Table of Contents

News for Week of 06-11-2018

Drone NewsBytes

Flying car startup backed by Google founder offers test flights

Test flights by first-timers were over water, with the top speed limited to 32 kilometers per hour (20 mph) and the altitude to no more than three meters. The electric aircraft had 10 small lift rotors on its wings, making it capable of vertical take-off and landing like a helicopter.

Ever wanted to try drone surfing?

Using an Alta, drone Freefly Systems demonstrates how you can surf while being towed by a drone.

New Parrot Anafi drone is making a splash

The new Parrot Anafi drone was introduced recently and already has quite a few reviews out for it. The drone may not beat DJI on all its capabilities, but this drone will definitely develop its own following.

S.2836, Preventing Emerging Threats Act: Can Homeland Security Take Down Small Drones?

Senate hearing last week detailed if government divisions have the right to interfere with your drone in flight.

Rogue Drones: What Does the FAA Do to Enforce Drone Laws? New Report from GAO Offers Insight

This article will help you understand what the FAA can and cannot do in cases of Rogue drones. They also detail out the number of actionable incidents they have had.

AT&T’s All-Weather Drone Takes Off In Time For Hurricane Season

AT&T says the Extreme Weather Drone can withstand a tropical storm with heavy rain and wind gusts up to 50 mph. It is also able to fly in snow and extreme temperatures, ranging from below freezing to ‘sweltering’. It’s armed with a thermal imaging payload, so the drone can see through smoke, tree cover, and other obstacles.

Your Quadcopter may not survive after the French military spots it

Yet another story about militaries prepping to destroy small civilian drones. This time the french reveal their Milad mobile anti-drone system. Due to a combination of Drones used as weapons in the middle-east, as well as the terrorist events in France, this system was developed to protect sensitive sites and public events.

Smoking weed from a flying bong? Honestly?

This man decided to smoke weed from a bong while flying it atop his Mavic Pro. Didn't say it was smart but hey it's news

9 bizarre drones - From lake hoppers to web slingers

This article lists some of the more bizarre drones built over the past few years. Give you a view back into the development arc of current drones.

Saudi Arabian fashion show mocked for featuring no models

As we have reported in the past the fashion community has dabbled with drones to help sell fashion items. Last year they used drones to show purses, this year Dolce and Gabbana used drones to show off their clothing line instead of using models.

Unofficial drone flying might halt Isle of Man TT motorcycle races

Isle of Man CAA has banned the use of drones during races and practice sessions to prevent any interference with emergency and filming activity with helicopters

Aircraft regulator wans to enlist KIWI kids to help push drone safety message

The Civil Aviation Authority wants to enlist schoolchildren to help spread the message of safety with drones to adult users, in the face of a rapidly rising number of near misses with planes

Drones for good: UAV fleet to be used to combat plastic pollution plaguing the world's oceans

Plastic Tide’s drones survey beaches and bodies of water to quantify the scale of the problem. Software onboard the drones use algorithms to identify where the plastic is located. For each and every beach the team visits, they take hundreds of pictures which gives them a wealth of data they can learn from and make their algorithms more accurate at identifying plastic in images.

Company introduces a new precision landing system for commercial drones

Knowing some of these applications can filter down in to the small UAV market, this very simple technology could improve precision landing for all drones

Team Dedrone selected to compete at the Thunderdrone "Game of Drones" competition

Four of the leading anti-drone companies have teamed up to demonstrate the capabilities of a layered detection, tracking, and classification solution that defends protected airspace against all drone threats.

U.S. Officials warn Congress on risks of drones, seek new powers

David Glawe, undersecretary for intelligence and analysis at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and Hayley Chang, DHS' deputy general counsel, told the Senate committee that it needs new authority to disable or destroy threatening drones.

Parrot releases a new rolling drone with some interesting features

What happens when you take some of the best features of a flying drone and stick it in a rolling one. Parrot seems to have answered that question

Finnish Government Tests Successful Drone UTM

The program allowed the Finnish government to trial both a new drone inspection system for airport infrastructure, but also a comprehensive traffic management system that will safely integrate drones and manned aircraft within the same airspace domain.

Drone video of Aberdeen Armory fire

Eric Timmons captured the devastating fire at the Aberdeen Armory using a drone and shared it with his local news station

Aydin Buyuktas bends drone images into otherworldly urban landscapes

To create his images, Buyuktas photographs each location from several different angles with a drone and stitches his shots together using Photoshop creating unique and fascinating images.

CAAS - More foreigners caught for drone violations

The CAAS has identified that 12 visitors were caught between April last year and March this year not following the established rules in place for drones. In comparison for the entire year of 2016 they only had 3 violations.

Drone footage reveals Heron's nesting secrets

The footage of the heronry filmed at the Woodland Trust-owned Parrs Wood using a drone shows 18 nests perched in the tops of trees.It could provide a more accurate assessment of the number of nests used by herons than estimates made from the ground.These results show the actual population is double that which was previously estimated.

Drone designed to pollinate apples in the U.S

Dropcopter, which uses a drone to pollinate tree crops, successfully demonstrated its Worker-Bee pollinator at the at the 800-acre orchard, which is home to more than 350,000 trees, in Lafayette, New York.

A single drone helped Mexican police drop crime by 10%

The city’s police department claims the solitary DJI Inspire 1 Quadcopter led to more than 500 arrests and a 10 percent drop in overall crime rates, with a 30 percent drop in home robberies.Over four months, Avendaño’s department flew an average of 25 missions a day (more than 1,600 total), deciding where to fly based on 911 call volumes.

Science Panel Advises FAA to Loosen Drone Restrictions

When it came to curbing personal and recreational drone use due to the increase in near-misses between UAVs and commercial aircraft, the panel pleaded with the FAA to consider the scenario from a different point of view. “We do not ground airplanes because birds fly in the airspace, although we know birds can and do bring down aircraft,” they wrote.

Ken Videos