R. CORDOVA, CA – UVIONIX AEROSPACE is joining partners, SETI Institute, NVIDIA and Autodesk, in supporting young researchers develop new approaches to investigating the potential threat of asteroids.

The NASA Frontier Development Lab (FDL) is bringing together talented individuals in planetary science, data analytics and deep-learning to aid in asteroid defense. UVIONIX Aerospace has agreed to provide an adaptable drone platform and technical expertise as part of the FDL learning experience. Based on the company’s ALPHA UAV multipurpose platform, UVIONIX team has provided a highly customized vehicle developed to support FDL workshop projects.

“We are excited to take part in the NASA FDL project and believe we can substantially contribute,” Yordan Iskrev, Co-founder and CEO of UVIONIX.

Researchers believe that using advanced UAV technology could drastically speed up the process of finding, retrieving and analyzing asteroid fragments reaching the ground.

“From the 8 or so large meteorite falls recovered around the world annually, only a few are tracked coming in. Using drones may help recover the smaller falls that are tracked in our camera networks,” said SETI Institute meteor astronomer Peter Jenniskens, Core Mentor at FDL. “Increasing the number of tracked falls will point us to where in the asteroid belt meteorites of different type originate.”

The project is hosted at the SETI Institute in Mountain View under the supervision of the FDL co-Director James Parr and SETI Institute CEO, Bill Diamond.

The Uvionix nSKY service is about to offer $3 UAV deliveries from vendors within 6 miles around you. Deployed directly at your local restaurant or retailer, the nSKY delivery aircraft can land anywhere you want, so no need to drive to the coffee shop, pick-up a meal or visit the drugstore anymore.

Challenging the established logistics industry, the nSKY technology is expected to foster a whole new field of business models - without the traditional store forefront, independent of location and focusing on value delivered to the customer. Existing businesses can benefit by getting a second revenue stream and wider reach with no costly investments or special infrastructure.

The nSKY UAVs feature an energy efficient dual coaxial design, enabling longer transport distances at higher velocity, compared to the traditional quadcopter. The fully protected propeller blades and the compact 27” circular footprint make the vehicle very consumer friendly and safe. And since safety is the cornerstone of nSKY, every UAV is equipped with an emergency parachute and a 5 Level Inter-Module Monitoring System for the highest level of fault tolerance en-route.

Bringing the UAV under clear sky and pressing a button on a smartphone - is all it takes to deploy the aircraft. This quick and simple procedure, typically performed by a regular employee of the vendor, is complemented by the quick-swap batteries, thereby bringing the re-deployment downtime of a UAV to a minimum. Still while not in service the nSKY UAVs will be stored on purpose designed space-saving Racks, also serving as charging stations for the batteries.

A centralized component of the system – the nSKY Control Center manages the fleet, providing optimal 4D route generation, restricted areas, collision avoidance and world elevation map. The autonomous flight of the aircraft is monitored by a trained pilot to ensure safety during all takeoff and landing operations.

The nSKY system is under active development and expected to be deployment ready in 2017.

Uvionix Aerospace Corp. is presenting its nSKY prototypes at the XPONENTIAL UAV show in New Orleans – 2nd-5th May 2016.

UVIONIX will be showing prototypes of its:

            - nSKY Aerial Delivery Service of small packages 

            - ALPHA Multipurpose Aerial Platform

at the XPONENTIAL show in New Orleans. 

Stay tuned for details on Apr 21, 2016.

nSKY to deliver Small Packages within 6 mile radius

Preliminary flight and endurance testing set the target for 6 mile radius from takeoff to landing. 6 miles could allow a centrally located vendor in San Francisco to cover the whole city proper and reach Oakland beachfront.

UVIONIX Aerospace Corporation will participate in one of the leading trade shows for Drones and UAV Systems in the United States. Visit us at Booth #363 on the XPONENTIAL 2016.

Formerly known as AUVSI Expo, the XPONENTIAL show will take place in the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center In NEW ORLEANS from 2nd to 5th May 2016. The event is organized by The AUVSI Association (Association For Unmanned Vehicle Systems International). More information you can find here.

Hope To See You There!

UVIONIX to integrate "The Supercomputer on a Module” for its super-smart UAV solution - the ALPHA Multipurpose Aerial Platform. The TX1 will enable a whole new set of capabilities for the ALPHA platform - including the realtime execution of an Automated Landing Algorithm, up to 6 FullHD cameras simultaneous capture and 4K camera resolution support.