August 24, 2008
Solar UAV sets endurance record
Solar powered aircraft have had the theoretical capability of being "atmospheric" satellites as long as they could store some energy on-board (or fly high enough that they would glide down during the night). The BBC is reporting about a three day record from the Zephyr, built by the QuinetiQ company.
The latest flight was conducted at the US Army's Yuma Proving Ground in Arizona.
The Zephyr flew non-stop for 82 hours, 37 minutes.
That time beats the current official world record for unmanned flight set by the US robot plane Global Hawk - of 30 hours, 24 minutes - and even Zephyr's own previous best of 54 hours achieved last year.
However, the Yuma mark remains "unofficial" because QinetiQ did not involve the FAI (Federation Aeronautique Internationale), the world air sports federation, which sanctions all record attempts.
The US Department of Defense funded the demonstration flight under its Joint Capability Technology Demonstration (JCTD) programme.
This programme is designed to advance the technologies American commanders would most like to see in the field.
"We think Zephyr is very close to an operational system - within the next two years is what we're aiming for," Mr Kelleher said. "We have one more step of improvements; we trying to design a robust and reliable system that will really sit up there for months; and we want to push the performance."
There is some nice video of the launch of the craft over at the BBC site.
August 12, 2008
The Boat makes EngineeringTV
Well, it is not everyday that your project makes EngineeringTV. The gentleman talking is Ken Childress, the marketing guy, and this was filmed down at the AUSVI conference in San Diego earlier this year. Still, that is my boat, and there is no uncertain amount of pride seeing it go through its paces in the video.
The Harbor Wing Autonomous Unmanned Surface Vehicle (AUSV) is unique. Defined by three innovative components: the WingSail, the Hydrofoils, and the Guidance System, it will perform a range of critical missions. The design and integration of these components is the product of world class expertise and vision from Harbor Wing's team. By providing situational awareness to operational commanders, Harbor Wing's high-tech AUSV will meet fundamental requirements of military, government, and commercial customers.