drones
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NASA's Mars helicopter is ready for the red planet
NASA is done attaching the Mars helicopter to the Perseverance rover.
Mariella Moon04.11.2020
The Pentagon wants to catch rogue drones in nets
The Pentagon already has permission to shoot drones out of the sky if they're deemed a threat, but it's not stopping there. The Department of Defense (DoD) has signed a contract with Fortem Technologies for what the company calls Drone Hunter, an AI-enabled drone that can chase down, catch and retrieve rogue drones using a net.
Christine Fisher02.03.2020
Interior Department grounds Chinese-made drones
The reports were true: the Interior Department is grounding much of its drone fleet. It's issuing an order that bans flights for drones either made in China or with Chinese parts out of fear they could be used for spying purposes. That effectively grounds the entire fleet in principle. There will be exceptions for training as well as emergency situations like wildfire tracking and search and rescue, but day-to-day operations won't be feasible without drones made elsewhere.
Jon Fingas01.29.2020
Heathrow Airport installs anti-drone system that can locate UAV pilots
The UK knows first-hand how disruptive drones can be to major airports. Last March, it introduced legislation to widen the drone no-fly zone around airports to five kilometers. Now, to enforce the new rules, London's Heathrow Airport has installed a system to detect and identify unauthorized UAVs.
Christine Fisher01.14.2020
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.
Jon Fingas01.12.2020
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.
Georgina Torbet01.07.2020
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.
Mariella Moon12.27.2019
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.
Georgina Torbet12.13.2019
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.
Georgina Torbet11.05.2019
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.
Marc DeAngelis10.31.2019
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.
Kris Holt10.18.2019
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."
Billy Steele10.05.2019
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.
Christine Fisher09.13.2019
'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.
Amrita Khalid09.13.2019
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.
Amrita Khalid07.31.2019
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.
Christine Fisher07.19.2019
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.
Christine Fisher07.16.2019
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.
Amrita Khalid07.16.2019
'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.
Steve Dent07.16.2019
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.
Christine Fisher07.09.2019