drones
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US may permanently ground civilian drone program over China fears
The US Interior Department's decision to halt a civilian drone program might not be so temporary. Financial Times sources claim the department plans to permanently end use of nearly 1,000 drones after determining there was too high a risk of the Chinese government using them for spying purposes. While there reportedly isn't a final policy, Interior Secretary David Bernhardt would once more limit uses to emergency situations like firefighting.
Sunflower's $9,950 security drone aims to protect your home autonomously
Home security technology usually takes the form of smart cameras or intruder-detecting WiFi routers, but a new system from Sunflower Labs offers a more radical solution -- and autonomous drone which oversees your property.
The FAA wants to track all drones flying in the US
The Federal Aviation Administration wants to implement new rules that would enable the remote identification and tracking of unmanned aerial vehicles or drones. Under its proposal -- available for viewing on Federal Register's website -- UAVs will be required to broadcast their location and identification info directly from the unmanned aircraft and to transmit the same information to the FAA's location tracking system via internet connection.
Engadget readers can get an exclusive discount on the DJI Mavic Mini
If you're interested in getting into drone flying but you're not sure where to start, we have a deal you'll want to hear about. Engadget is offering an exclusive discount on the DJI Mavic Mini, one of the most popular miniature drones.
UK introduces mandatory drone registration and pilot test
There have been calls for more regulation of drone flights in the UK, especially since drones caused chaos last Christmas at the country's second-busiest airport. Now, the UK's Civil Aviation Authority is requiring operators to register their drones.
Interior Department grounds drone fleet over security concerns
The US Department of the Interior has halted the use of its 800 drones, which help monitor endangered species, inspect federally protected land and fight forest fires. According to The Wall Street Journal, Interior Secretary David Bernhardt called for the fleet to be grounded this week due to concerns that the drones enable the Chinese government to spy on users. The units will remain unused, save for any emergency situations, until potential security risks are fully reviewed.
Alphabet’s Wing starts drone deliveries to US homes
Alphabet's Wing has started making deliveries by drone to homes in the US for the first time. During a pilot program in Christiansburg, Virginia, drones will drop off packages from FedEx, Walgreens and local retailer Sugar Magnolia, which include over-the-counter medication, snacks and gifts. Alphabet says it's the first commercial drone delivery service to homes in the country.
Recommended Reading: The ICE surveillance playbook
How ICE picks its targets in the surveillance age McKenzie Funk, The New York Times Through the lens of officers operating in the Pacific Northwest, The New York Times explains how Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) collects information on possible targets. That includes monitoring social media accounts and tapping into "the world's largest privately run database of license-plate scans."
Researchers are using drones to study the Amazon rainforest's health
Researchers from Harvard University are using drones to better understand the Amazon rainforest. With drone-based sensors, the researchers hope to determine the unique "fingerprint" of different rainforest ecosystems. That could help them monitor the health of the forest and understand how it's responding to climate change, deforestation and fire.
'Flying fish’ drone actually explodes out of the water
Drones that can both swim and fly are no longer in the distant future. Imperial College London's Aerial Robotics Lab built a concept for multimodal swimming robot it calls AquaMAV that can jump out of water. The scientists behind AquaMAV presented their findings in a paper published this week in Science Robotics.
FAA's new B4UFLY app makes it easier to know where drones are allowed
The FAA's free app that kept drone pilots aware of "no fly zones" performed a much-needed service -- but had few fans. The federal agency teamed up with drone software maker Kittyhawk to create a new version of the B4UFLY app that is being released today. The revamped app makes use of Kittyhawk's airspace controller, Dynamic Airspace, to manage real-time flight restrictions, authorizations and guidance.
Parrot plans to retire its Mambo and Swing drones
Drone company Parrot, maker of the Anafi 4K folding drone, is reportedly leaving the mini-drone market. This week, Wirecutter confirmed that Parrot is retiring its Mambo and Swing drones, and supposedly, websites like Amazon have been slowly running out of stock.
Alphabet's Wing introduces an air traffic control app for drones
This spring Alphabet subsidiary Wing LLC became the first drone delivery company to receive FAA certification, and the company has successfully launched drone delivery service in Australia and Helsinki. Now, with more drones in the sky, it needs a way to keep them safe. Today, Wing formally introduced its OpenSky app, which could serve as an air-traffic control system for drones.
MIT is testing drones that can switch between hovering and gliding
There are two types of drones: fixed-wing models that look like airplanes and multicopters that resemble hovering squares. A group of MIT scientists have designed a new platform that lets users combine the best of both worlds and create their own hybrid, fixed-wing drones. The end result is a drone that can both hover like a helicopter and glide like an airplane.
'Flying saucer' drone can fly twice as long as regular models
The biggest problem with drones is their lack of endurance, but Swiss researchers have developed a new model that helps reduce that problem. Eschewing the regular four blade design, EPFL startup Flybotix's drone has just two propellers, letting it fly twice as long as regular models. It's just as easy to pilot as a standard UAV, but the increased longevity and small size makes it ideal for inspecting dangerous areas or doing search and rescue in a collapsed building, for instance.
The UK's high-energy lasers could zap drones and missiles out of the sky
The UK wants to take down enemy drones and missiles with high-energy light beams. The Ministry of Defense (MOD) announced that it's developing laser and radio frequency weapons. Referred to collectively as Direct Energy Weapons (DEW), they're powered by electricity, operate without ammunition and are fueled by a vehicle's engine or a generator.
US Navy's next-gen helicopter drone is ready for service
It took a few years, but the US Navy's beefier Fire Scout helicopter drone is finally ready for action... more or less. The military branch has declared that Northrop Grumman's MQ-8C has reached "initial operational capability," or the minimum state it needs to enter service. The new, Bell 407-based variant is considerably larger than its 8B predecessor, but it's also more capable. The 8C can last roughly twice as long in the air at 12 hours on station, and carry roughly three times the payload -- 701lbs, to be exact. It also packs new radar with a larger field of view and more modes, including air-to-air targeting.
Russia says it will give soldiers bomb-carrying drones
Never mind using small drones for battlefield recon -- if Russia has its way, they'll be another part of the arsenal. The country's Defense Ministry recently told Izvestia that it's not only outfitting platoons with small drones, but will eventually outfit these drones with weapons. There are already "miniature bombs" in development, the Ministry said. The move was apparently a response to experiences in Syria, where ISIS tried attacking a Russian base with commercial drones (such as the one pictured above) modified to carry explosives.
Uber Elevate plans to deliver Big Macs by drone this summer
Move over, Uber Eats. Uber Elevate plans to deliver food via drone as early as this summer. To start, the service will be available in San Diego, and since Uber has been working closely with McDonalds, it will likely be optimized for things like Big Macs and fries.
DJI drones will detect and warn of airplanes and helicopters
DJI has announced that all its consumer drones over 250 grams will use "AirSense" tech to help operators see and avoid airplanes and helicopters. They'll be equipped with so-called ADS-B sensors already installed in many aircraft and air traffic control (ATC) towers. Drone pilots will be able to see air traffic on their controllers and take evasive action if the system will warns of any potential collisions. "ADS-B was designed for airplanes and helicopters, but already there are more drones in the sky than any of them," said DJI VP of policy Brendan Schulman.
