US Army General Martin E. Dempsey bristles when he hears someone use the word drone. “You will never hear me use the word ‘drone,’ and you’ll never hear me use the term ‘unmanned aerial systems,’” the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said today. “Because they are not. They are remotely piloted aircraft.”
Saint John Paul II Relic Procession in Washington Filmed by QuadCopter
The procession had an ancient vibe: Dozens of priests in white robes, leading hundreds more Catholics in a solemn procession through Northeast Washington. People chanted and sang prayers from the 3rd century, asking saints through Christianity’s history for help. The Archdiocese of Washington debuted its new, hubcap-sized flying device on Mother’s Day, using it to videotape crowds participating in a procession marking the canonizations of popes John Paul II and John the 23rd (now called St. John Paul II and St. John the 23rd). Continue reading
The European Approach to Civil RPAS at the RPAS 2014 Conference
The opening day of the UVS International RPAS 2014 conference in Brussels on 23 June 2014 will be dedicated to National RPAS community views on current commercial RPAS operations and will feature 10 presentations from 10 different countries. Continue reading
Airbus Defence Quadcruiser Hybrid UAS Demonstrator
A proof-of-concept unmanned aerial vehicle that combines fixed-wing and helicopter capabilities is being tested by the Airbus Group.The electric-powered Quadcruiser is a joint effort of Airbus Group Innovations and Airbus Defense, with the participation of Steinbeis Flugzeug-und Leichtbau GmbH. Continue reading
Quadrotor uses Google’s Project Tango for Autonomous Flight
Early this year, Google unveiled its Project Tango smartphone, a mobile device equipped with a depth sensor, a motion tracking camera, and two vision processors that let the phone track its position in space and create 3D maps in real time. The device is particularly useful for robots, which have to navigate and locate themselves in the world. Continue reading
US Sends UAS and 80 Airmen to Help Nigerian Search
The US Defense Department’s addition of an unmanned aerial vehicle and 80 Air Force troops to U.S. efforts supporting Nigeria’s search for over 200 missing schoolgirls has turned the mission into an air operation, Army Colonel Steve Warren, director of Pentagon Press Operations, said. Continue reading
New Yorker Hit by Quadcopter at Gizmodo Party
A New York partygoer has spoken of his shock after being hit by a Quadcopter at a hi-tech ‘home of the future’ party. Publisher Stephen Kosloff said” I stumbled on a Gizmodo party on Mulberry Street. I flashed my business card, said “Media,” and was admitted. Continue reading
Iran Displays Cloned RQ-170 Sentinel
Iran claims to have successfully copied the US RQ-170 Sentinel it captured in December 2011, with state television broadcasting – and even the country’s supreme leader tweeting – images of the replicated aircraft. Continue reading