Deep Ocean Engineering, Inc.’s Phantom T4H remotely operated vehicle (ROV) has successfully completed an inspection of the intake riser at Cherry Lake Dam near Yosemite in California. During the inspection, the ROV successfully chronicled the “state of the dam’s water intake riser and the position of the gates at a depth of 258 feet (78.6m),” which is approximately a quarter of the ROV’s rated capability. A Dynamic Positioning (DP) capable triple pontoon boat with a forward mounted ROV Launch and Recovery System (LARS) was used during the inspection, as it sent the ROV to the intake riser’s coordinates, while maintaining a steady position.

According to TechCrunch, a startup company in India called Flux Auto is looking to make autonomous driving technology “more widely available” for truck operators, especially those outside of the United States, by significantly lowering the cost of the technology. Based in Bangalore, India, the 16-person startup would like to democratize autonomous systems, as it is working on technology that, when finished, could allow any kind of truck to be retrofitted with self-driving technology at a much lower price.

Primoco UAV SE, which is a Czech company that develops, manufactures and sells the Primoco UAV One 100/150, has announced its new “self-designed” Primoco 500 piston engine, which is designed for the company's unmanned aircraft, but can also be used by other aircraft manufacturers as well. Developed by the company in nine months, the Primoco 500 is made of light aluminium alloy, and is an “air-cooled four-cylinder engine with a power output of 50 HP and a weight of 15 kg.” According to Primoco UAV SE CEO Ladislav Semetkovský, the idea behind the development of the engine was largely born out of necessity, as the company’s newest aircraft, the Primoco UAV One 150, required a more powerful engine than the one that the Primoco UAV One 100 uses, which is a 20 HP engine.

Atilla Dogan, an associate professor of aerospace engineering at The University of Texas at Arlington (UTA), is looking to minimize the risk of using UAS over populated areas. Dogan, along with other UTA researchers, plans on doing this by using a $550,000 National Science Foundation grant to gauge the risks posed by UAS. Following this, Dogan and his team will “create algorithms to reduce those risks while the vehicles perform specific tasks.” For Erian Armanios, chair of the Mechanical and Engineering Department in UTA’s College of Engineering, the grant is just one example of the university’s “commitment to sustainable urban communities and data-driven discovery within the University’s Strategic Plan 2020: Bold Solutions | Global Impact.”