Glasgow University (School of Engineering) Wind
Tunnel. The University has a number of wind tunnels that are
suitable for the aerodynamic assessment of our designs and scope for improving
wing profiling. Longer , higher, faster, further!
No More Loose Wingtips
May 2013
Our latest gem of innovation (award winners in this category!!) involves our
wingtip design.
It may look insignificant but from the video you should be able to
see how our wingtips are now flexible - This allows for easier transport and
significantly less damage on landings. This will now become standard on all our
QuestUAV aircraft, for more information contact us.
Best of the Best – Innovation Award
April 2013
Best of the Best – Innovation Award – North East Business Awards
Regional Final 2013.
QuestUAV Ltd won "the Best of the Best" Innovation award for its
developments with Unmanned Aircraft, work with universities and scientists,
and project results coming from as far away as Antarctica and the Deserts
of Chile.
The Award, presented by Newcastle University Business School, at the North
East Business Awards on 25th April 2013, marked QuestUAV as a leader in its
field, beating more established, higher turnover companies to the coveted
prize.
Dr Joanna Berry of the Newcastle University School of Business, presenting
the Innovation Award, hailed QuestUAV as an outstanding example of everything
they were looking in a finalist:
Significant investment with universities to advance science
An investment in and job creation with students from the area,
Having a proven track record in regional national and global sales
Being at the forefront of their industry
Having an outstanding record of innovation
QuestUAV were also voted as Finalists in the Newcomer Award and the Small
Business Award. In the prior regional ceremony, QuestUAV also won the
Innovation Award, Newcomer of the Year and were a finalist in Small Business of
the Year.
Below is a video showing QuestUAV winning the Innovation award, handed out
by Joanna Berry and we were thrilled by her words and thought we would
share them with you!
QuestUAV Wins Multiple Awards in North
East Business Event
April 2013
QuestUAV battled with regional giants to come through as
winners of two categories and finalist in Small Business of the Year at the
Marriott Hotel on 21 March 2013.
Dr Joanna Berry of the Newcastle University School of Business, presenting
the Innovation Award, hailed QuestUAV as an outstanding example of everything
they were looking at in a finalist:
-Significant investment with
universities to advance science
-An investment in and job
creation with students from the area
-Having a proven track record
in regional, national and global sales
-Being at the forefront of
their industry
-Having an outstanding record
of innovation
The Newcomer Award, presented by Virgin Money, similarly praised QuestUAV
for its outstanding contribution to technology, innovation, employment and the
North East.
We were also voted as Finalisists in the Small Business Award
QuestUAV Short listed for Awards
March 2013
QuestUAV are pleased to announce that it has been short listed (i.e. top
three) for three prestigious North
East Business Awards operated by The Journal and the North East Chamber of
Commerce.
The first is the Small Business Award, sponsored by
NorthStarVentures. This award is open to small businesses that have a proven
record of success. The business was judged on commitment, imagination,
potential for growth, financial performance and competitive strength.
The second is Newcomer of the Year, sponsored by VirginMoney.
This award is open to any companies that is less than three years old. The
businesses was judged on it's business plan, the background of the director,
notable achievements, competitive strength and commitment.
The third is the Innovation Award, sponsored by Newcastle
University Business School. The award is "To identify and reward the company
which has launched the most innovative new product/service in the North East in
the calendar year 2012."
Winners will be announced on 21st March 2013 at Gosforth
Marriott where we will will be having a good old knees up in frocks and tux to
celebrate our successes! Wish us luck!
QuestUAV 200 Aqua – Marine Capable
Fixed Wing sUAV
February 2013
After many months of research, development and testing, we are excited to
announce that we have our marine system operating - the QuestUAV 200 Aqua.
After final tests the system will be on the shelves, as predicted, by the early
spring. It has been a long road to find out the best way to waterproof
the different materials, but we now have a watertight system and a watertight
guarantee of it working. We conclude our system is good for most waters
including deeps sea operations. Please contact us for further details on
availability, specifications and pricing.
QuestUAV 200 Successfully
Flown In Antarctica
Jan 2013, Ellsworthy Mountains, Antarctica. Check it out on Google
Earth. Its at lat/long -80 -80, its hundreds of miles from anywhere and
its very, very white! A team from Northumbria University (Dr Stuart
Dunning and Prof John Woodward) left UK in Nov 2012 to do a variety of research
projects in the mountains of this area. Their UAVs went down ahead of
them and were not seen again until the crew pitched their tent on the ice
sheet. Stuart, a rookie pilot, had only had a short two day training
session prior to departure, but he still managed to pull the rabbit out of the
hat. With new UAVs, in an untested and hostile continent, and with
virtually no comms whatsoever with the outside world to get assistance, Stuart
systematically worked through the challenges to get a fully functional QuestUAV
into the harsh mountain winds and flying a 1000ft pre programmed
route.
With a proof of concept in the bag, and with the knowledge that a brand new
pilot can take on a task like this, even after such short
preparation, we are a very happy bunch of people back here. Well done
Stuart and well done Northumbria University!
2012 Pennon Environmental Award
Winners
This cooperative project between
the South West Water’s Upstream Thinking Team, The Exmoor Mires Project,
QuestUAV and the University of Exeter was the first stage of a novel and
expanding project which is hoped will lead to new and innovative ways of
finding, recording and maintaining new water supplies in semi-natural
landscapes.
Together the team has trialled the use of Unmanned Airborne Vehicles (UAV’s)
to remotely collect monitoring data and images to ascertain the effectiveness
of the restoration of peatlands on Exmoor. The research was the first to trial
UAVs for upland catchment monitoring in these remote environments, and the team
at Exeter in collaboration with QuestUAV are amongst the first to be
operationally developing UAVs as low-cost platforms for providing fine spatial
resolution data. Such data could be used to investigate whether restoration
(the blocking of drainage ditches and peat-cuttings) results in improved water
storage in the blanket bogs, bringing benefits such as cost savings on water
bills and improvements in river quality.
The outcome of all this activity and data gathering is a new and innovative
way of monitoring the water storage ability of the restored moorlands. This
will enable better and more directed restoration to take place on the moors,
targeting areas which are in need of re-wetting.
The judges commended the development and use of innovative technology to
survey the restored mires and gather data on blue water storage. They
noted this will enable future restoration to be better targeted on relevant
areas of land. They felt this solution had many applications, not just in
the water industry, or the UK, but across many industries, globally!
November 2012. In preparation for delivery to RAL Space for
spectrometry analysis and vegetation survey, QuestUAV have been building and
integrating this 6 channel multispectral camera for the past six months.
The data that will be collected will allow accurate IR analysis for
archaeology, agriculture, forestry and any other areas where narrow band IR
spectrometry can benefit from an aerial application.
The UAV is a modified QuestUAV 300 with an extended wing set carrying
internal batteries, operating at 4.2 kg.
QuestUAV® Breaking Ground with
Archaeology
Bulgaria has a rich archaeological history covering all the epochs. Pre
history, middle and dark ages, Byzantine, Roman, Iron, Bronze and Neolithic. So
when I was approached to participate in a “High Risk” exploration into one
particular area of Bulgaria (Mirkovo) that was rich in this
heritage, it seemed a fantastic opportunity to break new ground with the use of
small UAV in archaeological research.
The project was sponsored by the HRAR (High
Risk Collaborative Research Program) from The Field Museum, Canada. Their description of
the project is as follows: “This research project represented the first
systematic investigation in Bulgaria of the upland zone (e.g., the Mirkovo
Basin) for archaeological remains through aerial reconnaissance techniques and
photography. The study takes a diachronic approach, incorporating periods
through the 21st century. By using innovative techniques, the research promises
to place upland centres within their overall archaeological settlement context.
The Co-PIs of this project are Boyan Dumanov (New Bulgarian University,
Bulgaria) and John Chapman (Durham University, UK).”
So it was a pretty cool project that took over a year to get to first
flight, but had some fantastic results in terms of archaeological methodology,
UAV Imagery, post processing and artefact collection. It is expected to lead to
a number of research papers and a better understanding of the population
dynamics of the area over the previous 8000 years. The project needed us to
image a number of different subject types: arable land, pasture land and
forest, both with known areas of archeology and with unknown areas (for
prospection). Some areas also included the mountain range to the North of
Mirkovo and a significant ridge to the West.
Fox Talbot Award
for Outstanding Achievements in Photography
Our very own Nigel King has been given the Fox Talbot Award from the British
Institue of Professional Photography (BIPP). The award is given to
photographers who have made an outstanding achievement in the field of
photography and have pioneered new methods or equipment that have made
significant advances in photography. Nigel has done all of these through
the development of unmanned aircraft otherwise known as UAVs. Research
companies and universities around the world are using his small aircraft that
have been designed almost entirely by himself. Currently two of his
drones are flying at an incredible 10000 ft in Chile’s Atacama Desert on a NASA
funded project designed to develop navigation software for the next generation
Mars Rover.
Nigel has helped pioneer the fourth generation of electric powered UAVs
where end users can master very high-resolution large-scale maps with simple,
easy to use systems. His ultimate goal is to reduce the costs of small
UAVs, which generally cost tens of thousands of pounds, to something much less
that can be used and distributed for humanitarian needs and can be easily
operated by a semi skilled person. His company is working on sensors that
have a huge range of applications such as Narrow Band Infra Red Imagery
(multispectral) for agricultural uses such as spotting tree disease, crop
health and ideal time to harvest a crop. Forestry work in Finland, Swiss
train surveys, Antarctic Ice studies, ultra low level meteorological weather
studies, three dimensional archeological surveys and atmospheric plume
(volcanic) sampling are just some of the other applications he is working
on. Of huge interest to his company though are the possible applications
in land mine clearance in countries such as Cambodia and Angola, and crop
improvement in developing world countries and the improvement of fresh water
sourcing.
Nigel says, “This is the right time for non-military use of
UAVs. In the right hands and with the right intention they have
such huge potential for improving quality of life and reducing costs of
otherwise expensive aerial surveys. The ability to cover a large area
safely, and have the aircraft do virtually all the work means that we are now
on the verge of allowing developing world communities to truly benefit from the
development of this technology. With the right investment, the next few
years could be truly groundbreaking”.
Amazing imagery from Martian
landscape
In
April 2012 important topographic data of potential robotic rover trial sites in
the Atacama Desert was collected by a team of RAL Space engineers. Brian
Maddison, Wayne Tubby and Aron Kisdi flew a small unmanned aircraft over sites
which could be used for the Mars rover trials.
The four flights were part of a data collection exercise for the European
Space Agency SEEKER project. SEEKER aims to significantly improve on autonomous
navigation of rovers on Mars, enabling them to travel 6 km over 3 days without
any GPS and without the need for human control. The aerial imagery is currently
being processed to produce 3-D models which will be used by the robot to plan
its path. “The terrain looks very similar to what one might see near the
volcanos on Mars” says Aron “for Mars we use images taken from a spacecraft in
orbit around the planet to make 3-D maps of the Martian surface with 1 metre
resolution. Here on Earth we need to replicate this type of map and the
best way to do that is to fly an aircraft fitted with a suitable camera over
the terrain”.
The lack of available maps or archived aerial or satellite data of the
Atacama Desert made it difficult to plan ahead, so most of the flights were
made without any prior knowledge of the local terrain. “It is very hard to
judge scale” says Aron “we walked to what seemed to be a nearby sand dune and
it turned out to be 40 minutes away and made out of small rocks rather than
sand.” The Quest 200 UAV coped well with the unusual environment and is
currently being prepared for more flights during the rover trials which will
start in late-May.
The expedition was supported by Guillermo Chong, a professor from Universidad
Católica del Norte in Antofagasta. “It was crucial to have a local expert who
knows the Atacama” says Aron “Guillermo not only helped us to select the best
sites for this trial but was also able to show us some of the magnificence of
the Atacama which helped put in perspective future research on Earth, Mars,
robots and Life.”
Text and imagery courtesy of STFC.
QuestUAV® reveals Exmoor's
rare peatlands
March 2012
Exmoor's peatlands have
a significant impact on both the ecology and the community of the South West.
Exeter University, in partnership with South West Water, commissioned
Quest UAV to conduct detailed surveys of two areas of specific interest on
the peatlands that they have been monitoring for a number of years. Imagery,
including infra-red, resulted in one centimetre resolution orthorectified
datasets of the catchment areas.
This is a high profile project for Exeter University and the survey day was
documented by the BBC for 'Spotlight' and other local news articles.
Since November 2011 we have been working
alongside the Startiger Project at Harwell Research Centre. This project aims
to lead development of fully autonomous long range navigation for planetary
exploration rovers as well as terrestrial robots.
The project requires DEMs (digital elevation
models) to be produced of the terrain surrounding the rover in test scenarios
back in UK. After considerable investigation into sUAV platforms, RAL the host
organisation (Rutherford Appleton Laboratories) opted to purchase the QuestUAV
systems following a successful DEM at one of their test sites. The DEM
was achieved in winds gusting to over 50mph.
The sUAV project is funded by STFC (Science and
Technology Facilities Council) and the StarTiger programme is managed by the
European Space Agency.
To learn more about this fascinating project
click
here
(Image Courtesy STFC/Stephen Kill)
New QUESTUAV Aircraft Released
September 2011
A new range of UAS were released for sale
to the research community at the Bournemouth Annual Conference. The QUEST
UAV 100, 200 and 300 form the new range and the design have come from the
experience we have built up over the years using UAV's for research and
survey work. Single person operation, low cost, repeatable surveys,
operation over remote sites, easily exchangeable payloads are just some of
the requirements that have been built into the design.
QuestUAV seemingly had a first when it flew one of it's it's Quest 200
aircraft with aerosonde equipment on board. It seems that atmospheric
equipment has never yet been flown by a UAV in UK and we were the first to
do it.
The event happened at the NCAS summer school in the Isle of Arran.
Unfortunately the day chosen for the test was probably the windiest
day of the two weeks with winds at height in excess of 70kph and severe
turbulence being generated in the valley where the summer school lies.
However information from a Vaisala Radio Sonde relayed information to the
schools ground station equipment. A temperature logger was also carried,
but this, unfortunately, got ejected out of the aircraft on it's second
flight due to the extremem turbulence! NCAS staff were happy with the
results though and it gave students a first opportunity to see a UAV in
action. The QUEST 200 performed exceptioanlly well in the conditions
and both flights ended in a safe landing.
Bournemouth RSPSoc Conference
September 2011
QuestUAV/Blue River Studios will be exhibiting at the RSPSoc Annual
Conference at Bournemouth University in their Talbot Centre.
As well as displaying the services that Blue River Studios provides,
this event is the official release of the new QUEST UAV lineup of
small unmanned aircraft, designed specifically for purchase by the
research community.
Bournemouth Conference runs from 13th to 15th September and is
preceded by the NERC ARSF Annual conference.
Despite difficult weather, a rough sea with a heavy swell and only a
rocky outcrop to take off and land from, Blue River Studios, succeeded
in imaging the Filey Brigg Spittal, a rock structure normally
underwater other than at the lowest tides of the year. Two days
of flying and one day of filming brought in the images required to
complete twenty years of research on the the history of the Brigg.
The five hours of filming will be compressed into a four minute
article that will be aired during July 2012.
BBC COAST Preparations
August 2011
On 30th August, when the lowest tides of the year hit Filey Briggs, the
BBC's COAST crew are filming a normally subterranean structure that is
believed to be a well preserved roman harbour. Blue River Studios is being
filmed imaging this structure in high resolution at low tide and the
subsequent processing of the images. The task is a challenging one though,
with a cramped, rocky take-off off area, no suitable landing area, flight
over sea, turbulence from cliffs and a very small window of opportunity
whilst tides are at their lowest. Staff will be working closely with the
BBC and the local researchers and custodians of Filey Brigg to ensure the best possible
outcome.
Blue River in Journal: Premier North East News Article
August 2011
Nigel King's drones have a clearer focus on the natural
world.
Unmanned drone aircraft are one of the weapons of war employed in
Afghanistan. But a former RAF pilot based in Northumberland is now
using similar drone technology to safeguard, enhance and protect
landscapes and wildlife in the North East.
Nigel King joined the RAF in 1978 after studying electronic
engineering at Newcastle Polytechnic, later Northumbria University
where his wife Dr Helen King is a senior lecturer.
Nigel flew Gazelle, Puma, Wessex and Sea King helicopters for 16
years, serving across the world.
For his last four flying years he was with the search and rescue
operation based at RAF Boulmer in Northumberland.
Two years ago Nigel, who lives on Druridge Bay at Low Hauxley
village, set up Blue River Studios to combine his interests of flying
and photography.
Following static and flying demonstrations of the capabilities of
the Quest 100 and Quest 300 in typically wet and windy UK conditions,
Blue river Studios received a raft of inquiries to lift remote sensing
equipment in many places around UK as well as such far flung places as
Saudi Arabia, Pategonia and Antartica.
The workshop also highlighted the need for simple, low cost sUAV's
that will allow new operators to learn on and develop into full grown
sUAV's as time goes on. This is the role of the Quest 100, 200
and 300, a system allowing growth in payload and complexity but with
economics and repairability as key aspects to the products.
Within five minutes of landings we were able to show the images to
the workshop group on our mobile display facility.
Blue River to Demo at Remote Sensing Convention
June 2011
We have been invited to demonstrate at an annual a remote
sensing convention at Durham University on 7th and 8th July. Both
the standard Manta 200 and the larger Manta 300 are planned to fly
in a lineup with other fixed and rotary sUAV organisations such as
SmartUAV and Helipix.
This two-day workshop is a joint initiative of
the NERC EO Technology Cluster Programme and
the RSPSoc UAV Special Interest Group and will take
place at the Calman Centre and the Maiden Castle Sports Centre,
Durham University, UK.
Manta 300 Operational
June 2011
After a considerable design and construction phase, the Quest 300
took to the skies, ready to deliver a payload that could lift multiple
cameras and remote sensing equipment. The design encompassed the
needs and lessons from all it's twenty airframes in order to achieve
it's objectives of bigger, higher, better, bolder.
A normal sUAV in this class can lift a payload of about 200g to
300g. The Quest 300 can lift upwards of 2000g, which makes it
possible to lift high end photogrammetric equipment and FLIR.
Equipped with the well proven Attopilot IMU driven autopilot, the
airframe can complete digital mapping tasks with considerable ease in
winds of up to 25mph.
East Neuk Festival
July 2011
Blue River Studios and the team from Sand In Your Eye provided another fantastic
sand display, this time on the beaches of Fife during the seventh East Neuk
Festival. The festival is primarily a music festival with concerts
throughout the towns of Elie to Crail (the East Neuk area) and appearances
from internationally acclaimed classical artists. Accompanying the music
were the sand designs on the Saturday at Elie and a huge three dimensional
bust of Beethoven in the centre of Crail that took four days to
construct.
The images in Elie were part of a public participation event for the
festival where adults and children took part in the designs of huge
starfish. For more images see "Gallery - Art & Culture".
To see other news on the East Neuk festival visit their Facebook page.
BIPP Fellowship Award
May 2011
On 23 May 2011 Nigel King was awarded the highest level of membership in
the British Institute for Professional Photographers, a Fellow. The
unanimous decision to make this level of award for work in the Scientific
category was a very pleasant surprise. As an award that requires "extremely
high levels of technical and creative ability" it gave welcome credence to
the years of work dedicated to flying, photography and the UAV
industry.
Release of Working Portfolio
April 2011
In preparation for becoming an Associate of the British Institute
of Professional Photographers, Nigel King has produced a working profile of
the last three years of development work. This document gives an
insight into what a UAV is, and what is involved in designing and operating
one. The document also show the processes involved from planning an
image shoot right through to presentation of the images in a high
resolution, georeferenced and orthorectified map.
A full preview of the book is at www.burb.com/books/2080975.
Bird Reserve Restructure
March 2011
Following the vandalism that burnt down the iconic visitor centre at
Hauxley Bird Reserve, the Wildlife Trust met with NWT members and members
of the public to consult on any new directions that might be appropriate
for the area where a rebuild could take place.
Blue River Studios were tasked with producing a large scale
georeferenced wall display that was the centrepiece of the discussions.
COAL and COAST Project Swings into Action
February 2011
With aerial imaging almost complete, the mammoth task of integrating
and georferencing the database of images for the COAL and COAST project
is now underway.
BlueRiverStudios is working with the Wildlife Trust to prepare the
first Habitat Survey.
Dancing in the Moonlight With Jamie Wardley
January 2011
Taking beach sculptures to a new height, we ventured into Druridge
Bay in the full moon and got a series of amazing, out-of-this world
shots in the moonlight.
Just two workers, myself and Jamie, and the blessing of an
atmospheric, spookily clear night and a beach ready for a little
creativity brought some unique shots.
Enjoy!
Hauxley Mini Shoot
Continuing the theme of the RSPB shoot, Jamie Wardley (Sandinyoureye
sand sculptor) wanted to look at developing the concept. However,
wind, rain and technology were against us. After a morning of driving
rain, winds reaching 30 mph that blew sand into the sculpture filling
designs, and camera problems that seemed affected by the weather, the
best of what we achieved is shown here.
Thanks go to Chris and Mike Davies, and Helen King, volunteers
dragged from their peace into the winds of the beach to write
signatures, fan feathers with rakes and battle the elements. Well
done! Sadly the images were not what we hoped for, but as always
they produced unexpected results. Its hard to imagine that this
image is over 120 ft by 120ft and the spots below it are the workers.
Check "Portfolio" for others.
RSPB Scotland Shoot
October 2010
Following the success of the Druridge Bay Youth Sand Event, a request
was made for us to do a similar Sand Sculpture with Jamie Wardley. This
event was to mark a protest against the plans to build a new coal fired
power station (Hunterston B) in an area that would have significant impact
on wildlife, particularly as coal technology is still as dirty as ever
despite there being promises that carbon capture will be used. Carbon
capture will be expensive, hasn't actually been developed yet and may be
nothing more that a pipe dream in reality, leaving the area exposed to
pollutants that could be disastrous to wildlife.
The designs are of birds under threat and the signatures are from the
petitions against the development.
The Ben Lawyers Project, Loch Tay
August 2010 The Ben Lawyers National Park area is just North of
Stirling, Scotland. Part of this Park, around the shores of Loch Tay, forms
the Ben Lawyers area of Historic Interest.
The task was to provide high resolution aerial photography so that soil
data collected in the area can be interpreted in a visual context. This
whole process is intended to become a paper looking at method development
(using UAV’s for aerial photography) for integrated digital technology in
archeological studies. Over the four days of the project, aerial
photography was combined with survey grade GPS data to provide an
exceptionally high degree of ground position accuracy.
Blue River and Jamie Wardley
September 2010
Blue River Studios worked with the highly acclaimed sand sculptor Jamie
Wardley from Sandinyoureye to bring aerial photography to his most recent
work. Both were commissioned by the RYWU (Regional Youth Work
Unit) to do the work, which involved sixty young adults from Tyneside.
RYWU is the first company to receive a grant from the 2012 Olympic
Games for youth work.
The aerial photography linked many visual elements that the the young
adults will work on to produce a finished video. Time lapse photography,
ground based images and video interview footage, all combined with 500
aerial images taken on the day will go towards producing the final cut.
Blue River Goes Fully Mobile
July 2010
Blue River is now on 48hr call, fully mobile and ready to roll
anywhere in the UK. The aim has been to bring both the workshop and
post processing equipment to a site as well as all the Aerial
Photography facilities.
The equipment now also includes (when available) Northumbria
University survey grade Trimble DGPS for very accurate georeferencing
of sites. Normal aerial photography is 50m to 100m accuracy but use of
this equipment in generating ground control points can improve that
accuracy by a factor of over a hundred to sub-10cm accuracy.
APA-ACPO Exhibition Display 2010
June 2010
Blue River Studios was invited by Northumbria University to
participate in the APA-ACPO exhibition (Association of Police
Authorities / Association of Chief Police Officers) in Manchester.
Northumbria University is offering a blend of Crime Sciences,
Forensic Sciences, and Laser Scanning and UAV imagery to the Police
Authorities and considerable interest was shown in the sUAV for
forensics purposes.
Northumbria Police UAV demo
June 2010
On 24 June, following a dialogue with Northumbria Police, Blue River
Studios demonstrated the background operation, flight and operational
capacity of it's sUAV to the Air Support Manager of the North East Air
Support unit.
2010 Wetlands Study
June 2010
In June Blue River Studios undertook the photography of a large area
of wetlands on the North East coast of England for the Applied Sciences
department at Northumbria University. The imagery becomes part
of a long term study into the biodiversity of pondlife, and how it is
affected by aspects such as climate change, seasonal change and
agricultural runoff.
2010 CAA Air Operator Licence Achieved
18 June 2010
Blue River Studios are proud to announce the results of the successful
application to the CAA (Civil Aviation Authority) to operate the fleet of
Flying Wings for operational purposes. This new style of certificate clears
us to operate, within UK limits, for a year. The requirement for
certification has only recently become a legal requirement (Jan 2010) and
has posed a major challenge for sUAV operators to achieve as we have been
"fumbling in the dark" to work out what exactly is required.
Not only is the issue of our certificate a sign of our operational
competence, we also received the accolade from the CAA of of having
submitted a "Model Application that sets the standard for others"......
something to be indeed proud of.
2010 Blue River Studios Adopts New Technology
Continuing on the development route to improve imaging results, we
moved from "full house" aircraft to a new design in the style of a flying
wing with no tailplane and the propellor at the rear. The allows us to take
forward photography, operate from remote sites and handle rougher
situations.
The aircraft still employ the tremendous safety factor of being
constructed primarily from foam, so any impacts have very little energy for
either the aircraft or anything it might accidentally hit. The design also
allows the carrying of a top quality digital camera as well as a high
definition video camera.
Continuing with the mobile/remote theme we are now able to launch from
just about anywhere with our new "Zip" launch (bungee line) system, where
the aircraft very quickly reaches a safety height and without requiring any
ground take-off space.
2010 Breathtaking Resolutions in River Study
Following the severe floods of 2009, areas surrounding Cockermouth suffered
severe damage when the river flooded and many bridges were swept away.
River routes changed and vast areas of gravel and sediment were deposited
on farmland.
Blue River Studios provided detailed aerial photography in three areas
of interest - Camerton , Papcastle and Isel for researchers at Northumbria
University and Durham University. Current aerial photography of the sites
using satellite and full size aircraft (National Emergency Research Council
aircraft) provided a resolution of 30cm to 50cm. Blue River
Studios UAV technology managed to produce average resolutions of 3 to 5
cms, and on specific low level images 0.2cm resolution.
2009 Sierra Navada, Spain
Northumbria University makes an annual field trip to Trevelos in South
East Spain. At almost 5000 feet it is considered the highest inhabited
village in Europe. Because of its steep and rugged terrain and the result
of a population shift, sustaining quality arable land has become a growing
issue for farmers of these degrading terraces over the last half
century.
We accompanied the last visit and conducted an aerial survey. 450 Images
were stitched together and presented as reference material for future field
visits and agricultural studies.
2009 (Ongoing): River and Sediment Change
June 2009
Newcastle University - Mapping river change in the Upper Coquet (June
2009, ongoing)
A ten mile stretch of of the upper Coquet in Northumberland provides the
richest and fastest rate of change of any river in the UK, according to
Newcastle University.
Blue River Studios, in association with Northumbria University, have
been providing aerial imagery (still and video) between 1000ft and 200ft,
to assist with the research being carried out here. Resolutions down to
less than 0.5 cm have been achieved, which allow the surveying of sediment
deposits.
2009: Archeological Survey
June 2009
Low Farnham and it’s local area has a rich history dating all the way
back to the Bronze age. The Border Reivers, the Plagues and
the Augustinian Convent at Holystone have all had major influence
on the archeology of this area.
We were approached to conduct a low level survey of an area that had the
evidence of a former garrison and Peel (bastille) tower. Indistinct from
the ground, aerial photography produced exactly the results that the client
required.
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Jan 2013, Ellsworthy Mountains, Antarctica. Check it out on Google
Earth. Its at lat/long -80 -80, its hundreds of miles from anywhere and
its very, very white! A team from Northumbria University (Dr Stuart
Dunning and Prof John Woodward) left UK in Nov 2012 to do a variety of research
projects in the mountains of this area. Their UAVs went down ahead of
them and were not seen again until the crew pitched their tent on the ice
sheet. Stuart, a rookie pilot, had only had a short two day training
session prior to departure, but he still managed to pull the rabbit out of the
hat. With new UAVs, in an untested and hostile continent, and with
virtually no comms whatsoever with the outside world to get assistance, Stuart
systematically worked through the challenges to get a fully functional QuestUAV
into the harsh mountain winds and flying a 1000ft pre programmed
route. 
This cooperative project between
the South West Water’s Upstream Thinking Team, The Exmoor Mires Project,
QuestUAV and the University of Exeter was the first stage of a novel and
expanding project which is hoped will lead to new and innovative ways of
finding, recording and maintaining new water supplies in semi-natural
landscapes.
Bulgaria has a rich archaeological history covering all the epochs. Pre
history, middle and dark ages, Byzantine, Roman, Iron, Bronze and Neolithic. So
when I was approached to participate in a “High Risk” exploration into one
particular area of Bulgaria (
In
April 2012 important topographic data of potential robotic rover trial sites in
the Atacama Desert was collected by a team of RAL Space engineers. Brian
Maddison, Wayne Tubby and Aron Kisdi flew a small unmanned aircraft over sites
which could be used for the Mars rover trials.
Exmoor's peatlands have
a significant impact on both the ecology and the community of the South West.
Exeter University, in partnership with South West Water, commissioned
Quest UAV to conduct detailed surveys of two areas of specific interest on
the peatlands that they have been monitoring for a number of years. Imagery,
including infra-red, resulted in one centimetre resolution orthorectified
datasets of the catchment areas.
August 2011
June 2011
Continuing on the development route to improve imaging results, we
moved from "full house" aircraft to a new design in the style of a flying
wing with no tailplane and the propellor at the rear. The allows us to take
forward photography, operate from remote sites and handle rougher
situations. 
Following the severe floods of 2009, areas surrounding Cockermouth suffered
severe damage when the river flooded and many bridges were swept away.
River routes changed and vast areas of gravel and sediment were deposited
on farmland.
