Quadcopters are a relatively new type of radio-controlled flying device, mostly for hobbyists. They are strong enough to lift a camera, which allows for amazing videos and photos. But this ability also makes them controversial.
"The UH-60M had been flying as CAVM087 (“Caveman 87”), the lead craft
in a flight of two helicopters that were getting their bearings to
monitor a set of 'temporary flight restrictions' (TFRs) involving the UN
General Assembly and President Donald Trump. The helicopters were
flying low, around 300 feet, and had come down the Hudson River and
turned east over the Verrazano Bridge toward Coney Island. At 7:14pm,
they turned around to head back toward New Jersey.
At this point, Tantashov was recalling his drone, which had begun its
return flight to his location. The helicopters encountered the drone a
minute later. The co-pilot on the lead helicopter was flying when the
drone came into sight, and he took immediate action. Still, the drone
collided with the helicopter’s main rotor 274 feet up in the sky."
This is kind of a tricky case, since the drone dude didn't know about the Temporary Flight Restriction, and it would probably be hard for him to know about that. On the other hand, he was flying outside his field of vision, which is against the rules. I wonder if he'll get fined?
"The night skyline of the Chinese city of Guangzhou lit up by a
spectacular show in which hundreds of drones took to the air. In putting
on the show, the city broke its own world record for the biggest number
of drones involved in one performance."
"Finnish Customs officials and border guards are investigating an
unusual case in which a drone was found in a forested area of the
eastern town of Lappeenranta with a cargo of 15 cartons of cigarettes.
Two similar packages were found nearby, bringing the total to 45
cartons.
The authorities were notified by a private individual who
reported seeing the drone flying over the border from Russia, where
cigarettes are considerably cheaper than they are in Finland.
Officials
impounded the tobacco and are investigating the case as airspace
violation and illegal entry. They have not yet found any individuals
they suspect of involvement in the case."
You get the good with the bad with any new technology.
"The aerial drone in the rear cargo bay was armed and ready to be
deployed. Sitting in an open plastic case beside an AK47 assault rifle
and spare clips. The 3DR Solo Quadcopter carried a shrapnel-filled IED
that was in turn rigged to detonate by remote control."
"The weapon could have been used effectively against
authorities, criminal rivals, or to terrorize innocent civilians,
according to a report by security analyst Robert Bunker, a professor in
Strategic Studies at the U.S. Army War college.
While
contraband-laden drones operated by Mexican cartels have frequently
penetrated U.S. airspace, none of them have been armed—yet. But the
drone’s discovery comes at a time of widespread escalation of
crime-related violence in Mexico, and could be a sign of things to come."
"Jackson County sheriff’s deputies arrested Grindstaff Wednesday,
after the agency posted photos from Hidde’s footage that prompted
Grindstaff to turn himself in. He was booked in the Jackson County Jail
Wednesday and released Thursday on his own recognizance, jail records
show.
Similar sentiments in support of the alleged shooter were
posted at the private Jackson County Scanner Group Facebook page
consisting of about 41,000 members. One post cited in a previous media
report about the story alleged Hidde was 'being a peeping Tom creeper.'
Hidde said he read about 90 percent of such comments.
Hidde
denied any sort of harassing behavior at the park. He saw Grindstaff,
another truck driving off-road, a dirt bike rider, a woman riding her
horse and another walking her dog. He said he was scoping out the park
watching for high-action subjects."
"As you should know, it is illegal to use DRONES in the National Park.
Certain National Parks have been authorized and trained to use them.
One is Grand Canyon National Park. We were fortunate to have their
drone team come and assist in the search for the missing couple. The
GCNP drone operators gave me permission to show a very small segment of
what they see when operating over the Maze area. As you can see, it is
not as easy to see detail in the rocks. Also, people tend to wear
clothes that blend, instead of bright colors."
Shocking amount of #ISIS heavy weapons captured by SAA in Mayadeen, Deirezzor. Arms caches like this can only be provided by states. #Syriapic.twitter.com/1INH6CCtGx
"A drone crashed into a passenger plane
last week in Canada, renewing safety concerns about unmanned aircraft
and raising questions about how best to enforce regulations now that
drones are becoming more and more commonplace.
The drone hit a plane carrying six passengers and two crew members en route to an airport in Quebec on Thursday.
'This
should not have happened,' Canada’s minister of transport, Marc
Garneau, said at a news conference on Sunday. 'That drone should not
have been there.'
Nobody
was hurt, but the incident could have caused 'catastrophic' damage had
it hit an engine or incapacitated the pilot, Mr. Garneau said.
Researchers at Virginia Tech’s College of Engineering demonstrated in 2015 that an eight-pound quadcopter drone could rip apart a nine-foot-diameter engine in less than 1/200th of a second."
Too high and too close to an airport. Another idiot.
Boston National Historical Park (USS Constitution), Boston
Independence National Historical Park, Philadelphia
Folsom Dam, Folsom, California
Glen Canyon Dam, Lake Powell, Arizona
Grand Coulee Dam, Grand Coulee, Washington State
Hoover Dam, Boulder City, Nevada
Jefferson National Expansion Memorial, St. Louis
Mount Rushmore National Memorial, South Dakota
Shasta Dam, Shasta Lake, California
The FAA has also issued similar guidelines around US military bases,
and it has already barred drone flying with National Parks, where some
of these monuments are located. The FAA said it was 'considering
additional requests' from other federal agencies about barring drones
flying near other locations."
I would like to try to fly up Lincoln's nose, but alas...
"A federal judge in Massachusetts has struck down four key portions of a 2016 municipal ordinance in Newton, a Boston suburb that effectively banned drones.
The lawsuit, which was filed in January 2017 by a local doctor,
involves a question that has yet to be fully resolved in the age of
increasingly pervasive and inexpensive drones: how much can localities
restrict them? The Newton law,
which was passed in December 2016, bans drone flights over private
property at or below 400 feet without the property owner’s permission.
The law also requires that all drones be registered with the city and
that drones not overfly schools, city property, or sporting events
without specific permission.
In a Thursday court order, US District Judge William Young concluded that these particular parts of the law went too far."
I'm for safety and privacy. But the laws need to be carefully written on how much restriction there can be on drones.
"The Army said the choppers were flying low along the east shore of
Staten Island when a drone slammed into the side of one of them.
'As that drone came apart, a piece of it was actually found upon landing
up on the transmission deck, right at the bottom of the main rotor
system,' he said. 'Which is very distressing that something would be
able to get in there. And that has always been the thing that we worry
about constantly.'”
Something to worry about. It's not sure if the copters were flying below 400 feet, or the quadcopter was above that limit.
"The Seattle-based start-up, founded by twin brothers James and Joel
Egan, says the drone can maneuver and move quickly like a fixed-wing
aircraft, hover and vertically take off and land like a helicopter, and
operate efficiently and safely like a blimp – all on a single platform.
Furthermore, PLIMP can deliver forward speeds of more than 40 mph and at
least an hour of flight time."
"Just
before noon on September 5 an aircraft approaching the Happy
Valley-Goose Bay airport had a near-miss with an unmanned air vehicle,
more commonly known as a drone.
Advertisement
RCMP said the incident happened in the area of Wilburn
Bay and are asking anyone with any information to contact the Happy
Valley-Goose Bay RCMP at 709-896-3383.
Transport Canada brought in regulations for drones
early in 2017, to mixed reviews from the public. One of those rules is
that you can no longer fly within nine kilometres of an aerodrome —
anywhere an aircraft takes off or lands.
The regulations also preclude recreational pilots from
flying drones weighing more than 250 grams higher than 300 feet; within
250 feet of buildings, vehicles, vessels, animals or people; more than
half a kilometre from the user; at night, in cloudy conditions, or
outside the visual line of sight; without a name, address and phone
number affixed to the drone; and over forest fires, emergency response
scenes or controlled airspace.
Breaking the rules can have a fine up to $3,000 for recreational users and up to $15,000 for corporations."
So there's the rules for Canada. It will probably be impossible to catch the idiot this time though.
"Founded in 2017, SkySkopes Academy’s goal is to deliver the most
critical knowledge of unmanned flight systems in an effective and
engaging manner. Safety is a top priority for our staff at SkySkopes, a
national leader in unmanned flight operations, and we wanted to share
our knowledge with others interested in unmanned aircraft systems. We
created SkySkopes Academy as a means of providing extensive education
and training opportunities to students looking to take their UAS
experience to the next level. Our academy brings together UAS experts
from across the industry to provide a comprehensive curriculum that
teaches our students to safely and knowledgeably fly their aircraft in
the national airspace. The courses are based on our internal training
procedures for our staff and are designed to be interactive to encourage
a better learning experience for students. SkySkopes Academy is
headquartered in Grand Forks, ND, which is considered a hub for unmanned
aircraft innovation and development. "
"MOSCOW, September 4 (RAPSI, Yelizaveta Ponomareva) –
Officers of the Federal Penitentiary Service in the Stavropol region of
Russia have arrested a man who attempted to transport objects banned
for inmates of a local prison using a quadcopter, the Service’s press
service informs on Monday.
The quadcopter was loaded with cellular phones, battery chargers, and
various mobile phone paraphernalia, according to the statement.
The offence could be stopped due to the guards’ vigilance, who spotted the quadcopter."
So apparently they didn't shoot the drone down or anything? Just somehow grabbed it and the pilot? Good work!
"Tanzania has become the latest country to partner with Zipline as it
has launched the world’s largest drone delivery service. The service
will provide emergency on-demand access to critical and life-saving
medicines.
This comes after Rwanda kicked-off its medical supplies delivery service by Zipline drones in October 2016. Subsequently, in January 2017, Tanzania announced that it will be partnering with Zipline to trial drone medicine deliveries."
"Texas military officials are begging Texan drone pilots to
get their gadgets out of the sky, because they’re interfering with
rescues.'#ALERT: We are seeing civilian drones that pose
EXTREME risks to our rescue pilots and crews in high need areas,' the
Texas Military Department tweeted from an account that links to the official site, which represents the Texas Army National Guard, the Texas Air National Guard, and the Texas State Guard."
"We’ve all seen plenty of heartbreaking images from Texas this
weekend, as vicious floods continue to destroy lives and property in the
wake of Hurricane Harvey. But some of the most chilling footage has
been taken from the sky, as hobby drones in the region document the
devastation that’s still taking place.
Modern technology like
social media and smartphone cameras now bring images of natural
disasters to people around the world in an instant. And with this
decade’s rise of drones, the bird’s eye view has become nearly as
ubiquitous as any other."
So to document the flood, drones are almost essential. But they can get in the way of rescue flights. What to do? Coordination seems to be the only way around that. I'm not sure the best way has been found yet.
"According to media reports, the logger became trapped when a tree
fell onto his hand. Due to the geography of the environment, Danville
Life Saving Crew opted to launch their recently-acquired drones. DLSC
assistant director Bryan Fox told news outlets his crew had recently
become certified as drone pilots, and seized the opportunity to utilize
the new tool.
While responding to the call, members of the
Danville Life Saving Crew constructed a strategy of how to rescue the
injured logger. When rescue efforts began, Fox piloted a drone to safely
guide the rescue boat to the worker. Due to heavy amounts of debris and
rocks, the drone was able to see what the boat operators were not. The
drone was also used to help guide members up the embankment."
Now that will catch on I'm sure. A search and rescue guy here told me, though, that they don't plan on using drones for some kind of legal liability reason.
"Quick-thinking pilots were forced to perform evasive maneuvers
to avoid colliding with a multi-rotor drone while preparing to land at
Israel's Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv.
The
plane, with up to 180 passengers, was en route from Romania when the
incident occurred and, thanks to the actions of the pilots, made a safe
landing."
"Weighing 50kg, TIKAD is capable of flying anywhere between 30 and 1,500
ft and can carry a wide arrangement of semi-automatic weapons plus a
40mm grenade launcher. It’s built with proprietary recoil stabilisation
technology, offers high levels of accuracy (well, you’d hope so) and is
completely remotely operated."
I dunno. This is probably inevitable. But like so many products, the military always wants to weaponize everything.
"The
Pentagon has issued new guidelines giving the military the go-ahead to
down drones flying near or over select US military bases.
The
guidance was issued to domestic military installations Friday following
classified guidelines that were first issued in July by then-Deputy
Defense Secretary Bob Work. Friday's guidance was designed to help bases
communicate with local communities about the new restrictions."
So idiots will lose their drones. That's a good start.
"A drone caused travel chaos and forced Sweden's busiest airport to halt
air traffic for security reasons between around 3.50pm and 4.50pm on
Monday, authorities said.
During this time, two incoming flights warned they were low on fuel and
were therefore given permission to land despite no other planes being
allowed to land or take off.
Emergency services, ambulance and police were called to the runway as a matter of routine, but both planes landed normally. "
"Whispercam Training is approved by the CAA as a Full
Category UK National Qualified Entity (NQE). Under this approval,
Whispercam Training can offer all the components of training and
assessment required by:
pilots seeking the necessary evidence of competence to fly commercially, and
operators wishing to gain their Permission for Commercial Operations from the CAA (previously referred to as a PFAW, now PFCO).
The
training and assessment covers Knowledge, Practical Flight, Operations
Manual and Application for the Permission. In other words, everything
required to demonstrate both the required competency to be a pilot as
well as the process required to obtain a PFCO."
I don't think UK and US rules are a lot different. Good to see somebody helping with the licensing though.
"UAVUS is the largest association of professional unmanned aerial
vehicle operators in the United States. Our 5,000-plus members are
leaders in the fields of aerial cinematography, precision agriculture,
infrastructure inspection, real estate marketing, search and rescue, and
more."
"CICADA is a concept for a low-cost, GPS-guided, micro disposable air vehicle that can be deployed in large numbers to 'seed' an area with miniature electronic payloads.
Regarding their low cost, Evan Ackerman in IEEE Spectrum,
said, 'They can carry a small sensor payload, and they're designed to be
cheap enough that you can use a whole bunch of them all at once.'
Another factor weighing in is a 3D-printed fuselage, which minimizes the
amount of hands-on assembly time required, he wrote.
'These little guys cost about US $250 each,' said Ackerman."
This doesn't explain quite what the value of such a system would be.
"A drone carrying a grenade infiltrated an ammunition dump in Ukraine,
setting off an explosion that caused an astounding billion dollars worth
of damage. The incident points to the growing use of drones in wartime,
particularly off the shelf civilian products harnessed to conduct
sabotage and other attacks.
Ukraine's domestic intelligence service, the SBU, believes that a drone
carrying a Russian thermite hand grenade caused a series of titanic
explosions at Balakliya, a military base in Eastern Ukraine. Amateur
video of the incident posted on YouTube shows a raging fire spewing out
of control artillery rockets, and an explosion and shockwave that sent
civilians nearby reeling."
Here in the Black Hills is the abandoned town of Igloo, where the US military stored ammunition in separate bunkers for this very reason.
"At the Office of Naval Research’s annual Science and Technology Expo
on Friday in Washington, D.C., a development team from Rutgers
University demonstrated the unusual quadcopter, which can swim at depths
of up to 10 meters, then seamlessly launch to the surface and soar into
the air.
The drone, developed with sponsorship from the Office of Naval
Research, shows promise as a tool for mine countermeasures and port
security, to name a few possibilities."
"The last, few years, air drones have been widely known as they are
remote-controlled, flying devices that are capable of filming and
photographing while being on the air. Make it extreme team gives its own
solution to the problem of the annoying drones that are flying in
private places in this video.
Although, we have seen various
mechanisms instead of drones, our construction is unique and maybe it is
the first homemade, anti-drone gun. Initially, our thought was simple,
to create a gun with four barrels which would shoot a net with the help
of compressed air and it would trap this flying device. "
"Drones will have to be registered and users will have to sit safety awareness tests under new rules to better regulate their growing use, the government announced today (22 July 2017).
Owners of drones weighing 250 grams [8.8 ounces] and over will in future have to
register details of their drones to improve accountability and encourage
owners to act responsibly.
Users may be able to register online or through apps, under plans
being explored by the government. The move follows safety research that
concluded drones could damage the windscreens of helicopters."
that includes some mighty small quadcopters. the DJI Spark weighs about 300 grams (10.5 ounces). But as they get more sophisticated and capable, perhaps that is a good cutoff point.
I'm very happy with my Spark so far. I really just want to use it for taking video and photos, so i don't need speed or distance. It handles pretty well in a wind, and is rock solid at hovering. After flying my 7-year old quadcopter, this is like child's play.
It took a bit to set everything up, since you have to get the controller (yes, get the controller), the phone, and the quadcopter to communicate. But after that things were fine. No issues so far.
"Pushing the technology that goes into the DRL’s Racer3 to its limits,
those same engineers recently designed and built a high-performance
racing craft called the DRL RacerX. Weighing just 800 grams (1.7
pounds), the RacerX is powered by a pair of 1,300 mAh batteries and four
electric motors that can each hit speeds of up to 46,000 RPMs."
"At an Air Force Association breakfast Tuesday, Gen. Mike Holmes, commander of Air Combat Command, said a pilot in a Lockheed Martin (LMT)
F-22 had a 'near collision with a small UAS' while trying to land. He
said that a hobbyist was most likely flying the unmanned aerial system,
but warned 'you never know.'
'Imagine a world where somebody flies a couple hundred of those and
flies one down the intake of my F-22s with just a small weapon on it',
he said.
In April, the Federal Aviation Administration banned drone flight
over 133 military bases, and Holmes said there are signs around bases
that say it's a 'no-drone area.'
But that has done little to stop drones from wandering into military
airspace. Holmes said that in a separate incident last week, a drone
flew over a gate at another base."
"Authorities believe that Causey—who was sentenced to life in prison for holding a lawyer named Jack Swerling and his family hostage in 2002—orchestrated the whole thing using a cellphone he smuggled into the maximum security prison.
'We
100 percent know a cellphone was used, or multiple cellphones were
used, while he was incarcerated,'South Carolina Department of
Corrections director Brian Stirling said at a news conference on Friday. 'And we believe a drone was used to fly in the tools that allowed him
to escape.'
It's still unclear how Causey managed to get ahold of
all those items. It does, however, seem like he's gotten slightly better
at breaking out from behind bars since his last attempt in 2005."
"The ordinance, which was developed by
the city’s Public Safety Committee and passed first reading Monday
night, notes it is being enacted 'to protect the health and safety of
all persons lawfully within the city or city airspace and to prevent
damage to persons and property.'
If
approved by the commission on second reading July 17, the ordinance
would make it unlawful to operate a drone over the protected airspace
within the area designated by the 1961 National Historic Landmark
District, which spans the entire downtown...
Under the ordinance, modeled after one enacted by Aberdeen, drone use
would be allowed with permits from the Federal Aviation Administration,
Deadwood City Commission, chief of police, public works director or fire
chief and does not preclude use by law enforcement agencies, or federal
or state agencies."
FAA rules already say you can't fly over people. But this gives local police authority over drones that will be more clear and helpful.
"Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office says they’ve made an arrest in the case of a drone that forced aircrews fighting the Goodwin Fire to be grounded.
Gene Alan Carpenter, a 54-year-old resident of Prescott Valley, was
arrested and charged with 14 counts of endangerment, all felonies, and a
count of unlawful operation of an unmanned aircraft, which is a
misdemeanor.
A news release from YCSO said that on Wednesday, June 28, a drone
began circling one of the airplanes that was battling the Goodwin Fire.
Because of that intrusion, the plane left the area, leaving ground crews
unprotected. Those ground crews had to disengage from fighting the fire
and all aircraft were grounded for nearly an hour."
"The Islamic State (IS) group is using drones rigged with munitions
in the battle for the eastern Syrian city of Raqqa, a FRANCE 24 team
inside the jihadist group’s highly dangerous self-proclaimed capital
discovers."
"
Dr Susan Graham has helped build a drone system that can scan the
land, identify ideal places to grow trees, and then fire germinated
seeds into the soil.
Drones can plant in areas previously impossible to reach, like steep hills.
Key points:
The drone system fires germinated seeds into soil
Drones can plant in areas previously impossible to reach, like steep hills
The technology could also help rehabilitate land once used by mines
"The tower allows drones to fly in and out, acting like a giant beehive,
with robotic arms that help snatch them out of the sky. Inside, the core
features layers of spokes around one central hub. The spokes are
specialized for various purposes, like repairing the drones, or loading
them with goods.
Elevator systems move drones to their launch
points along the building’s facade–robots do not appear to fly around
the skyscraper like insects in this patent description–but air is
channeled upwards through the building to reduce damage to any
incidental falling drones."
"The drone crashed while returning to the North
and was found equipped with a camera and aerial photographs of a U.S.
anti-missile defense system site in a southern region of South Korea,
South Korean officials told a briefing."
I wonder if they made this themselves? Commercial product?
"This video, captured
at Rally Italia Sardegna, shows a low flying drone hovering over Micky's
jump on the Monte Lerno stage of the race. Toyota driver Esapekka
Lappi, who finished fourth overall in the race, nails the jump
perfectly, gets some awesome airtime and then smashes the drone's camera
to pieces, on his return back to earth."
"Seven young girls from Spain filed a police report saying they were
recorded by a drone while basking naked on the deck of a boat in
Mallorca.
According to the complaint, several Spanish outlets reported,
they were spending their Saturday catching up on a boat owned by one of
them – five of them sunbathing naked on the deck – when they noticed a
drone buzzing around. At one point, the complaint reportedly states, the
drone came 'right on top' of the girls and kept changing positions, all
the while with the red recording light on."
"Take Sunday’s baseball game between the Arizona Diamondbacks and the
San Diego Padres at Petco Field. In the seventh inning, TV commentators
spotted a GoPro Karma drone, with footage showing it buzzing about
inside the venue.
'We have a drone that is flying in over the seats right now, it’s
making its way behind the Diamondback dugout at third base,' the
commentator said, quipping, 'I’m pretty sure the Russians have something
to do with this.'”
I hope the penalties for doing such stupid things go up, because obviously idiots still think it's fine to do this stuff.
"Keen to press ahead with countermeasures, a British prison this week
switched on a newly installed 600-meter-high (about 2,000 feet) 'drone
shield' that’s designed to detect and block drones that fly close to its
perimeter. It’s thought to be the first prison in the world to use such
a shield.
The 'Sky Fence' is the work of U.K. firms Drone Defence and Eclipse
Digital Solutions and it’s been set up at Les Nicolles prison on the
southern British island of Guernsey.
The system incorporates a number of signal disruptors placed around
the perimeter as well as inside the prison grounds. When it detects a
drone flying close by, it jams the signal between the drone and the
pilot, thereby preventing it from completing its mission. The technology
in its current form returns the drone to where it took off, which may
give alerted security guards a chance to apprehend the offender and
seize the contraband.
The cost of installing the technology is put at 100,000 to 250,000
British pounds ($130,000 to $325,000), depending on the size of the
prison."
This will be an endless game of offense vs. defense. Some commentor suggested maybe a net over the place would just be a bit cheaper.
"The Federal Aviation Administration’s requirement that hobby drone
users register their devices was struck down in an appeals court Friday.
The
U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled in
favor of John Taylor, a drone hobbyist who had challenged the legality
of the FAA’s drone-registration program.
The program, which was instituted in December 2015,
required hobby drone owners to register through an FAA website for a $5
fee. Drone hobbyists were then issued a unique identification, which
they were required to mark on their drones. Within the first month, nearly 300,000 drone owners had registered."
Actually, I thought registration was a good idea. We'll see where this goes.
"NYFD’s interest in drone technology was initially sparked by the 2014
East Harlem gas explosion which killed eight. A local sent up his
personal drone which captured an excellent overview of the scene. Two
years of research and development later, the NYFD had its own."
Well duh. When you have a cheap observer that can flit about above from all angles, of course you can see better what it going on.
"Indeed, Jones watched as his beloved drone came plummeting straight down
onto the property of the Coalfield Seventh Day Adventist Church—right
next to a neighbor’s home, where young children were playing in the
backyard.
'It didn’t hit the ground as hard as it could have,'
Jones said. 'When it hit, it broke the left landing gear arm, snapped
the molding
off the Inspire. But it was still running. Didn’t damage batteries,
rotors were intact. Everything was fine, except the left rear motor with
a bullet hole in it.'
Jones became the fourth reported drone shooting incident that Ars has been made aware of in nearly two years."
If
you're going to fly your drone around your neighborhood, it might be
neighborly just to let your neighbors know, in case they might have an
issue. And be armed.
"Amid concerns about Islamic State’s use of weaponized hobbyist
drones, the US military is testing a laser weapon designed to take out
the aerial menace, and small enough to be mounted on a Stryker armored
vehicle.
The
Mobile High Energy Laser (MEHEL) fires a 5-kilowatt beam that can either
scramble the drone’s circuits and sever its communications with ground
control – a 'soft kill' – or destroy it outright in a 'hard kill,' according to the military publication Stars and Stripes.
Vehicles
equipped with the MEHEL took part in the 10-day Maneuver Fires
Integration Experiment exercises at Fort Sill, Oklahoma last week. A
total of 50 drones were shot down, some just a few seconds after being
engaged, Army spokeswoman Monica Gutherie said."
"An aerial drone crashed through a window on the 23rd floor of Buffalo City Hall.
No one was in the office when the craft landed in an office late
Wednesday afternoon after workers had gone home for the day, police
said.
Its operator didn't even know what happened to the drone and later called police asking if anyone had found it."
See, you don't want any Joe-off-the-street flying these things in town. They should be licensed and trained first.
"BENTON, La. (AP) -
It was night, and three runaways were hiding in woods. A sheriff's
deputy put up a drone with a thermal imaging camera, and found them
within a minute.
Two were quickly detained. The camera showed that the third ran through the woods and crossed Interstate 20 in the dark."
"'In fact,' he went on to say, 'we have a very close ally of ours that
was dealing with a adversary using small quadcopter UASs, and they shot
it down with a Patriot missile.' The problem, he said, wasn’t
effectiveness: the tiny drone didn’t stand a chance — the issue is
economics. The situation showed: whoever was flying the drone now knows
that they can easily undermine this unnamed ally with the missiles. All
they need to do is buy more cheap drones and fly them, running up the
operational costs of that military."
I wonder how high the drone was? And what it was made out of? Curious minds...
" Reports of errant drone flights—a handful of which were crashes or
near misses with planes or helicopters—rose more than 50 percent from
January through September 2016 compared to the same period a year
earlier. There were 1,367 drone-safety reports to the FAA in that
nine-month period, according to the agency.
While the research is
still under FAA review, there are early indications of at least one
piece of good news for the industry: When small consumer drones made of
plastic strike an object like a human head, they tend to break apart,
lessening the impact, according to David Arterburn, a researcher at the
University of Alabama in Huntsville.
Arterburn heads the FAA’s research effort to determine how badly a
drone would hurt a person, and whether it’s possible to create a class
of vehicle that’s so light and soft they aren’t a hazard. The group
conducted its crash tests on dummies last summer at Wichita State
University in Kansas."
Looks like some useful research. And fun. But also remember this video;
"And now the PowerUp FPV,
a $200 drone, enters the pantheon of paper airplanes. This one comes
with eight high-quality pieces of black, German-made origami paper, a
twin prop that slides over the creases, and a camera mounted module over
the top that sends a live video feed to your phone, and records it on a
micro SD Card.
The plane can be launched via a 'throw to fly'
mode, where you launch it like a standard paper airplane. That forward
motion kicks the motors on—or, well, it should, I could never get this
to work right, but my son had no problem. A more consistent takeoff
maneuver is to throttle up the propellers first, give it a gentle toss,
and away it goes. "
This is one of the most inventive drones I've seen. You can attach the motor/camera section to any plane design you want. pretty cool.
"FORT HUACHUCA - The Shadow RQ-7Bv2 unmanned aircraft which lost
connectivity with the ground station here Jan. 31 was found today by a
hiker in the mountains west of Evergreen, Colorado.
No one was injured, but the aircraft has sustained damage.
Soldiers
from Fort Carson, Colorado, along with Clear Creek County and Jefferson
County, Colorado, Sheriff Departments are currently assisting with
security and recovery efforts."
If the trajectory was straight then this is a simple case of a wayward drone. If the trajectory was not straight then more investigation is needed. The article does not say.
"A GoPro drone crashed through a Manhattan woman’s 27th-floor
window and landed just feet from her as she sat in her living room
enjoying a quiet evening at home, police sources said Sunday.
The 66-year-old resident was working on her computer inside
the East River high-rise when the hobby craft smashed through the window
at around 5:45 p.m., according to the sources."
"A small update to my neighbor flying his drone in my backyard and attacking my dog:
I was served a summons by a Sheriff's Deputy, neighbor decided to
take me to Small Claims over his drone. My MIL is a paralegal secretary,
so I was able to get a free consultation with a lawyer where she works
to ask some questions about what to bring and how to prepare. He seemed
genuinely amused that my neighbor was even trying to sue. He also
suggested I counter sue and how I could possibly add in more damages...
I brought both police reports to court, as well as several photos of my
backyard, photos of our shared 8' high privacy fence, medical bills for
my dog, and a few short videos I had of him doing fly bys over my dog
in the past. His main argument to the judge was that I "maliciously
installed a table to allow my dog to jump high enough to catch his
drone, which I (somehow) trained him to do". Which, yes I had recently
bought a new picnic table, but only so I have somewhere to sit and eat
outside. I argued that his flying was causing my dog anxiety and that's
what provoked it, and thanks to y'alls advice, that my dog could have
potentially died from ingesting part of the drone or if the drone hit
him. In the end, he now has to pay me just under $2,000 for various vet
bills (xrays, dental exams, sedation, medication etc). He is also banned
from flying over my property, and I installed trail cams front and back
yards just in case. He seems pretty upset with me, so I wanted to be
careful."
Jeezo. Some people think they can fly over anything at any time. These are the people who make it tough for the rest of us.
"Priced at $3,300 for sale in the US on its own and for $8,300 as a
kit, the Matrice 100 is not exactly in the price range of most military
drones. But it is capable of 35 minutes of flight time per battery and
has enough power to carry up to 1.2 kilograms of additional payload—as
well as UART interfaces to plug in accessories like bomb release servos.
The IS has been fairly aggressive in its use of drones, particularly
DJI Phantom drones equipped with single bombs loaded in improvised
cup-based bomb bays. Many of them have dropped bombs with plastic tails made with a CNC milling machine, as the open source intelligence site Bellingcat reports."
"JACKSON, Wyo. -- A man with a drone caused 1,500 elk to stampede half a mile, wildlife refuge officials say.
The stampede happened Monday at the National Elk Refuge in western Wyoming. Elk and bison often congregate at the refuge to eat feed put out to help them survive the winter."
"Xcel Energy announced today a partnership with the Federal Aviation
Administration to research the safe operation of drone technology to
inspect critical infrastructure.
The agreement involves using unmanned aircraft systems to inspect more than 20,000 miles of Xcel Energy transmission
lines in 10 states. The data collected from diverse climates,
conditions and geographies will be used by the federal agency to secure
the nation’s airspace now and in the future."
This seems like a really good use for quadcopters. You can get within feet of a power line and not be in any danger.
The March 2017 issue of Wired magazine has an article on Sky Net, which is a company trying to build a defense against "potentially dangerous drones."
"Over five months in late 2015 and early 2016, the FAA reported 582 incidents of a drone getting close to an aircraft or posing a risk of collision." So because we have stupid drone pilots who won't obey the rules, we need Sky Net.
The system uses radar jamming, which of course is a problem if you also wipe out legal stuff going on behind your target. Interesting article.
"Residents of the city of Dubai are reportedly getting a
new toy this summer: a autonomous quadcopter drone capable of carrying
passengers. According to a report from the Associated Press, the head of Dubai’s Roads & Transportation Agency announced it would be testing the single-person quadcopter, made by Chinese drone company Ehang, as (in the words of the AP) a 'transport alternative.'
The drone in question was on display at an event during
the World Government Summit, but attendees dismissed it as 'just another
curiosity,' says the AP, until Road & Transportation head
Mattar Al Tayer announced: 'This is not only a model [...] We have
actually experimented with this vehicle flying in Dubai's skies.' Al
Tayer then said the craft would be flying by the summer, but did not
give any other details."
"Just in case you were worried that the robot uprising was delayed,
fear no more. It appears to be right on time, as these fire-spewing
drones are sent to burn off trash that gets stuck on high-voltage wires.
The
drones are being used by an electric power maintenance company in China
to get rid of plastic bags and other debris that get caught in places
that are hard to reach with a human in a cherrypicker."
I could imagine this going after a wasp nest or something too.
"The drone videotaped people
in their bathroom or bedrooms in the city of Orem, investigators said.
One apparent target who spotted the tiny machine outside of his bathroom
window chased it in his truck and grabbed it when it landed. He found several videos of people on the drone’s photo card and delivered it to police in December, investigators told the Salt Lake Tribune.
'The citizen who located the
drone was familiar with drones and had a similar one himself'
according to a search warrant unsealed this week in court, the Desert
News reported. 'There [were] multiple videos
recording individuals inside their residences through windows. Some of
the recordings were multiple stories high in apartment complexes.'
The cops posted a photo of
the drone on their Facebook page along with a grainy picture of a man,
his face disguised by police, apparently operating the controls for the
eye-in-the-sky lifted from the drone photo card."
Tools can be used for good and bad. that's why you need rules. I wonder how much of this goes on unnoticed?
"A British drone operator has won a contract to inspect rigs operated by one of the world’s largest oil producers. Sky Futures Ltd. will deploy drones at Eni S.p.A.
facilities as part of a global three-year contract. The company expects
airborne analysis and visualization technology to help improve safety
by forecasting issues before they occur."
Nice to see that drones are finally being used in proper places. This will grow, of course.
"One of the secret to Intel’s Shooting Star program is a desktop
software suite of programs. The drones’ routes are pre-programmed and
each drone does its own thing. The drones do not talk to each other and
they lack the hardware to detect collisions. The software determines
routes that eliminates collisions.
The drones are simple. They’re about the weight of a volleyball. The
housing is Styrofoam and there are simple metal cages around the four
props. They are designed to be assembled in less than 15 minutes and
Intel builds the drones in a facility in Germany. There are no screws
and everything snaps together. And then on the bottom of the drone is
the large, multicolored LED light that paints the sky."
I should think if they could talk or at least relate to each other, like a flock of birds, that would be better. Maybe that's still to come.
"The Advanced Ballistics Concepts SKYNET projectiles are designed to
defeat the threat of privacy invasion by unwanted drones. The company
has produced 12-gauge shotgun rounds for law enforcement and civilians
to use against unwanted aerial intruders. For law enforcement only, the
company also provides a 40mm launch able round with a greater expanded
radius."
All you need is a shotgun and good aim, and a low-flying drone.
"The Aerial Platform Supporting Autonomous
Resupply Actions (APSARA) systems are a heavy-duty cardboard gliders
that can be deployed from an aircraft like a C-17 cargo plane, by the
hundreds. Star Simpson, hardware developer on the project, tells us that
they can then glide up to around 55 mi (88 km) away from the drop
point, before circling in and making a precise landing with the cargo in
tow.
'We have done tests releasing our
aircraft from 1,000 ft (304 mt) and proved their ability to turn at
waypoints and to land within close range of a specific location,'
Simpson tells New Atlas.
Once the goods have arrived, the drones biodegrade in a matter of days."
I've read of drones being flown over difficult terrain to deliver blood to rural areas, then they fly back. This one-way system also seems useful for delivering supplies in hard to reach areas.
"PIERRE | A measure that would clarify
that drones weighing less than 55 pounds would not have to be
registered with the state was moved out of the Senate Transportation
Committee on Wednesday morning.
State
Transportation Secretary Darin Bergquist said that although estimates
indicate there are 6,000 drones in South Dakota, most of them
recreational, the department doesn’t have an interest in trying to track
them.
Federal regulations
require that drones between 0.55 and 55 pounds be registered. That
involves a fee of $25, plus 4 percent of the cost of the drone,
Bergquist said.
Nobody spoke against the measure, which now advances to the full Senate."
"During the test, three F/A-18 Super Hornets spit out more than
100 tiny Perdix drones, which then linked up with each
other to collectively make decisions and fly in formation.
'Due to the complex nature of combat, Perdix are not
pre-programmed synchronized individuals, they are a collective
organism, sharing one distributed brain for decision-making and
adapting to each other like swarms in nature,' SCO Director
William Roper said in a statement.
'Because every Perdix communicates and collaborates with every
other Perdix, the swarm has no leader and can gracefully adapt to
drones entering or exiting the team.'”
Swarms can make grids that act as barriers too. This is a wide open field for testing.
"The incident marks the third time that a drone has been recovered on the property, according Space Needle CEO Ron Sevart.
'It looks like the drone tractor beam we installed on
the Space Needle is working,' Sevart joked, in a press release cited by
Q13 Fox.
This is not the first time that a wayward drone has hit the headlines. Last year, for example, a man was arrested for crashing his drone into the Empire State Building. In 2015 a quadcopter drone that crashed into the White House lawn sparked a security lockdown and Secret Service investigation."
Bad pilots, not following the rules. I hope he lost his quad if he didn't have permission to fly there.
"Lily Robotics stormed into the world with a follow-along camera drone that earned $34 million
in pre-orders. But the company has now admitted that it can't deliver
the product, and will wind down in the near future. In a blog post,
co-founders Antoine Balaresque and Henry Bradlow explained that they've
run out of money."
"GoPro has mostly been silent about its Karma drone's return following a recall in November, but it's finally ready to start talking... well, almost. The action camera maker has revealed
that it will detail the Karma's worldwide relaunch sometime in early
February. GoPro isn't saying much at this point, but it's close to
completing its investigation of the Karma's power loss issues and
expects the robotic flyer to hit shelves in 2017."
I'm still torn between whether to get the Karma or the Mavic. I like the Karma's features more, but would probably really miss having the crash avoidance feature on the Mavic.
"In the past, ISIL has used drones in Iraq and Syria for general
intelligence-gathering, as spotters for mortar firing, and even for
filming propaganda videos. Soldiers have regularly spotted these drones
over army positions on the outskirts of Mosul, prompting bursts of
gunfire skywards.
But there is a fresh threat, Saadi said: ISIL has begun to use the
drones themselves as weapons. 'They also use a new tactic, where the
drone itself has a bomb attached to it,' he explained."
ISIL is making their own larger drones now as well as using store-bought quadcopters and such. It seems like the time has already arrived that when going to war, you bring your drones.
"And now the PowerUp FPV,
a $200 drone, enters the pantheon of paper airplanes. This one comes
with eight high-quality pieces of black, German-made origami paper, a
twin prop that slides over the creases, and a camera mounted module over
the top that sends a live video feed to your phone, and records it on a
micro SD Card.
