Expert Corner

Drones (UAVs) for Agricultural Remote Sensing and Precision Agriculture

/24^th April 2018, International Journal of Remote Sensing by E. Raymond Hunt Jr. & Craig S. T. Daughtry/ Agricultural sustainability describes farmer practices and governmental policies that prevent degradation of the environment, maintain farmer and rural livelihoods, and increase agricultural production for the growing global human population. Remote sensing from unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) was expected to be an important new technology to assist farmers with precision agriculture, especially crop nutrient management.

The Value of Quaternions - Why they are Important?

/19^th March 2018, Dr. Peter Jacquemin, DRONE MARKET WATCH^TM/ The quaternion mathematical construct is an effective method to determine the attitude or angular position of rotating bodies in three-dimensional space. The quaternion approach provides a complete solution in comparison to the Euler method which can produce an error when large angle rotations enter into adjacent quadrants. Three-dimensional space rotation is within eight quadrants and one-dimensional space rotation is within four quadrants which poses an ambiguity for inverse cosine and sine trigonometric operations when dealing with three-dimensional space.

Parachute Systems for Drones (UAVs)

/28^th February 2018, DRONE MARKET WATCH^TM/ A lot happened in the global drone (UAV) industry in 2017, the sector is definitely maintaining a fast growth rate. As more aircraft fills the sky, the need for security is greater than ever. Drones (UAVs) are everywhere. As more and more people use drones, it has become the mission of the flight regulations authorities in many countries to ensure that drone (UAV) owners are operating in a peaceful and safe manner.

Unmanned Aerial Aircraft Systems in Traffic Surveillance, Control and Engineering

/24^th January 2018, Emmanouil N.BarmpounakisEleni I.VlahogianniJohn C.Golias/ Acquiring and processing video streams from static cameras has been proposed as one of the most efficient tools for visualizing and gathering traffic information. With the latest advances in technology and visual media, combined with the increased needs in dealing with congestion more effectively and directly, the use of Unmanned Aerial Aircraft Systems (UAS) has emerged in the field of traffic engineering.

Drones Over Europe: A Regulatory Overview

/15^th December 2017, Jones Day by Ozan Akyurek, Maximilian P. Krause, Rhys W. Phelps, Francesca Ravallese and Martin J. Wortmann/ The European Union aims at producing effective EU-wide rules to make drone use in low-level airspace safe, secure, and environmentally friendly. The "U-space" the European Union wants to regulate covers altitudes of up to 150 meters.

Rokubun Launched on the Market its GNSS-based Accurate Affordable Geo-location Solution ARGONAUT

/23^rd November 2017, Xavier Banqué and DRONE MARKET WATCH^TM/ Current navigation systems for drones (UAVs) are still affected by many practical problems as the slow time to first fix (up to a few minutes), poor or no availability of GNSS signal, slow dynamics and poor accuracy as well as the lack of a reliable heading indication. These problems may be critical to professional users.

Thermal Camera Roof Inspection Services with Drone (UAV)

/31^st October 2017, DRONE MARKET WATCH^TM/ In the past, roof inspections and surveys have required time and money in order to access the roof. Certain roofs are more difficult to inspect than others. Roofs with tile or steep grades can make it too difficult to walk around and do a thorough inspection. Until now, roof inspectors walk around the home checking from the street, windows and climbing a ladder to look from the eaves to perform a roof inspection on these more difficult roofs.

An Overview of Current Capabilities and Future Directions of Drones (UAVs) in Agriculture

/20^th September 2017, Alfonso Torres-Rua/ Multiple drones or UAV devices are available in the market for agricultural purposes, and some of them are already being used in Utah farmland. Because drones are available, it is important to determine their capabilities. The camera sensors are key to the quality of maps produced by the drones. In general, low cost sensors that capture red-green-blue (RGB) and near-infrared (NIR) pictures are not necessarily calibrated for agricultural purposes.