India Downs Pakistani Arms Smuggling Drone

BSF personnel carry a drone shot down along the border in J&K’s Kathua on June 20, 2020

The Indian Border Security Force shot down a Pakistani drone along the International Border in Kathua district of Jammu and Kashmir on Saturday, the officials said. The patrolling party of the BSF found the drone flying in the Rathua area of Hiranagar sector in Kathua, Jammu And Kashmir and shot it down. The drone fell into a field. Continue reading

Drones to Release Sterile Mosquitoes to Control Zika

https://youtu.be/OujbWI0rDe4

A new study from the International Atomic Energy (IAEA) uses drones to increase the effectiveness and reduce costs related to using the nuclear technique that aims to suppress disease-carrying mosquitoes. This is a significant step in deploying this method on a large-scale basis to control the mosquitoes causing dengue, yellow fever, and Zika. Continue reading

GA-ASI Gets $12M Air National Guard Upgrade Contract

174th Fighter Wing MQ-9 Reaper at Hancock Field Air National Guard Base, Syracuse, NY

General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI) has been awarded a $12.1 million contract to upgrade MQ-9 Block 1 and Block 5 Remotely Piloted Aircraft and Block 25 Dual Control Module Ground Control Station (DCMGCS) and Block 30 Ground Control Station (GCS) for the Air National Guard (ANG). Continue reading

Qualcomm Launches World’s First 5G and AI-Enabled Robotics Platform

Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. has announced the Qualcomm Robotics RB5 platform – the Company’s most advanced, integrated, comprehensive offering designed specifically for robotics. Building on the successful Qualcomm Robotics RB3 platform and its broad adoption in a wide array of robotics and drone products available today, the Qualcomm Robotics RB5 platform is comprised of an extensive set of hardware, software and development tools. Continue reading

Deep Drone Acrobatics

Performing acrobatic manoeuvres with quadrotors is extremely challenging. Acrobatic flight requires high thrust and extreme angular accelerations that push the platform to its physical limits. Professional drone pilots often measure their level of mastery by flying such manoeuvres in competitions.

Continue reading

Drone-Delivered Soap Bubbles Help Pollinate Flowers

As pollinators, bees are hard to beat. Still, that hasn’t prevented researchers from working on a high-tech alternative: drones that blow soap bubbles to transport pollen to a flower. It’s a “really cool” approach, says Henry Williams, a roboticist at the University of Auckland, who was not involved in the work. But some biologists are skeptical that drones will ever be an effective replacement for bees. Continue reading