Photo: Kevin Clifford/Drone America)
Article: Courtesy of Drone America
Revolutionary project uniting DRI expertise and Drone America technology
A
team of Nevada scientists
and unmanned aircraft
systems (UAS) engineers
have successfully flight
tested the first-ever autonomous
cloud seeding aircraft platform.
Watts. “Utilizing our state’s FAA
test site designation, we were able
to fly this advanced aircraft right
here in Northern Nevada and verify
that UAS are fully capable of carrying active cloud seeding payloads.”
Cloud seeding flare tests were deployed from Drone America’s DAx8
UAS aircraft flown in Reno in late
January.
The DAx8 is a robust multi-rotor
aircraft for commercial and industrial applications. The unique eightrotor design allows for the DAx8 to
carry large payloads, while the advanced software and GPS guidance
provide the aircraft with selfstabilizing capability and multiwaypoint navigation.
As the first phase in a new industryacademic research partnership between the Desert Research Institute
(DRI), Drone America, and AviSight,
the test flight of a DAx8 multi-rotor
aircraft with attached cloud seeding
cargo validates the potential for
UAS to significantly enhance airborne seeding operations, explained Adam Watts, Ph.D, the project’s lead and an assistant research
professor at DRI.
“This is a major milestone,” said
“We are extremely excited to have
completed yet another step in
reaching our goal of autonomous
cloud seeding application,” said
Mike Richards, President and CEO
of Drone America. “Our joint research program with DRI is well on
its way to revolutionizing the cloud
seeding industry by providing safe
airborne seeding with significant
potential of providing relief to people in drought-stricken areas.”
The next phase of the project will
be to conduct flight planning and
test airborne flare deployment with
Drone America’s Savant fixed-wing
aircraft, said Watts.
This project is supported through
Nevada’s Knowledge Fund.
For more information about DRI’s
cloud seeding program please visit
www.dri.edu
For more information about Drone
America please visit http://
droneamerica.com/
DRI DroneAmerica DAx8 flighttest.
http://www.droneamerica.com/
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