News Archive

Piccolo II autopilot is part of third unmanned aircraft system to achieve FAA experimental airworthiness certification.

Raytheon Receives FAA Experimental Airworthiness Certificate for Cobra Unmanned Aircraft System.

TUCSON, Ariz., Nov. 2, 2006 - Raytheon Company's (NYSE: RTN) Cobra Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) is the third unmanned aircraft and the first of its size to receive an Experimental Airworthiness Certificate from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

Cobra is a low-cost, highly reliable UAS designed to support Raytheon's development, integration and test of unmanned systems technologies. The aircraft has a wingspan of 10 feet and is 9-feet long. The certification is the first given to a small UAS and permits Cobra flight operations in a specified section of the National Airspace in Southeastern Arizona. It also authorizes Raytheon to conduct research and development, crew training and market surveys using the Cobra UAS.

The Cobra UAS integrates advanced systems and capabilities from several Raytheon businesses, including Tucson-based Missile Systems; Intelligence and Information Systems (IIS), based in Garland, Texas; Space and Airborne Systems in El Segundo, Calif.; and McKinney, Texas-based Network Centric Systems. The Cobra test bed will be used to support the development, test and demonstration of sensor systems; networked command, control and communications systems; and UAS architectural concepts.

"The Cobra UAS will significantly decrease costs and compress schedules for bringing new UAS technologies to market," said Ken Pederson, vice president of Missile Systems' Advanced Programs. "Our customers will benefit from our ability to support both internal Raytheon development efforts and their programs with Cobra, without increasing the pressure on tactical systems and valuable range resources."

Raytheon worked closely with the FAA to receive the Experimental Aircraft Certification, providing Cobra UAS design, manufacturing, maintenance, safety, operations and training documentation for its review and approval. The final step in the certification process was a demonstration of Cobra UAS ground operations conducted under the observation of FAA teams from Washington and Phoenix.

Raytheon Company, with 2005 sales of $21.9 billion, is an industry leader in defense and government electronics, space, information technology, technical services, and business and special mission aircraft. With headquarters in Waltham, Mass., Raytheon employs 80,000 people worldwide.

Note:
The Cobra UAS is composed of the aircraft and ground elements. The ground element consists of two control systems -- the Cloud Cap Technology Piccolo Ground Control Station and the Raytheon IIS next-generation Multi-Vehicle Control System. The MVCS uses the NATO Standardization Agreement (STANAG) 4586 interface to communicate with the Cobra aircraft. The dual control system configuration provides for maximum flexibility and safety during testing.

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The Cloud Cap Technology Piccolo LT comes alive!

May 11, 2006 - Hood River, OR - Today the final pieces arrived that allowed us to assemble the first complete Piccolo LT autopilot. Piccolo LT is a compete autopilot system – it includes the inertial and air data sensors, processing, communications, GPS and flight termination, all fully integrated in a shielded enclosure. Piccolo LT is similar in concept to its big brothers Piccolo Plus and Piccolo II, both in performance and level of integration, but it’s much smaller, only ¾ of an inch thick. Its small size and packaging makes it the ideal solution for the latest generation of small UAV’s.

Figure 1 - Piccolo LT (complete)

We believe Piccolo LT is the worlds smallest “complete” autopilot system. The overall solution weighs in at 109 grams (3.84 oz), which includes everything required – inertial and air data sensors, GPS, flight termination, data link, plumbing, and a shielded enclosure. While others make claims of small size and low cost, once you add in the other required components and do the final electro-mechanical integration you typically end up with a solution that has a much larger footprint, weighs more than anticipated, is electro-mechanically kludged together, and costs more than an integrated solutions. Piccolo LT is a leap forward from any existing technology in its size range, both in performance and level of integration, and will be backed by the same industry leading engineering, production, and application support as the rest of the Piccolo family.

At this point we have fully functional LT hardware and flight software, the production tooling is complete, and the automated test and calibration software is operational (the first LT board has passed inertial and temperature calibration). Our next step is to complete environmental qualification then proceed to flight-test. We expect to introduce the Piccolo LT as well as our new stabilized camera gimbal at AUVSI in late August.

Figure 2 - Piccolo LT (board only)

Related information:

• Piccolo LT complete - 109 grams (3.84 oz)
• Piccolo LT board only option - 45 grams (1.587 oz) (with GPS, inertial and air data sensors but no radio, plumbing or enclosure).
• Radio - 36 grams (1.26 oz)
• Shielded Enclosure - 28 grams (0.98 oz) (will drop to < 20 grams)
• Cost - $5,500 (qty 1)

For further information contact:
Mark Zanmiller
Cloud Cap Technology
2621 Wasco Street
PO Box 1500
Hood River OR, 97031
1 541 387-2120 x 27

www.cloudcaptech.com

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May 4th, 2006 - Hamilton, Australia
Aerosonde Mark 4 obtains 38 hour 48 minute endurance mark.

Here's a quick "unofficial" report on the endurance flight:

We flew two aircraft this week in Hamilton, western Victoria to see just how long a Mark 4 Aerosonde could fly. The conditions weren't ideal with several cold fronts passing through the region. These fronts brought cool weather, rain and strong southwesterly winds. Winds at times were higher than the ideal cruise speed of the aircraft and so, coupled with a wet airframe and turbulent conditions, reduced our maximum endurance from our target of 40 hours. The reduced endurance meant that we had to land Aircraft 156 early to ensure we weren't forced to land at night.

Aerosonde 156 (Piccolo II 1053) launched on Tuesday May 2 at 0739 UTC and landed on Wednesday May 3 at 0742 for a total of 24 hours and 3 minutes. It landed with around 2.2 kg of usable fuel.

Aerosonde 157 (Piccolo II 1032) launched on Tuesday May 2 at 0637 UTC and landed on Wednesday May 3 at 2119 for a total of 38 hours and 48 minutes. It was Aerosonde 157's (and probably the Piccolo's) maiden flight and is the first Aerosonde flight to witness 2 sunrises.

Both aircraft landed unscathed apart from a broken static tube. Fuel consumption during the mission ranged from 207grams/hr down to 122 grams/hr.

Many thanks to all the crew at Aerosonde and Cloud Cap Technology that made this achievement possible. We're looking forward to breaking our record again soon.

Maurice Gonella - Special Operations Manager, Aerosonde Pty Ltd

The endurance achievement outlined above is particularly gratifying for Bill and I; it feels like we’ve come full circle with Piccolo flying in the Aerosonde. A 38-hour maiden flight, first flight on both the airframe and avionics, is impressive and shows the maturity level of the individual systems. Most people don’t appreciate what an achievement this is or how much time, effort and expertise are involved to get to this level of “off the shelf” performance.

The Cloud Cap Technology team has a long history with the Aerosonde program; many of us started our UAV careers working on the original Aerosonde back in 1994. It should be noted that the Aerosonde was the target vehicle which drove the original Piccolo design back in 1999 – we envisioned Aerosonde would be one of our first customers. We see this demonstration as the beginning of long and fruitful relationship, two companies with leading edge technology teaming to create world-class solutions.

Congratulations to our long time friends at Aerosonde!

Ross and Bill

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Portable Ground Station Kit Now Available

January 2006 - Hood River, OR - The Portable Ground Station Kit (900-90015-00) provides a Piccolo Ground Station incorporated into a 18 x 14 x 7 inch case that makes it portable and more suitable for field operations than the desk top unit. All interface connections and control switches are provided on the outside of the case and associated cables and antennas fit within the case. Provisions are included for mounting an alternate link radio and Iridium satellite communications modem. For details, see the Piccolo System Kit and Ground Station page.

Portable Ground Station Kit (900-90015-00)

Oct 6, 2005 - Piccolo Plus autopilot used in NASA autonomous soaring experiment

NASA engineers extended the functionality of the standard Piccolo autopilot by licensing the software source code and implementing autonomous soaring in the autopilot firmware.

For the full story visit the NASA website. Related Photos.

NASA remote-controlled model motorized
sailplane flies over Rogers Dry Lake to test the theory that
catching heat thermals extends flight time for small UAVs.

Cloud Cap Technology offers source code licensing for the entire Piccolo environment enabling our customers the option for application specific customization of the autopilot system.

Oct 1, 2005 - Cloud Cap Technology Has Moved!

This week Cloud Cap Technology relocated to a new facility located at 2621 Wasco Street in Hood River, just a short distance from our original downtown Hood River location. The new building is a significant upgrade in both space and layout and will accommodate our continued growth in manufacturing as well as engineering. Other than the new physical address all other contact information remains unchanged.

September 2005 - Piccolo Interface Incorporated in Level 5 STANAG 4586 Ground Station Software

A Canadian Forces Silver Fox mini-UAV utilizing the PiccoloPlus autopilot was successfully flown with the CDL Systems Ltd VCS-4586 software in a demonstration for the the Canadian Department of National Defense UAV working Group. The VCS ground control station software is designed to meet the data link interface specifications of NATO STANAG 4586.

The tests successfully demonstrated full Level 5 control, including direct steering control, loiter command, mission waypoint control, and full automatic landing. The VCS 4586 is a fully integrated ground control station software package that can simultaneously control multiple UAVs carrying different payloads. A Piccolo specific module, developed by CDL Systems provides the software interface between the Piccolo Interface and the VCS-4586 software, will be compatible with any Piccolo-equipped UAV system. See the CDL Systems Ltd. press release and their website.

September 2005 - Arcturus T-15 with Piccolo Autopilot Performs “Flawlessly” in Severe Environmental Conditions at Idaho National Laboratory (INL)

Scott Bauer and his team at INL recently performed extensive tests at the INL test range using the T-15 UAV from Arcturus outfitted with the Piccolo autopilot. The T-15 is a rugged 12+hr. endurance UAV that can handle up to a 15 lb payload, and can take off and land autonomously. The T-15 flew through tough environmental conditions on the test range, including 35 kt. winds gusting to 45 kt, heavy rain and hail. Throughout the test the T-15 performed “flawlessly” according to Scott. Aside from a little cosmetic damage on the leading edge of the wing from the hail the T-15 was in fine shape and ready to fly its next mission. The Piccolo autopilot performed admirably, keeping the T-15 stabilized in these rough weather conditions.

Scott Bauer and his UAV team at INL surrounded by T-15 UAVs

Arcturus is a San Francisco Bay Area based company specializing in rugged, dependable and cost effective UAVs for the security, commercial and DoD markets. The T-15 performs fully autonomous takeoffs and landings, and multiple T-15’s can be controlled by the standard Piccolo ground station. The T-15 has 800 cu. in. of unobstructed internal mounting space for payloads, plus hard points for mounting equipment on the wings. The T-15 can carry a maximum of 15 lb. payload and has a 12 hr. endurance with a 10 lb package.

Contact:
Mike Drumm
Arcturus-UAV
925 685-0227 v
925 685-0224 f

www.arcturus-uav.com

August 8, 2005 - NRL Develops Fully Autonomous Compact Electric Helicopter

Washington, DC — Researchers at the Naval Research Laboratory’s (NRL’s) Tactical Electronic Warfare Division (TEWD) have developed an affordably expendable fully autonomous compact electric helicopter system called SPIDER (Scientific Payload Insertion Device Electric Rotor). The helicopter can perform automatic takeoffs, fly up to 50 mph for 30 minutes, hover over a precise location and land autonomously while carrying a 4 pound scientific or countermeasures payload.

According to Mr. Chris Bovais, the SPIDER program manager, “The air vehicle and autopilot flight testing program began at NRL in June 2004. The NRL team implemented autopilot algorithms that were based on a neural adaptive flight controller system. This developmental software was first tested extensively on a surrogate electric model helicopter before being integrated into the new Cloud Cap Technology Piccolo II autopilot for use in the SPIDER system. The addition of an Aerosonde packaged Iridium data modem provides the capability for performing operations beyond RF line of sight communication, enhancing the overall mission capabilities of the helicopter.”

The research team reports the SPIDER prototype has successfully completed 97 flights during developmental testing achieving flight speeds of 50 mph. “The wide-speed range and accurate hovering performance that the NRL team has achieved from this small, low-cost avionics package is a major technology advancement,” Mr. Bovais said. “SPIDER is a unique system because it is a small, inexpensive, electric helicopter that fits into an easily transportable case, can operate from unimproved terrain and requires no special helicopter pilot training to operate,” Mr. Bovais concluded.

NRL Press Release
See accompanying photos in our Gallery.

May 2005 - Inventus UAV performs in successful multi-aircraft test.

Nevada based Lew Aerospace has successfully flown multiple UAV's from a single operator interface for potential customers. Lew launched three Inventus “E” class models one after another within minutes to complete their mission. The mission was to fly three Inventus simultaneously in common airspace. This was made possible by using a specially designed operator interface and ground station developed by Northrop Grumman Integrated Systems. The flight presentation took place on April 20, 2005 at Roach Lake located at the Nevada state line. In attendance were representatives from DHS, NORAD, FAA, NSA, NASA, NRL, IDA and USAF. The demo flights were fully autonomous - catapult launch and parachute recovery. To date the Lew Aerospace team has made over 200 flights, logged over 300 hours of autonomous operation under Piccolo autopilot control and built 20 “E” class vehicles.

Flying multiple UAV's is new technology and flying them from one operator interface is truly cutting edge. The flight was very well received by the large group. One NORAD representative stated “my friend is a colonel in Iraq and he would love to have this right now!” 

The Piccolo Plus autopilot system, made by Cloud Cap Technology, was used to control the vehicles. The Piccolo is the only available autopilot system that natively supports multi-vehicle operations over a single communications channel. The Northrop operator interface was developed independently and without any Piccolo source code modification. This was accomplished using Cloud Cap Technology’s freely available communications specification and software developer's kit.

Lew Aerospace can be contacted at:
1930 Village Center Cir
Suite 3-891
Las Vegas Nv 89134-6245
Tel. 702 735-2224
Fax. 702 735-2225

2005 Navy Opportunity Forum. May 2-4, Reston VA

Cloud Cap Technology was showcased in the 2005 Navy Opportunity Forum in Reston VA, May 2-4. This event highlighted technology solutions developed under Navy Phase II SBIR programs. Each presenting firm has developed a Phase III Transition plan that charts a course to the successful transition of Navy-funded technologies to other appropriate defense applications. During the show, Cloud Cap Technology presented a status update on our autopilot, integration support and payload products and services.

There is information about the forum and participating organizations at http://www.dawnbreaker.com/forums/navy/presentations.php . We are company # 102 in their presentation scheme.

March 18, 2005 - New Flight Software Allows UAV's to Team Up for Virtual Fire Experiment

The old saying, "birds of a feather, flock together," can now be applied to a couple of small uninhabited aerial vehicles (UAV's) flown in a NASA research experiment using principles derived from studies of fish and bird motions to simultaneously guide them around obstacles.

Engineers and technicians from NASA's Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif., and Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, Calif., recently conducted flight tests over a 'virtual' forest fire to evaluate new flight-control software that will allow UAV's the ability to autonomously react to obstacles as they fly pre-programmed missions. The tests were conducted over a remote area of Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., to investigate cooperative flight strategies for airborne monitoring and surveillance of natural disasters and for atmospheric sampling.

"We developed and flight tested several novel approaches for providing assistance to wildfire suppression crews using a team of two small UAV's," said Ames' John Melton, principal investigator for the Networked UAV Teaming Experiment. "The aircraft were flown using a combination of rules from nature and robotics to cooperatively transit and search a virtual forest fire."

NASA Dryden Flight Research Center Photo Collection

The NASA researchers borrowed a mathematical tool devised by Hollywood movie makers to map and mimic the choreography used by swarms of birds and fish as they wheel and turn without striking one another. These in turn guided the inexpensive robotic UAV's around obstacles such as simulated smoke plumes. Called the boid algorithm, this tool separates the activities of individual birds or fish into three categories: heading matching, where the animals all try to keep the same direction; flocking, where the animals move to come into proximity to one another; and collision avoidance, in which the birds or fish maneuver to keep from running into each other.

Jason Clark, research algorithm developer at NASA Dryden, said the boid algorithm has been adapted to direct remotely operated UAV's to fly within predetermined proximity to each other, while avoiding collisions and maneuvering around phantom objects digitally placed in their flight paths. Though still in its infancy, this emerging software technology promises to one day enable swarms of UAV's to conduct aerial searches and participate cooperatively in activities such as firefighting.

For the tests, NASA used the Piccolo autopilot system and global positioning system (GPS) transmitters to enable a pair of RnR Products APV-3 UAV's to maneuver responsively in relation to each other. With the two 12-foot wingspan UAV's, the NASA researchers proved the concepts inherent in the boid algorithm. Neither aircraft communicated with the other directly, but sent and received signals with a central computer station on the ground that directed both airplanes to maneuver as needed.

In one test, the software automatically developed individual flight plans and transmitted them to each aircraft. After passing their first few waypoints, one of the UAV's was commanded to begin orbiting over the virtual fire. The remaining search points were then transmitted to the second aircraft, which incorporated these points into its flight plan and completed the mission.

NASA Dryden Flight Research Center Photo Collection

"This technology may one day enable swarms of aircraft to move safely from one area to another as a flock or group," said Melton. "A number of UAV's could be flown 'stacked' in a vertical column with instruments to collect air samples on future science missions or help ground personnel monitor forest fires and other natural disasters," he added.

NASA's Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate is supporting a variety of technology development projects for remotely or autonomously controlled high-altitude, long-endurance UAV aircraft. Such UAV's have the potential to serve as platforms for a wide variety of earth science, surveillance, communications relay and disaster-mitigation missions, especially in circumstances where flying a manned aircraft is dangerous. The Networked UAV Teaming Experiment was sponsored by the Directorate's Aeronautics Systems Analysis Project.

March 4, 2005 - Aerosonde Unveils its Mark 4.1 UAV

Dr Greg Holland, President Aerosonde North America, today announced the release of their next generation Aerosonde UAV - the Mark 4.1.

The Aerosonde unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) is a fully autonomous aircraft designed and proven over a range of mission profiles. The UAV is capable of carrying and powering both civilian and military payloads.

Building upon the success of its predecessors, the innovative generation of smart airframe embodied in the Mark 4.1 introduces a new level of distributed network technology. This uses a robust four wire network interconnection, based on the Controller Area Network (CAN) specification, to provide communications between the guidance computer and the airframe and engine components.

“The CAN networking approach radically reduces airframe weight, whilst markedly improving aircraft serviceability and reliability, and providing enhanced capability for operating with a variety of guidance solutions and payload systems.” Dr. Holland said.

The Mk4.1 airframe provides a larger (30%) and ‘cleaner’ payload volume than previous designs. The new powertrain system, based around Aerosonde’s proven electronic fuel injected engine, now provides a dedicated payload supply with a 75W continuous capability. A separate 40W supply is provided for use by the guidance system. 

Commenting on the new design Principal Engineer with Aerosonde, Brad Phillips, noted: “Wiring harnesses in most small UAV's constitute some 10% or more of total airframe weight. Moreover we have found that the complexity of the harness systems leads to problems both in manufacturing and long term maintenance that can directly impact aircraft reliability. By adopting more relevant technologies to UAV design we have shown that these issues can be resolved.” 

The new airframe systems have already entered service with the upgrade of four Aerosonde UAV's owned by the Office of Naval Research and Alion. These aircraft, equipped with Cloud Cap Technology’s Piccolo guidance system, concluded flight testing last week at the NASA Wallops Facility. In their new configuration the aircraft are capable of carrying a maximum payload weight of 6 kg with an endurance of 30+ hours. 

For further information, please contact:

Peter Bale, Aerosonde North America, Ph: +757 854 4618, 
Email:

February 15, 2005 – Piccolo II Rotor Wing Autopilot Update

In the spring of 2004 Cloud Cap Technology was approached by the Naval Research Laboratory’s (NRL) Vehicle Research Section, in Washington, DC, for help in the development of an integrated helicopter autopilot system. Existing solutions were too proprietary, expensive, and big. NRL wanted a Piccolo that could fly helicopters. Hence Piccolo II was born. Piccolo II includes the extra sensors required to sense and control the state of a free inertial system like a helicopter: a magnetometer, a 4Hz GPS, a sonic altimeter, and more I/O including the interfaces to use an Iridium satellite modem.

Rotary wing development continued during 2004 culminating in numerous completely autonomous helicopter flights that included launch, waypoint navigation, and landing.

Table 1 provides a summary of progress since the initial prototype systems were transitioned to NRL in December 2004.

Table 1 - NRL Flight Summary since December 2004

Airframe	Flights	Total Hours	Auto Landings	Auto Launches
Maxi-Joker	22	3.12	17	11
SPIDER	37	5.75	20	7

In addition to fully autonomous flight we have demonstrated command and control via the Iridium satellite network and have achieved stable flight with the Maxi-Joker and SPIDER airframes in excess of 40mph.

Piccolo II will also support fixed wing platforms and will be backwards compatible. This offers the opportunity for simultaneous multi-vehicle, multi-mode (both fixed and rotary wing) flight operations using a single ground station and operator interface. The additional I/O features are included on a new connector, and the old interface is still available. Piccolo II also fits in the same enclosure as PiccoloPlus and Piccolo. We anticipate introducing the fixed wing version of Piccolo II in March of 2005 with the rotary wing version to follow shortly after.

A special thanks goes out to the NRL development team (Chris Bovais, Aaron Kahn, Steve Tayman, and Al Cross) who have been instrumental to the success of this program.

For more info on Piccolo II please contact or give us a call at (541) 387-2120.

October 26, 2004 – For Immediate Release
BAI Aerosystems Integrates “Piccolo Plus” into “TERN” UAV

EASTON, MD A BAI Aerosystems flight team has successfully integrated Cloudcap Technology’s “Piccolo Plus” autopilot into its “TERN” air vehicle and validated system performance during an hour-long autonomous flight performed at the company’s Ragged Island Flight Operations Facility.

Autopilot hardware integration was achieved in only a few days, including physical autopilot installation, development of a simulator model, and initial autopilot gains. “Incorporation of the 'Piccolo Plus' autopilot in the BAI Tern air vehicle opens the door on a whole new generation of capabilities for BAI’s products” said BAI team leader Kirk Jenkins.

Piccolo Plus Equipped Tern Aircraft

The initial flight to validate system performance consisted of a truck-top launch in manual mode, followed by a one-hour fully autonomous flight, and manual skid recovery. During flight, the Tern aircraft maintained its programmed altitude within just 12 feet of its 750-foot target altitude. Trim of the autopilot’s gain settings was accomplished in only 20 minutes. During the test, BAI verified performance of a new “Auto-Assist” function, a feature new to both the Tern system and the Piccolo Plus autopilot, which allows for manual control between two waypoints.

“BAI has found the Piccolo Plus autopilot to be very user-friendly,” said Jenkins, “and we’ve also been very happy with Cloudcap’s technical support. Any time of day, they are available”.

Jenkins went on to say that BAI selected the Piccolo Plus for some of its advanced features, including autonomous launch and auto-land, simplified end-user programmability, and the ability to support up to 10 aircraft from a single ground control station.

BAI Aerosystems, Inc. is a 20-year old small business located in Easton, MD. The company manufactures small UAV systems, including a range of different aircraft, flight control systems, payloads, and support equipment. BAI products are in use on a daily basis by a growing number of commercial and defense customers, worldwide. For more information about BAI, its products and services, please visit us online at: http://www.bai.aero

September 9th, 2004 - Hood River OR
A Team from Cloud Cap Technology led by Marius Niculescu demonstrates autonomous helicopter flight.

As part of an ongoing collaboration with the Vehicle Research Section at the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) in Washington, DC, Cloud Cap Technology today demonstrated autonomous takeoff, hover, heading hold, forward flight, and waypoint navigation. Also demonstrated was autopilot assisted manual steering and over the horizon command and control via the Iridium low earth orbiting satellite network. The test vehicle, a modified "Maxi Joker" electric helicopter, was flown using standard Piccolo Plus hardware augmented with external magnetometer, AGL sensor, 4Hz GPS module and Iridium data transceiver. The flight code included a new navigation filter and adaptive controller as well as helicopter specific user interface modifications. This was the fourth in a series of ongoing tests at Cloud Cap Technology and consisted of five flights - approximately 40 minutes of autonomous flight.

A parallel program funded by the Office of Naval Research (ONR) is underway to integrate the new GPS module, magnetometer and additional I/O connector onto a daughter board. The daughter board will eventually replace the current Piccolo Plus M12 GPS board providing enhanced capability in the same Piccolo/Piccolo Plus footprint and form factor. The new hardware platform will be called Piccolo II and will support both fixed and rotary wing applications. The daughter board will offer current Piccolo Plus users a convenient and economical upgrade path if more performance and or additional I/O is required for their applications.

August 26th, 2004 - Huntsville AL
Autopilot integration in just two days! Cloud Cap Technology successfully demonstrates the Piccolo Plus autopilot in the Griffon Aerospace Outlaw UAV. 

The first autonomous Outlaw flight consisted of a catapult launch in manual mode, transition to full autonomous control, and ended with a manual belly landing. This first flight under Piccolo control was the culmination of two-day vehicle integration effort led by a team from Cloud Cap Technology. The Outlaw is currently used by the Army as a target and until now has only flown under RC control (manual control within visual range). 

Outlaw UAV

August 4th, 2004 – Boston MA 
MIT team demonstrates in flight autonomous rendezvous 

The MIT UAV testbed team successfully demonstrated a 2-UAV autonomous rendezvous using two Cloud Cap Technology Piccolo autopilots communicating over a single ground station (single RF link). By using 'Receding Horizon' control the MIT team was able to provide real-time flight path optimization (path following and automatic speed and timing control) to synchronize the pair of UAV's in flight, flying them in formation for over 10 minutes. 

August 3, 2004 – Tucson AZ
Raytheon Tests SilentEyes(TM) Micro Unmanned Aerial Vehicle at Edwards AFB

PRNewswire-FirstCall -- Raytheon Company demonstrated its SilentEyes(TM) Micro Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) by  ejecting it from an MQ-9 Predator pylon-mounted canister during tests at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif.

The tests, conducted in May and June, demonstrated the first capability toward removing a human from harm's way with a low-cost UAV, while delivering the same effectiveness. SilentEyes is designed to operate in close proximity to a potential target to collect clear images so an operator can make incontestable combat identification and target confirmation.

The test demonstration was managed by the U.S. Air Force Aeronautical Systems Center. General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. supported the flight testing. For the tests, SilentEyes was loaded in a canister magazine similar to the Raytheon AN/ALE-50 Towed Decoy launcher and was launched by the MQ-9 flight crew from the Predator Ground Control Station. Upon release, SilentEyes deployed its wings, flew autonomously and transmitted target images with its data link through the MQ-9 data link to the ground control station for video display and processing. 

SilentEyes was commanded via the MQ-9 to alternate waypoints and target locations. SilentEyes was configured with the Cloud Cap Technology Piccolo Plus flight computer and Raytheon's MicroLight (TM) data link.

Raytheon's SilentEyes is a transformational system that can provide revolutionary or asymmetric advantages to the war fighter. SilentEyes has been designed to be affordable and can be quickly customized to perform a variety of missions.

SilentEyes' capabilities include performing confirmation identification for both stationary and moving targets, reducing the time to find, fix, track, target, engage and assess targets and to execute attack. The capability also will provide confirmatory identification when no manned assets have access to denied areas and will complement sensors on tactical manned and unmanned platforms with autonomous, air-launched sensors.

Spiral development of technology and technology spin-on can expand SilentEyes' capabilities to address other areas in the find-fix-track-target-engage-assess loop. Spiral development could include scaling and integrating SilentEyes with various payloads for deployment off the full range of strike aircraft, UAV's and Unmanned Combat Air Vehicles.

Raytheon developed and integrated emergent technologies into the SilentEyes air vehicle design and demonstrated the air vehicle in mission- relevant scenarios within nine months of contract award. These demonstrations showed that Raytheon could provide this capability for less than $15,000 per unit.

Raytheon Company (NYSE: RTN), with 2003 sales of $18.1 billion, is an industry leader in defense and government electronics, space, information technology, technical services, and business and special mission aircraft. With headquarters in Waltham, Mass., Raytheon employs 78,000 people  worldwide.

Contact:
Sara Hammond
520.794.7810

January 29th, 2004 – Tucson AZ
Testing of new Piccolo Plus software culminates with seven (7) autonomous landings.

This week Cloud Cap Technology began flight-testing a new generation of flight code - version 1.2. This next generation code includes many new features including a revamped autopilot, a new attitude estimator, glide slope controller, an auto land interface as well as hooks for a multitude of other enhancements requested by our customers – see the software roadmap for further details. 

Initial testing proved fruitful and culminated in seven successful autonomous landings. Testing will continue over the coming weeks to validate and characterize system performance over a broader range of vehicles and flight conditions.

Maruis Niculescu (CCT) directed the testing with Advanced Ceramics Research (ACR) providing the vehicle, flight test crew, and flying site. This work was partially funded by the Office of Naval Research (ONR) under a Phase II SBIR program. Special thanks goes out to Jim Buss, ONR program officer, and John Williams, Deputy Director Navy SBIR/STTR Program, for their continuing technical and financial support.

January 26th 2004 - Colorado Springs, CO 
Air Force Academy team makes first flights with Piccolo equipped Silver Fox UAV's.

This weekend a team from the Air Force Academy led by Major Al White begin flight-testing their Silver Fox UAV's. The first four flights on Saturday included a hand launch at 7,000 feet altitude. They are using the Office of Naval Research (ONR) Silver Fox and AINS software as key educational tools for their new UAV Engineering Degree Program. 

Major Al White, USAFA

January 21, 2004 – Hood River, OR
Today Cloud Cap Technology announces the release of Piccolo Plus, the fit, form and functional replacement for the popular Piccolo autopilot for small UAV's. Piccolo Plus will maintain compatibility with existing Piccolo based systems but includes a much-improved MEMS based sensor suite based on the same sensor head technology used in the Crista IMU. The improved sensor suite is built around the Analog Devices iMEMS ADXRS gyros and ADXL accelerometers. The improved sensor performance will allow for a broader range of applications as well as the integration of more sophisticated flight control algorithms. 

In an ongoing effort to provide reliable and cost effective solutions for our customers domestic pricing for the Piccolo Plus will remain the same as for the Piccolo ($6,000).

As we transition to Piccolo Plus we thought it would be nice to provide some statistics and history on the Piccolo.

Piccolo Statistics:
• The Piccolo has been successfully flown on at least 25 different airframes ranging in size from as small as 3 lbs to as large as 1,464 lbs;
• As of January 2004 we have built and delivered over 275 Piccolo Autopilot and Ground Station units.

Piccolo development history:
• Initial development began in the summer of 1999;
• First hardware was turned in November 2001;
• First Autonomous flights were in April 2002;
• Production units began shipping in September 2002

December 20th, 2003 – Easton, MD

Today Cloud Cap Technology demonstrated the Piccolo autopilot system on the BAI Evolution airframe. A team from BAI led by Kirk Jenkins and assisted by Bill Vaglienti from CCT made a successful flight of the Evolution; exercising both manual and autonomous flight modes. For the test BAI supplied the airframe and CCT integrated a stock Piccolo Plus system with integrated 900MHz data link. The integration effort included developing a simulator model, the initial autopilot gains, the physical autopilot integration, and ground testing. 

This is the first time that the Piccolo system has been used to control a flying wing vehicle, as well as the first time it has been used on a twin-engine vehicle. Accordingly Cloud Cap Technology’s chief engineer Bill Vaglienti was on site for the first flight to help with any in-flight gain adjustments and to provide training on Piccolo setup and operation. The flight lasted approximately 30 minutes during which each loop of the autopilot was independently exercised to verify its operation before the system was allowed to go completely autonomous. 

July 9th, 2003 - Boise ID
Today a team from Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory (INEEL) simultaneously flew five (5) Piccolo equipped UAV's - another first for the Piccolo system. The Command and Control setup was comprised of a single 900MHz Piccolo Ground Station serially connected to a laptop computer running standard Piccolo Operator Interface software. This is believed to be the first ever simultaneous autonomous flight of five UAV's. This achievement highlights the flexibility, level of autonomy, and ease of use of the Piccolo system as well the high level of operational expertise of the INEEL crew. 

• "Simultaneous Flight of UAV's Makes History" Press Release. 

• UAV's take flight over Idaho.

• Team Photo

June 27, 2003 -  Hood River, Or - Tucson, AZ
Cloud Cap Technology today completed initial flight-testing of a new software release for the Piccolo system.
Version 1.1.7 introduces a multitude of new features driven by customer requests including:

• Single click flight planning including the addition of waypoint orbiting- These new features allow for rapid point and click flight plan generation.

• Manual steering - Allows the non-pilot operator to steer the aircraft around the sky, should prove useful for operations with fixed cameras.

• A GPS corrected attitude estimator - Provides aircraft attitude solution based on complementary filtering of GPS and gyro data.

• Attitude controller - Uses the output from the attitude estimator to provides for more aggressive control of the aircraft; complementing the current rate based flight control system.

• Color and Audio Alarms - Visual as well as audio feedback was added to the Operator Interface to augment situational awareness.

• Payload control (external interface configuration) - Support has been added for individual control of unused I/O pins on the external interface connector.

• Hopping Pattern control (handoff control) - Added the capability for multiple ground stations to run in close proximity (on non-interfering hopping patterns) and the ability to hand off aircraft from one ground station to another.

The flight-testing was done in Tucson by Advanced Ceramics Research (ACR). The new release is expected to be posted on July 12, 2003 on our web site at www.uavautopilots.com.

April 12th, 2003
The Aerial Robotics Club at the University of Arizona had 4 successful autonomous flights with the new Piccolo autopilot system today!

The weather was perfect at the Tucson International Modelplex Park (TIMPA) while testing.  Our fixed wing aircraft, the Eagle2, turned gracefully at each preprogrammed turn and flew GPS guided patterns throughout the afternoon.

We fined tuned our autopilot gains over the course of the testing and also performed some bank angle and velocity tests to define the capabilities of our aircraft.

At this point, the team has successfully demonstrated level I qualifications of the International Aerial Robotics Competition (IARC): 3km of autonomous, GPS waypoint navigation.  We will be demonstrating these abilities to the judges at the competition this July.  Until that time, the team will concentrate on developing the machine vision system required for level II of the IARC: computer identification of the IARC logo on a structure and identification of the openings on that particular structure.

The Aerial Robotics Club would like to invite all sponsors and supporters to the flying site April 26th to witness some amazing computer controlled flights!  TIMPA is Tucson's public flying field and directions and additional information can be found at their website. 

More information and an assortment of flight videos will be posted to the website sometime in the near future. 

Join the Aerial Robotics Club on April 26th for a fun filled day of artificial intelligence in the sky!

January 14th, 2003
Piccolo system used to demonstrate autonomous tracking of a moving ground station.

Today a group from UC Berkeley working with Advanced Ceramics Research (ACR) under a Navy Phase I STTR successfully demonstrated autonomous tracking of a moving ground station with a small UAV. The "Autonomous Intelligent Network of Systems" or AINS aircraft was equipped with a Cloud Cap Technology (CCT) Piccolo autopilot. The vehicle, which had a Piccolo ground station inside, traveled five miles down a road at various speeds with the UAV autonomously station keeping overhead. The Berkeley software, which was monitoring the progress of both vehicles and updating the aircraft's flight plan in real time, interfaced to the Piccolo ground station using CCT's communications SDK. The communications SDK allows users to easily develop external applications that can augment or replace the standard Piccolo operator interface.

January 9th 2003
Three at once!

Advanced Ceramics Research (ACR) working with a group from UCLA flew three small UAV's simultaneously all under autonomous control - a first for the Piccolo system. Two of three were controlled by an external application written by UCLA under a Phase I STTR (ONR AINS program). The third was under the control of the standard Piccolo operator interface. The UCLA software utilized the client/server communications SDK for piccolo and generated commands for formation flying of two aircraft at different altitudes. This was the second time teaming has been demonstrated using the Piccolo system.

December 19th, 2002 - Wilcox AZ 

Advanced Ceramics Research (ACR) today demonstrated the ability to operate multiple aircraft from a single Ground Station and Operator Interface by simultaneously flying two AINS SWARM vehicles autonomously using Cloud Cap Technology's "Piccolo" system. The 30-minute flight was the first demonstration of fully autonomous multi aircraft operation using the Piccolo autopilot*. This feature allows a single operator to control and monitor multiple UAV's using a single Ground Station and communications link. This is a paradigm shift since most UAV platforms typically require multiple operators to control a single vehicle and multiple Ground Control Stations to operate multiple aircraft.

* A group of Lockheed Martin engineers simultaneously flew multiple aircraft using the Piccolo system prior to this (see October news release) but only one was flying autonomously.

December 6, 2002
Cloud Cap Technology's Piccolo used to demonstrate team-based control of two small UAV's.

Lockheed Martin Owego demonstrated team-based control of two small UAV's using LM decision aiding technology and digital map products. Cloud Cap Technology's Piccolo Autopilot and Ground Station controlled the small UAV's. The LM decision aiding software communicated to one UAV via a server embedded in the Piccolo Operator Interface. During the demo one aircraft was flown autonomously and was rerouted in flight by the LM decision aiding software. Simultaneously a second aircraft was flown manually with both operating over a single communications channel. LM will next be using the Piccolo system to extend the decision aiding technology to control a team of 4 small UAV's simultaneously.

October 22, 2002 - White Sands NM 
Cloud Cap Technology and NAVAIR China Lake team up for successful first flight of Navy target drone equipped with modified Piccolo avionics.

NAVAIR China Lake and Cloud Cap Technology teamed for a successful first flight of a Navy target drone, similar to the MQM-107 "Streaker", equipped with a modified Piccolo* avionics. Most of the forty-five minute flight was done under control of the Piccolo, which generated navigation commands to the onboard autopilot and provided both UHF line of sight and satellite communications to the Ground Station.

This flight was the first demonstration of both autonomous flight and over-the-horizon communications for the MQM-107 "Streaker". The Iridium satellite communication network was used to change the flight plan of the vehicle in flight, demonstrating the capability for over-the-horizon operation.

This success was the culmination of an intensive HW and SW integration effort which was completed on a tight schedule and limited budget. Many thanks goes out to our sponsors at The Office of Naval Research (ONR), the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program office, and the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD), all of which helped make this possible.

*Piccolo is a small and highly integrated avionics system for flying small, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV's). Read more about Piccolo.

June 11, 2002
Cloud Cap Technology completes second round of integration and flight-testing with the Piccolo on the SWARM UAV. 

Cloud Cap Technology and Advanced Ceramic Research crews combined forces again, this time in Tucson, successfully completing round two of SWARM UAV flight testing. Building on our earlier success we worked on configuration and integration details and flight tested the latest version of the Piccolo equipped SWARM vehicle. 

The SWARM UAV concept was developed by Dr. Vince Castelli at the Navy Surface Warfare Center Carderock division. The basic concept is to develop a low cost, expendable, heavy fuel UAV that can be easily reconfigured to accommodate a multitude of payload and mission requirements. This work is part of an ongoing Phase I SBIR program (A Sophisticated Low Cost Avionics for Expendable Unmanned Aircraft) sponsored by the Office of Naval Research. The SWARM airframe and engine are under a similar development program being led by Advanced Ceramic Research.  Current photos can be viewed in our gallery. 

April 30, 2002
Cloud Cap Technology completes initial series of flight tests with the Piccolo autopilot on the Navy SWARM UAV.

Last week we successfully completed our 10th flight with the Advanced Ceramic Research/ONR prototype airframe with the Piccolo system installed. Initial testing focused on communications, GPS and flight sensor validation. Follow on testing exercised the autopilot and tracker as well as the drag and drop flight planning features of the ground station. This was a significant milestone in that it was the first autonomous flight for both the Piccolo autopilot as well as the SWARM aircraft. This work is part of an ongoing Phase I SBIR program (A Sophisticated Low Cost Avionics for Expendable Unmanned Aircraft) sponsored by the Office of Naval Research. The SWARM airframe and engine are under a similar development program being led by Advanced Ceramic Research.  Current photos can be viewed in our gallery.

February 12 2002
Cloud Cap Technology awarded Navy Phase I SBIR contract to develop low cost avionics for expendable Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV).

In the second SBIR round of 2001 Cloud Cap Technology was awarded a contract for a phase I proposal answering topic number N01-147 - "Very Low Cost Unmanned Air Vehicle Avionics". Under the contract Cloud Cap Technology will deliver a prototype small avionics package suitable for expendable UAV's. The proposed system is a re-engineered version of the Piccolo avionics system. Called PiccoloLT, the new system will tradeoff the flexibility of the Piccolo system in favor of even lower system cost. The initial phase of the contract is worth $70,000 and runs from February through July of 2002. 

January 2 2002
Cloud Cap Technology supports Montana State University electrical and computer engineering senior design course. 

Cloud Cap Technology and MSU students are collaborating to develop a device to control and monitor multiple model aircraft servos over a CAN (Controller Area Network) bus. Such a CAN servo controller should prove useful in small unmanned vehicle applications where size, weight and EMI protection are critical.

September 31 2001
Cloud Cap Technology completes work on OSD Phase I SBIR contract to develop a meteorological sensing platform for small UAV's. 

Cloud Cap Technology completed a contract with the office of the secretary of defense for a preliminary design of a meteorological sensing system for small UAV's. The system was designed to provide pressure, temperature, humidity, and wind measurements for use in short term forecasting and nowcasting numerical weather models. The design emphasized rapid integration onto host vehicles, with a minimum impact on the vehicle performance.

June 21 2001
Cloud Cap Technology performs Aerosonde demonstration flight for NASA observers prior to the operational deployment in the CAMEX4 experiment.

This summer personnel from NASA and the Hurricane Hunters visited us to see firsthand an Aerosonde flight conducted at the Wasco OR airport. They came to evaluate the necessary safety precautions required for using the Aerosonde in the fourth Convection And Moisture Experiment (CAMEX-4). The visit went well, including the two-hour demonstration flight. Details of the aerosonde participation in the experiment can be found here.