Rhet McNeal, a 26 year-old Marine Corporal from Griffin, Georgia, has developed a 3D-printed UAS nicknamed “Scout” that is a cheaper alternative to the hand-launched, fixed-wing RQ-11 Raven and RQ-12 Wasp III UAS that the Marines currently use.
Costing $35,000 and $49,000 per unit respectively, the Raven and Wasp UAS are considered relatively inexpensive by military standards, but they are still expensive enough to where only a few Marines are authorized to fly them. The UAS also require $100,000+ ground control systems, adding to their overall value. McNeal’s Scout UAS is far cheaper than the Raven and Wasp UAS, as the Scout, which can be controlled using the iPhone app Q Ground Control, can be built for just $613 with off-the-shelf electronics and 3D printer resin. Quadcopters in Space! Dragonfly, a New Frontiers-class mission concept that the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory has proposed to NASA, would use an instrumented, radioisotope-powered, dual-quadcopter to explore Saturn's largest moon, Titan. The moon is one of a number of "ocean worlds" in our solar system that hold the ingredients for life. A drone operator with a Part 107 license was recently cited by the City of Chicago for flying his aircraft over people without
consent... except that it didn't happen. Attorney Jeffrey Antonelli represented Jerrick Hakim, who made one flight on Chicago's lakefront. Stopped by the police, he pointed to the section of Chicago's drone law showing it does not apply to those flying with FAA licensing. However; the police reportedly assumed that, because of the people on the waterfront, he must have violated an ordinance by flying over them without permission. But, again, that didn’t happen. All this -- and MORE in today's episode of Airborne-Unmanned!!!
Airborne-Unmanned 08.29.17 is chock full of info in this Weekly News Episode, Tuesday, August 29th, 2017... Presented by Aero-TV veteran videographer and Airborne Hosts Brianne Cross, Christopher Odom, and Laura Hutson, and is supported by ANN CEO/Editor-In-Chief Jim Campbell, Chief Videographer Nathan Cremisino, and Aero-Journalist Tom Patton, this episode covers:
- U.S. Marine Develops Low-Cost 3D-Printed UAS
- Johns Hopkins APL’s ‘Dragonfly’ Dual-Quadcopter Aims To Explore Titan
- Chicago Drone Pilot Wins Case Against The City
- AUVSI And National Council On Public Safety UAS Announce Partnership
- General Atomics’ MQ-1C Gray Eagle Extended Range UAS Completes 41.9-hour Endurance Flight
- Army Looks To Partner With Private Industry On UAV Technology
- Nevada UAS Test Site Tests Advanced Artificially Intelligent UAS
- General Atomics: Export Rules Hurting Drone Industry
Get Comprehensive, Real-Time, 24/7 coverage of the latest aviation and aerospace stories anytime, at aero-news.net. And be sure to join us again next week for the next edition of "Airborne-Unmanned" here on Aero-TV. Thanks for watching. See you, again, next week!
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