to overcome two big challenges. First, the APL team leveraged advances in additive manufacturing and novel fabrication techniques available at the Laboratory’s extensive fabrication facilities. The team fabricated a lightweight, submersible, composite airframe able to withstand the water pressure experienced while submerged. The second significant challenge was to ensure CRACUNS could not just survive, but operate effectively in a corrosive saltwater environment. To do that, the APL team sealed the most sensitive components in a dry pressure vessel. For the motors that are exposed to salt water, APL applied commercially available protective coatings. The team tested the performance of the motors by submerging them in salt water. Two months later, they showed no sign of corrosion and continued to operate while submerged. “CRACUNS successfully demonstrated a new way of thinking about the fabrication and use of unmanned systems,” said APL’s Rich Hooks, an aerospace and mechanical engineer who was responsible for the novel additive manufacturing techniques used on CRACUNS. CRACUNS gives sponsors and researchers access to possibilities that were previously unavailable. CRACUNS’ low cost makes it expendable, allowing for the use of large numbers of vehicles for high-risk scenarios. “APL’s culture of innovation and mission-ready solutions continues to deliver success for our sponsors,” said Sea Control Mission Area Executive Christopher Watkins.

Media contact: Geoff Brown, 240-228-5618, geoffrey.brown@jhuapl.edu

The Applied Physics Laboratory, a not-for-profit division of The Johns Hopkins University, meets critical national challenges through the innovative application of science and technology. For more information, visit www.jhuapl.edu.

taken from here

For decades, aircraft designers seeking to improve vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) capabilities have endured a substantial set of interrelated challenges. Dozens of attempts have been made to increase top speed without sacrificing range, efficiency or the ability to do useful work, with each effort struggling or failing in one way or another.

DARPA’s VTOL Experimental Plane (VTOL X-Plane) program aims to overcome these challenges through innovative cross-pollination between fixed-wing and rotary-wing technologies and by developing and integrating novel subsystems to enable radical improvements in vertical and cruising flight capabilities. In an important step toward that goal, DARPA has awarded the Phase 2 contract for VTOL X-Plane to Aurora Flight Sciences.

“Just when we thought it had all been done before, the Aurora team found room for invention—truly new elements of engineering and technology that show enormous promise for demonstration on actual flight vehicles,” said Ashish Bagai, DARPA program manager. “This is an extremely novel approach,” Bagai said of the selected design. “It will be very challenging to demonstrate, but it has the potential to move the technology needle the farthest and provide some of the greatest spinoff opportunities for other vertical flight and aviation products.”

VTOL X-Plane seeks to develop a technology demonstrator that could

• Achieve a top sustained flight speed of 300 kt to 400 kt
• Raise aircraft hover efficiency from 60 percent to at least 75 percent
• Present a more favorable cruise lift-to-drag ratio of at least 10, up from 5-6
• Carry a useful load of at least 40 percent of the vehicle’s projected gross weight of 10,000-12,000 pounds

 



Aurora’s Phase 2 design for VTOL X-Plane envisions an unmanned aircraft with two large rear wings and two smaller front canards—short winglets mounted near the nose of the aircraft. A turboshaft engine—one used in V-22 Osprey tiltrotor aircraft—mounted in the fuselage would provide 3 megawatts (4,000 horsepower) of electrical power, the equivalent of an average commercial wind turbine. The engine would drive 24 ducted fans, nine integrated into each wing and three inside each canard. Both the wings and the canards would rotate to direct fan thrust as needed: rearward for forward flight, downward for hovering and at angles during transition between the two.

The design envisions an aircraft that could fly fast and far, hover when needed and accomplish diverse missions without the need for prepared landing areas. While the technology demonstrator would be unmanned, the technologies that VTOL X-Plane intends to develop could apply equally well to manned aircraft. The program has the goal of performing flight tests in the 2018 timeframe.

Aurora’s unique design is only possible through advances in technology over the past 60 years, in fields such as air vehicle and aeromechanics design and testing, adaptive and reconfigurable control systems, and highly integrated designs. It would also be impossible with the classical mechanical drive systems used in today’s vertical lift aircraft, Bagai said.

The Phase 2 design addresses in innovative ways many longstanding technical obstacles, the biggest of which is that the design characteristics that enable good hovering capabilities are completely different from those that enable fast forward flight. Among the revolutionary design advances to be incorporated in the technology demonstrator:

Electric power generation and distribution systems to enable multiple fans and transmission-agnostic air vehicle designs
Modularized, cellular aerodynamic wing design with integrated propulsion to enable the wings to perform efficiently in forward flight, hover and when transitioning between them

Overactuated flight control systems that could change the thrust of each fan to increase maneuverability and efficiency
“This VTOL X-plane won’t be in volume production in the next few years but is important for the future capabilities it could enable,” Bagai said. “Imagine electric aircraft that are more quiet, fuel-efficient and adaptable and are capable of runway-independent operations. We want to open up whole new design and mission spaces freed from prior constraints, and enable new VTOL aircraft 

taken from here

The SkyWall 100 is one of the latest device promising to protect the world from the impending drone takeover. It’s essentially a smart bazooka that fires a canister filled with a net at drones 100 meters away. Boom headshot.

An operator targets the drone and fires a canister that contains a large net that gets tangled in the drone’s rotors. A parachute then delivers the drone back to earth in a civilized manner. OpenWorks Engineering is the company behind the device and is marketing the device to protect sensitive events and buildings. This isn’t something meant to protect your home from snooping neighbors.

The shoulder-mounted device uses an intelligent system that locks onto a drone, assisting the operator in firing and targeting. The scope identifies and then calculates a firing pattern based on the drone’s distance and vector. The technology sounds a lot like the systems inTrackingPoint’s smart guns that lets anyone get a bullseye on a target hundreds of meters away.

The company is also announcing the SkyWall 200, a semi-permanent launcher mounted on a tripod and offers increased range over the SkyWall 100. The SkyWall 300 is a turret-like device designed to be permanently installed. The company says tracking and detection is built into the 300 and operators can control the device remotely.

As drone technology advances, anti-drone technology has followed suited. SkyWall’s solution combine’s brute force with a bleeding edge tracking system. Other devices use radio waves to disrupt the targeted drone’s communications while other systems still use larger drones to capture smaller drones.

SkyWall has not released the price for their systems yet but says it will be available by the end of the year.

for this demo I used 3.3v as power source for the receiver but in real life it will probably be a 5v power source so you'll need to figure a way how to do it (resistors, level converter...) 

and of course the code :)

/* build and tested using
sony camera block fcb-ex11d and
rc transmitter spektrum dx6i with
ar6200 reciever and connected to the elev channel */
byte address_set[4]= {0x88, 0x30, 0x01, 0xFF};
byte if_clear[5]= {0x88, 0x01, 0x00, 0x01, 0xFF};
byte command_cancel[3]= {0x81,0x21,0xFF};
byte zoom_teleVar[6]= {0x81, 0x01, 0x04, 0x07, 0x23, 0xFF}; //zoom in 81 01 04 07 2p FF - p=0 (low) to 7 (high)
byte zoom_wideVar[6]= {0x81, 0x01, 0x04, 0x07, 0x33, 0xFF}; //zoom out 81 01 04 07 3p FF - p=0 (low) to 7 (high)
byte zoom_stop[6]= {0x81, 0x01, 0x04, 0x07, 0x00, 0xFF}; //stop zoom
byte auto_focus[6]= {0x81, 0x01, 0x04, 0x38, 0x02, 0xFF}; //auto focus

const int thisdelay= 250; //time between sets
const int zoom_out=3; //Zoom 

void setup() {
pinMode(zoom_in, INPUT);
pinMode(zoom_out, INPUT);
// initialize both serial ports:
Serial.begin(9600);
//send Address set
for (int i=0; i<4; i++){
Serial.write(address_set[i]);
}
delay(thisdelay);
//send IF_clear set
for (int i=0; i<5; i++){
Serial.write(if_clear[i]);
delay(thisdelay);
}
}

//zoom in
void loop() {
int zoom_inState=pulseIn(3, HIGH, 25000);
if(zoom_inState>1550 )
{
delay(thisdelay);
//Send zoom tele set
for (int i=0; i<6; i++){
Serial.write(zoom_teleVar[i]);
}
}

//zoom out
int zoom_outState=pulseIn(3, HIGH, 25000);
if(zoom_outState < 1400 )
{
delay(thisdelay);
for (int i=0; i<6; i++){
Serial.write(zoom_wideVar[i]);
}
}
//zoom stop
if(zoom_outState < 1500 && zoom_inState > 1400 ){
//send auto focus cmd
for (int i=0; i<6; i++){
Serial.write(auto_focus[i]);
}
//send zoom stop
for (int i=0; i<6; i++){
Serial.write(zoom_stop[i]);
}
}
}

void sendcommand_cancel(){
for (int i=0; i<3; i++){
Serial.write(command_cancel[i]);
}
}

next thing will be to import it to attiny85

will release the code later tonight

**got really cool board that im using called attami (google it :) )

i was told that it will cost 1euro (not assembled)

and will be available at c31c (chaos communication congress #31)

It looks a bit like Anakin Skywalker's starfighter from The Phantom Menace.

It's like a dog that is always watching you.

Photography Drones: Robot Cameras Take to the Skies

      These remote-controlled multi-rotor aircraft can capture amazing footage—and are fast becoming today’s must-have photo accessories   

• By Peter Kolonia on May 13, 2013

CHESTERTON WINDMILL Brit Paul Bunyard made this image in Warwick, England, by sending a GoPro 3 200 feet into the air in a four-prop DJI Phantom drone.

Photo: Paul Bunyard

Enlarge

RADIO CONTROL UNIT With up to 12 channels that each control a separate flight or camera function, control consoles can be paired so that one person operates the multi-rotor with one, and a second operates the onboard camera with another. You can program the units to customize the placement of controls. 

Enlarge

Options

Low End The toy-like AR Parrot Drone 2.0 ($300) is controlled by iOS devices and hosts two on-board video cameras; one is HD and can send clips to the iOS device and share to online media sites.
Mid-Market For about $700, a quadcopter like the DJI Phantom has advanced flight controls and options such as GPS positioning, gyroscopic stabilization, and a com-pact-camera mount.
High End From $9,000 to $30,000, pro-quality multi-rotors like the Infinite Jib model shown are highly customized and can carry payloads from DSLRs to cinemagraphic equipment used for major motion pictures.

If you’ve noticed a sudden proliferation of photos and video taken from above—but seemingly from far too low to have been shot from a plane—chances are that you’re looking at images shot from a drone. High-end units are being used in sports photography, real estate, law enforcement, and even major motion pictures. Drones are some of the most exciting new photographic tools in recent history. And flying these multi-rotor, radio-controlled aircraft is almost as thrilling as the images they can produce.
Why now? Recent advancements in flight controllers and aircraft stabilizers have made it possible for almost anyone to strap a decent camera into a drone, send it skyward for capture, and return it to earth in one piece (most of the time).
Also known as multi-rotors, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), quadcopters, and octocopters, these relatively affordable aircraft deliver photography that was—up until now—impossible at any price. They’re able to fly outdoors, even in slight wind, and sometimes in confined indoor spaces, too. Multi-rotors can legally operate at heights up to 400 feet, and range in price from $300 to up to $30,000.
Drones come in four-, six-, and eight-prop versions that can accept cameras ranging from compacts to high-end DSLRs. They’re powered by rechargeable batteries that provide between 6 and 15 minutes of flight time per charge, depending on the model and payload. Some are ready to fly out of the box, others require more at-home engineering.
Their technology starts with the propellers and motors, which produce minimal vibration for steady video capture. Most are operated by sophisticated radio-control (RC) consoles with joysticks for setting altitude, direction, and speed. The Parrot AR Drone 2.0 is controlled by iOS apps on iPhones and iPads. Most airborne multi-rotors “know” their location by communicating with six or more GPS satellites.
Yes, crashes happen. Many units, however, prevent or minimize damage by automatically returning to the site of liftoff when power drops or communication with the control console is compromised.

TIPS Buyer Beware Before investing in a multi-rotor, check with online user forums to learn of the experiences others have had with the units that interest you. This product category—especially the low end—is still in its infancy.
Try Flight Training To learn to fly a multi-rotor before taking your valuable camera aloft, experiment with an inexpensive unit such as the Blade mQX ($119, street). There’s even optional flight simulation software for it.

THIS ARTICLE IS FROM THE JUNE ISSUE OF POPULAR PHOTOGRAPHY, ON NEWSSTANDS NOW!

 

http://www.popphoto.com/gear/2013/05/photography-drones-robot-cameras-take-to-skies?webSyncID=5dc857c2-3e81-d3e5-6951-34c045ba6ebd&sessionGUID=9d0755ba-45e8-e44c-cc32-55be41a07001

Related Tags:

• Gear,
• drones

Passenger plane flies 800 kilometers without a pilot

• 00:00 11 May 2013 by Paul Marks

When an unmanned aerial vehicle reportedly flew within about 200 feet of an airliner earlier this week, outlets like Time and CNN chose to accompany their stories with a picture of the RQ-9 Reaper--this, despite that initially, there was no concrete description of the unmanned aircraft.

It's not terribly surprising that news outlets would default to an image of the Reaper; it's perhaps the most widely recognized drone in operation. But as more details of the incident surfaced, this simplification proved incredibly wrong. The unmanned craft is now described as a 3-foot-long quadrotor--a four-blade copter--which is wildly distinct from the 36-foot-long Reaper; a bit like the difference between a Johnny Seven O.M.A and an AK-47. That's when I realized: drones are really confusing. Even to people who get paid to write about them! So here's a primer on what is and isn't a drone, the differences between common types of drones, and a bunch of other stuff you need to know to sound smart talking about these things:

Where does the term drone come from?

When unmanned flying vehicles were first introduced to the U.S. military, the ability to control them from afar wasn't very sophisticated. So the first drones flew along pre-set paths, operating off an internal navigation system. This led to servicemen informally referring to any machine that flew without human control a "drone," and Germany still has some like this in service today. That said, the "not being controlled by a human" part of the definition has since been lost to everyday use.

What exactly are drones?

"Drone" as a category refers to any unmanned, remotely piloted flying craft, ranging from something as small as a radio-controlled toy helicopter to the 32,000-pound, $104 million Global Hawk. If it flies and it's controlled by a pilot on the ground, it fits under the everyday-language definition of drone.

Global Hawk:   Wikimedia Commons

Wait, does that mean model airplanes are drones?

Almost! Actually, under the law as it stands, any unmanned, remotely piloted vehicle in the United States flown for hobby or recreational purposes is a model airplane, thanks to the 2012 FAA re-authorization act. In 2015, the FAA will suggest new, drone-specific regulations, at which point model airplane law and drone law will probably diverge. Until then, though, all small drones used by private citizens in the U.S. are legally model airplanes.

So is the military using model airplanes?

No. The military is not considered a private citizen, so it plays by different rules, and uses different terminology.

Okay, so what terms does the military use?

The military has described drones, variously, as Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), Remotely Piloted Vehicles (RPVs), Unmanned Aerial Systems (UASs), and Remotely Piloted Systems. (The FAA uses some of these terms, too.) The difference between UAV/RPV and UAS/RPS is that the former terms refer to the vehicle itself, and the latter terms describe the vehicle as well as the pilot and support staff. These are useful distinctions for specialists, but not for regular people.

What are the different types of drones the military uses?

The United States military alone maintains three different classifications, one each for the Air Force, Army, and Marines. Part of the confusion in drone terminology is overlapping and competing definitions. The Air Force files drones under five different tiers; the Army and the Marines file drones under three tiers, and none of those tiers perfectly overlap. That's boring and technical. Instead, here are some of the most commonly used or iconic drones:

RQ-11 Raven The RQ-11 Raven weighs 4 pounds, is launched with a throw, and is piloted with a hand-held unit that resembles a video-game controller. The Raven isn't the most iconic military drone, but it is probably the most used: more than 19,000 have been built. It's mainly useful for seeing around corners and sending footage of rooftops back to troops moving through a city.

It also looks like an awkward model airplane, and it breaks apart like LEGOs when it lands:

RQ-7 Shadow The RQ-7 Shadow is approximately man-sized, and can fly almost 80 miles away from its commander while providing near-instant video to give a good picture of the battlefield.

Shadow 200 :   Wikimedia Commons

MQ-1 Predator and MQ-9 Reaper The MQ-1 Predator and MQ-9 Reaper are the most iconic drones, and odds are if there's a news story about a drone, it's going to have a picture of one of these. These guys can be armed so that makes them largely, though by no means exclusively, the preferred tool for what we call drone strikes. The main difference between them is that the newer Reaper is larger, has a more powerful engine, and can carry much, much more. They still both look like someone slapped a giant wing on a match, though.

MQ-1 Predator UAV:   Wikimedia Commons

Rq-4 Global Hawk The Rq-4 Global Hawk is the leviathan of the drone fleet. As mentioned above, it weighs more than 32,000 pounds, has a 130-foot wingspan, and can fly for more than a day. It can reach up to 60,000 feet, and from high elevation it can take high-resolution images of the land below, as well as detect and track moving targets.

Aeryon Scout Though not in use by the United States, let's take a look at the Aeryon Scout. It's a small quadrotor that NATO allies supplied to the Libyan rebels in the recent campaign to overthrow Gaddafi. The scout weighs less than 3 pounds and can fly for about 25 minutes, making it useful for checking around corners. It's operated with a touch screen, too.

Aeryon Scout:   Wikimedia Commons

That's by no means a comprehensive list of military drones, but it should get you through a dinner party.

What about private industry? Does it use simpler terms?

As of last week, yes! Not because the drone industry doesn't have weird or obscure terms, but on Friday the drone lobbyist Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI) conceded that "drone" is what people are calling unmanned aerial vehicles, so "drone" is now begrudgingly the industry term.

So what should I call them?

Ultimately, depends on your audience. In everyday conversation or casual writing, "drone" is fine. If the audience is military or industry, or knowledgeable policy makers, it might be best to skip the informal terms, crack open Google, and figure out exactly how these people are going to talk about flying robots.

taken from: here