Over the past year, drone technology has made meteoric advances in the private and governmental sectors. Whether Jeff Bezos is positing new delivery methods for Amazon customers or the U.S. military is deploying unmanned aircraft for an increasing array of applications, drones are here to stay.
Santa Monica-based DreamHammer is leading the drone revolution with Ballista, the world’s most powerful, revolutionary drone application platform. Already used on nextgen top U.S. military drones with customers such as Boeing, General Atomics, and Lockheed, the cutting edge technology was made to help enterprising customers take a huge leap forward in the upcoming commercial drone market.
With the simple click of a touch-screen icon, the all-in-one interface safely commands and controls drones in almost any environment. Options include multi-vehicle route planning and management, multi-vehicle monitoring, and a payload view and control option that conveys video and image mosaic layering and field of view visualizations. Rapid app-building capability and vendor-independent plug ‘n play hardware unifies and manages vehicles, sensors, and payloads into one machine to machine (m2m) software platform that can be monitored and controlled on a tablet or the cloud.
Founded in 2000 with a focus on Fortune 100 companies, DreamHammer expanded to government defense and intelligence, and now commercial products. Ballista is inspiring manufacturers, third party app developers, systems integrators, and drone companies across the globe with the idea that a drone is only as relevant as its supporting application and how well it assimilates with other autonomous technologies into existing commercial systems.
A leader in U.S. military and allied forces drone technology, AeroVironments of Monrovia sharpens its ability to achieve the “impossible.” Brand innovators have created unique solutions including reliable, cost-effective unmanned aircraft systems planned to better anticipate dangers and empower 21st-century warfare. The company’s systems are already utilized for border monitoring and pipeline utility assets.
A new AeroVironments surveillance and reconnaissance drone aircraft will soon offer the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps added protection on small-sized naval ships. The model is made possible by a $19 million contract, contributing to the company’s steady growth with reported profit forecast of up to $270 million by the end of fiscal year 2015.
AeroVironments technologies offers durable, lightweight drones named Puma, AE, Raven, Wasp AE, and Shrike VTOL. Tactical, Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) technology provides advanced mission planning and execution with real-time tactical reconnaissance, tracking, combat assessment, and geographic data.
Operators of the brand’s technology can even view and capture real-time images night or day with wireless live video transmitted directly from a payload to hand-held control units. All drones are portable and can be assembled without tools in less than five minutes – and operated with limited training.
Eye in the Sky
Technology has taken drones from deadly weaponry to versatile capability
Drones are stealthily becoming more than military and research commodities. Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos famously vocalized his vision for drone delivery technology. Among personal use applications, drones are offering never-before-imagined angles for filming and capturing photos. Their skill in the sky caught the attention of the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department, who may become the first law enforcement agency in California to deploy unmanned apparatuses (using Aerovironment-designed drones). A testament to the current state drone development, the DJI Phantom 2 Vision+ features smart flight controllers, GPS capability, and crash resistant software.
DJI Phantom 2 Vision+
/ $1,299
dji.com
