AeroVironment, Inc. (AVAV) Message Board

The FAA predicts there could be 10,000 drones in the air over the United States within the next five years and is working closely with commercial stakeholders to define operational and certification requirements.

“Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) come in a variety of shapes and sizes, and serve many purposes,” states a Federal Aviation Administration report assessing prospects for the industry. “Some have wingspans as large as a Boeing 737 and some are smaller than a radio-controlled model airplane.”

In the United States alone, more than 50 companies and organizations are producing 155 unmanned aircraft devices, the FAA report notes. Market research is projecting annual growth of 12 percent for the drone military market, but the growth may go even higher than that.

“There's just too much uncertainty,” Phil Finnegan, director of corporate analysis at the Teal Group, which monitors the aerospace industry, told CBS News last week. “There will be applications when the FAA opens up the airspace. The first ones will be law enforcement, then civilian.”

The FAA is in the process of developing new policies and procedures for the drone flights, and the Teal Group forecasts there will be more than $94 billion in total drone spending over the next decade.

Because many of the drones will be used for nonmilitary purposes, such as law enforcement and research, the FAA is working closely with the UAS community to come up with operational standards and requirements, the report said.

“It is critical to develop and validate appropriate operational procedures, regulatory standards, and policies,” the FAA said.

The agency has created an Unmanned Aircraft Program office to oversee the use of drones.

Sentiment: Strong Buy

03/24/2013 03:00:53 PM MDT

New Mexico State University's Physical Science Laboratory partnered with AeroVironment to study the safety of small, unmanned aircraft system operations at night in the National Airspace System. Study results strongly indicate nighttime operations of unmanned aircraft systems are safe, maybe even more so than daytime operations.

"We initially proposed to conduct live-fly demonstrations at night and twilight to assess the ability of the pilot-in-command and visual observer of a small UAS to acquire the UAS, other tracks or targets and make a determination as to potential collisions," said Doug Davis, project principal investigator and director of the Physical Science Laboratory's Global UAS Strategic Initiatives.

Igor Dolgov, assistant professor in the NMSU Department of Psychology and project lead experimenter, designed the study for NASA comparing the performance of unmanned aircraft observers, those who visually track the aircraft during flight, during daytime operations vs. nighttime operations.

Dolgov executed the study and conducted data analysis in partnership with AeroVironment and the Physical Science Laboratory team consisting of mission commanders Doug Marshall and Brendan Shaughnessy and ground control coordinators Luis Salas and Daniel Mendoza.

AeroVironment personnel flew the company's Raven and Wasp small unmanned aircraft systems for the study.

"There are currently significant restrictions on UAS night flights, which prevents a lot of agencies from utilizing them when they really need them," Dolgov said. "The goal of this study is to come up with a safety case, or set of parameters that would allow for safe UAS operation at night, which would open it up to law enforcement, homeland security, commercial and research applications."

The Physical Science Laboratory released findings of the night flight study report to NASA, who in turn released it to the FAA.

Sentiment: Strong Buy

SAN DIEGO - It weighs only a few pounds, but it could be the key to preventing a small brush fire from turning into a larger one.

A high-flying firefighting tool called the Qube is making its debut at the Firehouse World conference in San Diego.

"We absolutely believe this could be a difference maker," said Kristen Helsel, director of business development at AeroVironment.

The Qube, a 5-pound, 4-rotor drone, is made by AeroVironment, which owns a big share of the military drone market.

Helsel said the biggest edge of the new drone is "during an urban fire or wild fire, they can have this out of their car or truck in five minutes and up to do a quick assessment."

10News obtained video shot by one of the company's drones of a controlled burn, during a recent test done with the U.S. Geological Survey.

Quickly, the drone's thermal cameras can zero in on hot spots, observe how the fire is behaving and see where the fire is moving.

"At the very start of something like that is when we have the most ability to stop it," said Helsel.

A live feed of the fire can be viewed remotely by many eyes, which will help in decision-making.

In all, the Qube system, including the controller, costs about $50,000.

Price is one obstacle for fire agencies, though Helsel points out a Qube flight costs much less than a helicopter flight.

Also, amid a debate on drones and privacy, anyone interested in using drones must apply for federal approval.

At the convention, 10News was told interest from fire agencies was high.

10News talked to officials at several local fire agencies who said the drones are something they'll be looking at closely.

Sentiment: Strong Buy