Drones are immensely useful tools for all kinds of things, whether it be for photography, videography, or search and rescue. However, much like most tools, they can be useful or downright hindrances depending on their users. As we have seen in the past, drones have the potential to disrupt flights by flying too close to airports which raises concerns about drones possibly crashing into the engines of planes.
Recently, the US government seems to be cracking down on Chinese companies who are involved in the communications infrastructure in the US and also their allies. Huawei is one of the more recent casualties where due to the US government’s blacklisting, Google, Intel, and Qualcomm have since suspended their business dealings with them.
DJI’s iconic Phantom lineup of drones is not going anywhere, the company has confirmed. The confirmation comes amid rumors that DJI has been thinking about discontinuing the Phantom line. One can imagine why people would think that given that the Phantom 4 has basically vanished while the Phantom 5 is believed to have been shelved.
We’ve always known that drones could be used for delivery purposes, where in some countries such a in Australia, we’ve seen how drones are being used to deliver coffee. In fact, it had also been suggested that drones could also potentially be used to deliver organs in instances where emergency transplants had to be done.
If you’re based in Australia’s capital city of Canberra, you might be able to get your morning coffee delivered via a drone. Wing, a company that’s a graduate of Google’s X program, has begun offering drone deliveries for food and coffee in three suburbs just outside Canberra. The company says that it has tested this service more than 3,000 times over the past year and a half. It’s now rolling […]
Almaz Antey, a Russian defense contractor that manufactures advanced weapons systems like the S-400 Triumf surface-to-air missile, has created an anti-drone drone which is literally a flying shotgun. The drone has a fully automatic Vepr-12 shotgun with a 10-round magazine which allows it to shoot down other drones in the sky.
For the most part, drones require pilots to help them find their way around. However, the need to have a pilot means that human error is a possibility with regards to certain drone operations. This is why it doesn’t come as a surprise to learn that the Air Force has announced that they will be looking into the possibility of AI-powered autonomous drones.
The idea of using drones for delivery isn’t new, but the US Marines are testing out the idea of using delivery drones that are also disposable, meaning that they can be thrown away after use. In fact more recently the US Marines have successfully tested the idea of using disposable drones which means that it could actually become a part of their operations.
UPS is joining forces with Matternet, an autonomous drone delivery startup, to test deliveries of medical supplies using drones. The companies have announced their partnership today which will see supplies being delivered immediately using Matternet’s M2 quadcopters to WakeMed hospital in Raleigh, North Carolina.
Dubai International is one of the busiest airports in the world. Any delays at DXB can have a knock on effect that can be felt across the globe. Drone disruptions are thus the last thing that the airport needs but it had to put up with that earlier this week when departures were halted for some time after a drone sighting.
DJI’s drones have come with geofencing technology since 2013 but amid recent reports of drones causing disruptions at airports, the company has now decided to further improve the geofencing of its drones. Drones pose serious risks to airplanes and have caused numerous flight delays over the past few years as airports often have to shut down operations until they’re sure that no drones are in the flight path.
Batteries get heavier as you increase the capacity and that remains a major limitation for quadcopter drones. Thus it’s difficult to get a few hours worth of nonstop flight time out of them. Military drones can obviously fly for much longer but that technology is entirely different from the quadcopters used by hobbyists and many emergency services. Dubai Police has come up with a different solution, it has unveiled a […]