Air Traffic Control for Drones

As reported by MIT Technology Review: How do you keep small drone aircraft safe in the world’s busiest national airspace? One idea is to have them use cellphone networks to feed data back to an air traffic control system made just for drones.

A startup called Airware is working with NASA on a project exploring how to manage the swarms of commercial drones expected to start appearing in U.S. skies. The four-year program will create a series of prototype air traffic management systems and could shape how widely commercial drones can be used. Airware’s main business is selling control software and hardware to drone manufacturers and operators.

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration has yet to propose rules to govern the use of commercial robotic aircraft in U.S. skies. But it predicts that 7,500 unmanned craft weighing 55 pounds (25 kilograms) or less will be operating in the U.S. by 2018. There is strong interest from agriculture, mining, and infrastructure companies in using drones for tasks like inspecting crops or gathering geospatial data (see “10 Breakthrough Technologies 2014: Agricultural Drones”).

That could mean gridlock in the skies, or at least increasingly unsafe traffic patterns. “You will have competing interests trying to use the same space,” says Jesse Kallman, head of business development and regulatory affairs at Airware. “Imagine Amazon trying to deliver packages in an area that an energy company is trying to survey their power lines.”

The first prototype to be developed under NASA’s project will be an Internet-based system. Drone operators will file flight plans for approval. The system will use what it knows about other drone flights, weather forecasts, and physical obstacles such as radio masts to give the go-ahead.

Later phases of the project will build more sophisticated systems that can actively manage drone traffic by sending out commands to drones in flight. That could mean directing them to spread out when craft from multiple operators are flying in the same area, or taking action when something goes wrong, such as a drone losing contact with its operator, says Jonathan Downey, CEO of Airware.

If a drone strayed out of its approved area, for example, the system might automatically send a command that made it return to its assigned area, or land immediately. The commands could vary depending on the situation—such as how close the drone is to a populated area—or the size and weight of the aircraft, says Downey. Ultimately, NASA wants its system to do things like automatically steer drones out of the way of a crewed helicopter that unexpectedly passes through.

Getting that to work will require a reliable way for drones to communicate with the traffic system. Airware believes that equipping drones with cellular data connections could be the best option. The equipment that conventional aircraft use to communicate or send digital data to air traffic control systems is too bulky for use on drones.

Airware is set to perform a series of flight and lab tests on different drone craft, ranging from quadcopters to helicopters to fixed wing planes, on a NASA base in California, perhaps as soon as this year. The first stage of testing is aimed at understanding how different craft could respond to commands from a traffic control system.

Ella Atkins, an associate professor of aerospace engineering at the University of Michigan, says that so-called general aviation—unscheduled private flights—pose the most difficulty to integrating drone traffic into U.S. airspace. “The most challenging thing would be to combine a large fleet of Amazon Prime drones carrying packages and the Piper Clubs that just want to punch a hole in the sky on the weekend,” she says.

Atkins says that is as much a regulatory issue as a technological one, and suggests it may be time to reconsider FAA rules written for when only crewed craft took to the skies. Giving drones relatively free reign below an altitude of a few hundred feet, except in the vicinity of airports, would mostly remove conflict between drones and general aviation, she suggests.

Such major changes to FAA rules appear unlikely. People in the nascent commercial drone industry often point out that the U.S. regulator has been slower than its counterparts in other countries to clear the way for commercial drone flights, even just for research. Airware already has customers using its control systems on drones flying over mining operations in France, and inspecting oil rigs in Australia, for example.

However, those countries have not so far begun work on drone traffic control systems. “I’m not familiar with any other system,” says Downey. “This is an area the U.S. has an opportunity to take the lead on.” 

Boeing Hands Over Seventh GPS 2F Satellite to U.S. Air Force

As reported by SpaceNews: Boeing Space and Intelligence Systems of El Segundo, California, has handed over the seventh in the GPS 2F series of positioning, navigation and timing satellites to the U.S. Air Force, according to an Oct. 13 press release from the company.

The satellite launched Aug. 1 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Florida. Initial activation and checkout took five days, the release said, and the Air Force took control of the satellite Aug. 8.

“Handover to the 50th Space Wing is a huge milestone in a GPS satellite’s journey, confirming that it’s been put through its paces and all looks good,” Dan Hart, vice president of government space systems at Boeing Network & Space Systems, said in a prepared statement.

The GPS 2F satellites provide better accuracy and resistance to jamming than the previous generation of GPS satellites, most of which are still in operation. The next satellite in the series, the GPS 2F-8, is expected to launch Oct. 29 from Cape Canaveral aboard an Atlas 5 rocket.

Roam the Arabian desert with Google Street View

Imagine sitting atop a camel looking across a vast expanse of desert dunes. A glimmer of green flashes in the distance. It could be a mirage or a bountiful oasis just awaiting your discovery. Now with Google Maps, you can see for yourself and journey across the sands of the Liwa Desert, one of the most breathtaking landscapes in the world. 

On your virtual trip through the desert, you’ll find sand dunes that reach an astounding height of 25-40 meters. These rolling sandy hills were home to early settlers back in the Late Stone Age, making Liwa one of the oldest sites in the United Arab Emirates.

Liwa Desert, UAE

Some of the richest history in this desert lies in the Liwa Oasis—the largest oasis in the Arabian peninsula. Many people across the UAE can trace their origins to the first tribes that settled there and established the region as a trade center. The oasis is also home to date farms, whose trees and fruit are important cultural symbols—the trunks of the palms were used to weave the walls of Bedouin tents, baskets and more, while the fruit was a treasured treat for the locals. Now, the oasis is a sought out location for tourists around the world and those who live in the area.

Liwa Oasis, UAE

To bring this stunning desert to Street View, we fashioned the Trekker to rest on a camel, which gathered imagery as it walked. Using camels for the collection allowed us to collect authentic imagery and minimize our disruption of this fragile environment.

Street View Trekker mounted on a camel

We hope this collection gives you a glimpse of what it may be like to travel the desert as caravan merchants have for the past 3000 years. Should you make the journey here in person, who knows—you may meet some new friends. To see more, visit the Street View gallery.

Tesla’s Most Advanced and Powerful Car Ever

As reported by Wired: Tesla’s next car, the P85D, will have two motors and all-wheel drive. It will match the 3.2 second 0 to 60 mph time of the McLaren F1, one of the fastest cars ever made. And it will be even more efficient than the current, already terrific, Model S.

“This car is nuts. It’s like taking off from a carrier deck. It’s just bananas,” said CEO Elon Musk, who unveiled the D at a crowded event, next door to the headquarters of the other company he helms, Space X.

And for those who settle for the standard Model S over the new Model S P85D, there’s something new: The cars now being produced are stuffed with high-tech safety technologies that will allow the car to automatically avoid danger and even drive itself—kind of.

The Model S P85D shares an exterior with the Model S sedan, and Musk didn’t mention any changes to the interior. What is different is what’s under the skin: A new motor between the front wheels to go along with the one in back. In addition to sending power to all four wheels, which is good news for customers in snowy climes, the system will boost the already impressive acceleration and the top speed. The P85D will get to 60 mph a full second faster than the current top of the line Tesla, the P85. It will max out at 155 mph instead of 130.  

Each of the three versions of the Model S will come as a D model. The price of the 60kWh battery model will go from $71,070 to $75,070 for the dual motor system. The 85 kWh car goes from $81,070 to $85,070, and the P85 jumps from $105,570 to $120,170. Deliveries of the less powerful D models will start in February, the P85D should hit the road in December.

What’s especially impressive is that Tesla managed to improve the car’s efficiency and range, despite the added mass of the second motor. The 85D and P85D will be able to drive 275 miles on a charge, 10 more than the 85 and P85. The range of the 60kWh version climbs from 208 to 225 miles. Musk said the added efficiency is thanks to the electronic system that will shift power between the front and rear motors from one millisecond to the next, so each is always operating at its most efficient point. Tesla has long said it will offer all-wheel drive on its next car, the Model X SUV, so it’s no surprise it’s bringing the technology to the sedan.

But the design and production of a high-performance version of the S is something of a pivot away from what Musk says is Tesla’s ultimate goal: offering a high-quality, electric car that can travel hundreds of miles without recharging, for around $35,000. That long-awaited “affordable” EV will be called the Model 3, and will follow the Model X to market. Tesla’s been quiet about when, exactly, that’ll happen.

Autopilot
In a move that most of the luxury auto market has already made, the car will offer active safety features like adaptive cruise control and the ability to read speed limit signs, stop itself if a crash is imminent, stay in its lane, and even park itself in a street spot or in your garage. (Musk seemed to decide on the spot he wanted the car’s charger to automatically plug in, but let’s give his engineers a chance to take a breath before getting to work on that one.)

These features are provided thanks to new hardware that will go into future Model S cars (and is already in every car produced in the past two weeks). Tesla is adding a radar that can see through fog and snow; a camera with image recognition capability to spot traffic signs and lights, as well as pedestrians; 360-degree ultrasonic sonar; and a system that combines all the data those produce with navigation, GPS, and real-time traffic systems.

The net result will be a car that can be put on “autopilot,” if not fully autonomous mode. Tesla isn’t ready to make the jump quite yet, Musk said, since the safety system can’t be fully relied on, and regulations to handle self-driving cars have to be figured out. But, Musk said, if you fall asleep while driving, the car should be able to get you home safely. If you try to steer into danger, the wheel will resist. Owners will also be able to summon the car to pick them up autonomously, as long as they’re on private property, where DOT and other regulations don’t apply. “The car can do almost anything,” he said.

The technology behind these systems is likely provided by Daimler, as the two companies have a partnership: Tesla provides batteries for the Mercedes-Benz B-Class Electric Drive car. In December 2013, Daimler said it “has cooperated successfully with Tesla for several years and currently intends to broaden and deepen its partnership in the coming years.” Mercedes offers many of these features on its vehicles, and is working to put a self-driving car on the market by 2020.


This pile of features fully catches Tesla up with the luxury market in the one area where it was actually behind. As impressive as the current Model S is in terms of performance, it didn’t even have any adaptive cruise control, which monitors the car’s distance from other vehicles in addition to staying at speed on its own.

So now that it’s reestablished its position as the true innovator in the auto industry, maybe Tesla can go back to work on building a wonderful electric car more of us can take home. 

Whistle-blower Suit Claims Northrop Faked Tests of GPS Systems

As reported by the LATimes: An employee of defense giant Northrop Grumman Inc. claims in a lawsuit that the company’s workers repeatedly took risky shortcuts and faked tests of navigational systems made for use in military fighter jets, drones and submarines.

Todd Donaldson, a longtime Northrop employee, says in his suit that the company sold the GPS systems to the Pentagon without performing a key test to ensure that they properly communicated with satellites.

Without that test, he said, there was “a grave danger of erroneous navigation, leading to crashes and weapons failing to hit their targets.”

Northrop declined to comment. “As a matter of policy, we do not comment on cases or issues in litigation,” said Randy Belote, the company's vice president of strategic communications.

Donaldson did not name any accidents that occurred because of malfunctions of Northrop’s navigational device known as the LN-100.

But in May 2011, Air Force investigators blamed the LN-100 for a crash of a Predator drone carrying a Hellfire missile in the north African Republic of Djibouti.

The investigators said the device recorded the drone’s altitude to be 400 feet higher than it actually was.

The crew, piloting the craft remotely, failed to see the problem, the investigators said, before the Predator flew into the ground.



The lawsuit was filed under a federal whistle-blower law that allows those who expose government fraud to keep part of any resulting financial settlement.

Donaldson filed the lawsuit two years ago but it was sealed from view of the company and the public until last week.

On Friday, Judge David Nuffer of U.S. District Court in Utah ordered the complaint unsealed after the federal government declined to join the case. He said the government can still decide to intervene.

The lawsuit was first reported by the Salt Lake City Tribune. Neither Donaldson nor his lawyer could be reached for comment.

Northrop’s division in Woodland Hills has sold thousands of the LN-100 navigational systems to the Pentagon and foreign customers.

The GPS system at issue is used on a myriad of military aircraft, including the F-22 Raptor and F/A-18 Hornet fighter jets, as well as the Predator and Northop’s own Global Hawk drones.

Donaldson said he worked his way up to the position of plant manager at Northop’s facility in Salt Lake City, where the navigational systems are assembled and tested.

But he was demoted, he said, after he complained that employees were faking tests of the devices.

Rather than performing the required 10-minute test, Donaldson said, employees were saving time by skipping the test and indicating in paperwork that the device had passed.

He said that he alerted Glenn Kemp, his supervisor, and Ken Bishop, a human relations executive, about the problems, but plant employees continued to “manually insert spurious data causing a ‘pass’ reading.”

How Private Space Companies Make Money Exploring The Final Frontier

As reported by the Universe Today: There’s a big difference in thinking between governments and the private companies that participate in space. While entities such as NASA can work on understanding basic human health or exploring the universe for the sake of a greater understanding, companies have a limitation: they need to eventually make a profit.

This was brought up in a human spaceflight discussion at the International Astronautical Congress today (Oct. 1), which included participants from agencies and companies alike. Below are some concepts for how private companies in the space world today are making their money.

“We have in space a movement towards more privatization … and also for more use of space activities in general and human space activity in the future by individual private persons,” said Johann Dietrich Worner, chairman of the executive board of DLR (Germany’s space agency), in the panel.

“You can imagine that even for the upcoming 10 to 20 to 30 years, the public funding is the basic funding for [space] activities while in other areas, we are already seeing that private money is doing its work if you look to communication and if you look to other activities, like for instance, research in space.”

But commercial spaceflight is already taking place, as some of these examples show.

Commercial crew

Would you ‘Enter the Dragon’?
First look inside SpaceX Dragon V2 next generation astronaut spacecraft unveiled by CEO Elon Musk on May 29, 2014. Credit: Robert Fisher/AmericaSpace

The two successful companies in NASA’s latest round of commercial contracts —SpaceX (Dragon) and Boeing (CST-100) — are each receiving government money to develop their private space taxis. The companies are responsible for meeting certain milestones to receive funds. There is quite the element of risk involved because the commercial contracts are only given out in stages; you could be partway through developing the spacecraft and then discover you will not be awarded one for the next round. This is what happened to Sierra Nevada Corp., whose Dream Chaser concept did not receive more money in the announcement last month. The company has filed a legal challenge in response.

Private space travel

Sir Richard Branson hugs designer Burt Rutan, surrounded by employees of Virgin Galactic, The SpaceShip Company, and Scaled Composites, and watch as Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShip2 streaks across the sky under rocket power, its first ever since the program began in 2005. Burt’s wife Tonya Rutan is at right taking their photo. The spacecraft was dropped from its “mothership,” WhiteKnight2, over the Mojave CA area on April 29, 2013, at high altitude before firing its hybrid power motor. Virgin Galactic hopes to become the first commercial space venture to bring multiple passengers into space on a regular basis.

Virgin Galactic and its founder, Richard Branson, are perhaps the most visible of the companies that are looking to bring private citizens into space — as long as they can pay $250,000 for a ride. The first flight of Virgin into space is expected in the next year. Customers must pay a deposit upfront upon registering and then the balance before they head into suborbit. In the case of Virgin, Branson has a portfolio of companies that can take on the financial risk during the startup phase, but eventually the company will look to turn a profit through the customer payments.

Ultrawideband Returns, This Time for High Resolution Indoor Location

As reported by GigaOM: The dead walk among us, and they are apparently shipping silicon. Ultrawideband, a radio technology that uses unlicensed spectrum to send massive files short distances, is back in a slightly different form, hoping this time to provide location data for the internet of things. Ultrawideband or UWB, was pushed in the early aughts as a way to wirelessly dock a monitor or TV to a computer, but because of infighting in the standards-setting committee and international spectrum allocation issues, it never got very far.

A half of dozen or so startups raised venture capital to build UWB chips and most of those were sold off and the standard itself was taken over by the Bluetooth Special Interest Group. But Decawave, a company based in Dublin, Ireland is now using UWB tech to offer granular, indoor location data. Decawave, which was formed in 2004 is set to ship about a million UWB radios this year and hopes to hit the 5 million mark in 2015 according to Mickael Viot, marketing manager at Decawave.

He claims that UWB can offer location data that is accurate to within 10 centimeters to about 30 centimeters, which makes sense given that the radios were originally designed to transmit a lot of data over a very short distance. The Decawave UWB tech can transmit data over longer distances, but the efficiency per bit is not as great. Customers in the industrial world and automotive are already using the technology, and a smart home customer is also looking at it to provide detailed tracking information for lost items via a stick-on tag.

Using UWB can offer higher data rates than Bluetooth Low Energy, and Viot claims that the modifications to the silicon that Decawave offers make for a chip that is still power-efficient. Right now, the form factor for the silicon is a bit large, but the next generation coming in 2015 will shrink the silicon and packaging to a more consumer-friendly size.

And like other radio technologies that haven’t yet found a home in handsets, UWB radios will need a transceiver somewhere within a set range to work. For example, in a home setting a 4,000 square foot home might require four transceivers to track location. Another example, Decawave offers — using the technology for personal security to unlock your tablets, phones and laptops – would require a radio built into each of those items. Given the perceived similarities with NFC, which Apple just adopted for the iPhone, this seems far-fetched.

And that lack of an establish ecosystem will be the challenge for Decawave and any other entities hoping to use UWB for location. Those entities include chip startup BeSpoon and French technology research organization CEA-Leti. 

Specialized radios need both a transceiver and receiver built into the ecosystem, which can be done if you are selling an industrial solution that will be implemented by IT departments or consultants, but it’s a tougher sell in the consumer market where people don’t want to stick additional boxes around their homes. They might for specific use cases, like tracking their dog, but the best bet for any radio silicon vendor is going to be getting your tech embedded in established hubs or smartphones.

Given Bluetooth’s dominance on the smartphone and the ability to use Wi-Fi to stream larger files, I’m not sure UWB will have much better luck this time around. I could be wrong — after all, the NFL just signed a deal to track football players using RFID, another radio tech that has similar limitations on the ecosystem front — but it’s going to be a tough slog for Decawave and others pushing UWB for the internet of things.