Department of Homeland Security researchers are spearheading a push to better protect the nation’s coasts and borders by consolidating research efforts and standardizing unmanned operations between two of its agencies. Continue reading
Category Archives: Non-Military & Commercial UAS
Drone Controlled by Apple Watch
A Taiwanese technology research team has found a way to pilot drones and manipulate light using gestures from an Apple Watch, which could mean a realistic future for The Force not on the “Star Wars” movie screen, but in the palm of your hand.
No Drone Footage at 2016 X Games in Aspen
ESPN will not employ drones to videotape the 2016 X Games in Aspen, according to a spokesman who said the decision is unrelated to the International Ski Federation’s recent ban of the flying devices after one almost hit an Austrian racer during a December World Cup event.
Parrot Unveils Fixed Wing Disco at CES
The 700-gram Parrot Disco, which the company has been working on for the last two years, is a small fixed-wing consumer drone that looks like a model airplane. It can fly up to 45 minutes and reach speeds of just under 50 mph. The 1080p 14-megapixel camera at the front of the drone is the same one that Parrot used for its Bebop 2 quadcopter. Continue reading
Smallest Quadcopter with Streaming WI-FI Video
The Axis Aerius is considered to be the smallest RC quadcopter you can buy, even smaller than the company’s new Vidius drone. But that’s because Axis has managed to fit a live-streaming wi-fi video camera inside the new Vidius, giving pilots a first-person view of their flights. Continue reading
Tokyo Police Snatch Illegal Drones Out of the Sky
Tokyo police have adopted a new system for dealing with illegal drones. They now have a fleet of drone catchers, each equipped with a 10-foot net that can capture a drone without letting it fall to the ground.
Source: Tech Insider
DHS: Drug Traffickers are Spoofing Border Drones
The US Department of Homeland Security has turned to using small drones to monitor its borders, but drug traffickers have apparently already found a way to avoid surveillance.
Russian Emergencies Minister Opens Unmanned Aviation Centre
Russia’s emergencies ministry on Sunday opened an unmanned aviation centre at the ministry’s Moscow region department. The ceremony was attended by Minister Vladimir Puchkov.
“The unmanned aviation center will help improve the quality of monitoring and raise the level of crisis response,” he said. The minister said drones would be used for aerial surveying to establish precise coordinated of emergency situation, damaned facilities, epicenters of wildfires and man-caused fires. Apart from that, in his words, drones would be used to monitor the flood situation and ice cloggings. Continue reading