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Drone News for Week of September 10th 2018

Drone NewsBytes "Your Unfiltered Drone News Source"

DJI Involved in Trade Dispute with Autel Robotics

DJI, the world’s global leader and largest manufacturer of civilian drones, is apparently under threat of not selling its products within the US. It all started when a smaller rival filed a patent-infringement complaint.

Drone Crashes Inspecting Cracked Window At Sinking Millennium Tower

The aerial inspection of a cracked window at San Francisco’s tilting Millennium Tower came to a crashing halt when the drone dropped from the sky, nearly missing pedestrians below.

Battery-packed drone can fly for up to 2 hours per charge

"The US-1 is more than just a drone," said company CEO Spencer Gore. "It's the first aircraft designed properly from the ground up to be electric, using existing battery cells without compromise. It's not so much an aircraft as it is a flying battery, leveraging an energy source that doubles as its primary structure."

Drone delivers refreshments to a local golf course

Technology may be coming to a golf course near you. King's Walk in Grand Forks is the first golf course in the United States to use a drone for deliveries. With a click of a button, golfers at King's Walk Golf Course will get a food and a non-alcoholic beverage delivered to them within a minute using a drone.

Armed police swoop on man for ‘flying drone over Theresa May’s head’ as she arrives at Downing Street

Officers were seen surrounding a man operating the unmanned aircraft from St James Park, at the back of the PM’s official residence, sparking a Westminster security scare

NUAIR beginning build of UTM corridor for drone testing

Drones and planes sharing airspace in new testing arena. A major milestone for the region's NUAIR alliance as it builds the latest in test facilities for drones. To get the Unmanned Traffic Management system, UTM, off the ground NUAIR will first build a corridor 15 miles in radius near Griffiss International Airport.

Intel Drone Helping to Preserve Korean Cultural Heritage

An Intel® Falcon™ 8+ drone was used to carry out an aerial inspection and survey of Hwahongmun Gate of Korea’s Suwon Hwaseong fortress, a UNESCO World Heritage site and an important part of Korea’s culture and history.

Police stop and search powers could be extended to tackle drone use

The Home Office is consulting on proposals to bolster stop and search powers in order to allow police to be more rigorous in dealing with people who intend to use drones for illegal or disruptive purposes in the UK.

Henderson County Sheriff's Office adds drone capability

The Tyler Texas Henderson County Sheriff's Office added a high-tech drone with the latest law enforcement tools and a trained, licensed pilot. Sheriff Botie Hillhouse said the drone will be deployed during manhunts, cases of kidnapped or missing children, missing elderly people, active shooters and for post-crime scene analysis, according to the sheriff's office.

Why The Use Of Drones Still Faces Big Regulatory Hurdles

The world of aviation and aerospace is on the cusp of a revolution based on autonomous flight and drone technology. In less than a decade, traffic congestion and urban pollution could be eased by electric unmanned aircraft transporting people or products around cities.

The Army Is Trying To Develop Drones That Charge With Friggen Lasers

Tech Radar reports that could change with some new tech which would fire lasers at solar panels and charge the device mid-air from distances up to 550 yards away. It's a game-changer idea or a potentially awful one as these lasers could also accidentally melt the drone and create a flaming fireball in the sky.

Welcome to the Drone Valley

Switzerland has emerged as a leader in the research and development of drones. Insiders talk about a "Drone Valley" between the Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology in Lausanne and Zurich, which is home to 80 startups in the field.

Property mapping via drones to boost transparency: Realty experts

India's new drone regulations are set to change the landscape of the real estate sector from December, as the 3-D mapping of properties will not just become powerful tool for marketing but will further boost transparency and accountability, industry experts say.

Missing woman found in jungle by drone

A woman who was reported missing since yesterday night was found safe in a jungle behind her house in Kampung Nyior Manis here this afternoon. Officer-in-charge of Pekan Fire and Rescue Station Wan Samsul Effendi Wan Mahmud said the 31-year-old woman was found at 4.20pm with the help of a drone belonging to a member of the public.

Masters students propose canopy that uses drones to continuously adapt

Three masters students at stuttgart’s institute for computational design and construction have developed a proposal for an architectural canopy that could be reconfigured using drones. it is imagined that the canopy, which comprises modular components, could respond in real-time to the movement of the sun or other climatic conditions.

Decoding India’s new drone regulations

The current regulations are fairly comprehensive, but the authorities have called it ‘version one’ because they understand that there will be changes based on how things unfold.

Self-organization and interaction: the future of drone swarms on stage

The article presents a flocking algorithm that has been applied to large swarms of drones optimally to perform synchronized collective motion at high speeds without collision, while also avoiding obstacles. We derived a general distributed swarm control framework with many parameters. We focus on model instances instead of models.

Skydio drops the price of its R1 follow-me drone to $1,999

Today, Skydio, the company behind the camera drone R1, announced new features for its autonomous photography and video device. These include new Skills which are focused on obtaining quick, easy video clips that are optimized for sharing on social media. They can also be used as a shortcut to obtaining different angles for longer videos. These One-Shot Skills include Dronie, Boomerang, Vortex and Rocket, and Skydio has added a Stabilize option to help streamline editing shaky video.

Skydio Announces SDK to Make World’s Cleverest Drone Even Cleverer

Skydio blew our minds when they announced the R1 back in February—it’s by far the smartest, most autonomous consumer camera drone we’ve ever seen. The company promised that they’d keep on making the R1 even more capable, and today they’re announcing a slew of upgrades, including a new software development kit (SDK) that lets you leverage the R1’s obstacle-dodging cleverness in any custom application you can dream up.

Drone photographer sheds light on wealth inequality from above

While studying for a master's degree in Anthropology at the University of Cape Town in South Africa, American photographer Johnny Miller found the startling inequality impossible to ignore.

Man Vs nature: Striking aerial images document the human impact on Germany's environment

Striking bird's eye view pictures from a new book have revealed the impact humans are having on the earth's environment. The incredible aerial images show colourful tulip fields, the blackened earth around mines and brown slowly replacing green due to deforestation. Other stunning shots show other man-made structures such as dams taking over the landscape, a rusting train graveyard and pier stretching out into the ocean. The amazing photographs were taken across Germany by photographer Tom Hegen, 27, from Munich, as part of his HABITAT project.

Can Anyone Fly a Professional Drone (Simulator)?

Ben Lindbergh does not have a driver’s license and is not yet a professional drone racer. But with the help of his video game skills, he tested his pilot abilities on a real-life drone simulator, where he went through all three levels of simulator difficulty. Let’s just say things did not go well when it came to “expert” mode.

Moment police drone saves life of missing pensioner, 83, as thermal camera spots her lying in woodland

The dementia sufferer was spotted huddling for warmth in a wooded area in Corsham, Wilts - with police believing she may have died if she was not found that evening

Drones will help helicopters and ground crew inspect Eversource lines

Replacing expensive helicopters with drones seems like an obvious move for utilities that have to inspect thousands of miles of power lines every year, but even as Eversource rolls out its first drone program, it is aware the switch has limits.

City Council bill sets new ceilings on drone flight

Flying a drone illegally in Madison could now land you with up to one thousand dollars in fines from the city alone following a city council vote on new regulations Tuesday night. The new bill institutes fines for photographing or observing “another individual in a place or location where the individual has a reasonable expectation of privacy," flying a drone low enough over land or water so as “to intentionally interfere with the then existing use," endangering others or unauthorized drone landings.

Why not? Lockheed Martin jumps into drone racing.

The Bethesda-based defense contracting giant, in partnership with Drone Racing League, is challenging teams to develop an artificial intelligence technology that will enable an autonomous drone to race, and beat, a pilot-operated drone.

Man spoken to by police for flying drone 'close to bedroom windows'

The drone operator was reported to Cleveland Police on three occasions by a Coulby Newham resident who claims he saw him flying the remote control drone in the Bonny Grove Way area last weekend.

Jimmy Kimmel went on holiday and was terrified by a drone

During his opening monologue on Tuesday night's post-holidays edition of Jimmy Kimmel Live, the host shared footage from the fishing trip he took with his brother. Skip to 3:10 in the clip above for a top-down view of a man who clearly hasn't yet come to terms with the prospect of drones.

Manage a Drone from Your Helm with Raymarine Axiom app

The Raymarine Axiom app for unmanned aerial vehicles pairs with DJI Mavic Pro Drones to achieve an industry first: the ability to control a drone from a yacht’s helm through a multifunction device.

DARPA’s New Brain Chip Enables Telepathic Control of Drone Swarms

The US military’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has created a brain-computer interface that enables a person to control everything from a swarm of drones to an advanced fighter jet using nothing but their thoughts and a special brain chip.

Yuneec Expands Drone Payloads With E10T Thermal Camera

Yuneec has expanded its commercial drone payload offerings with the new E10T, an advanced thermal camera suitable for a range of applications.

A Custom Built FPV Monitor to keep the fans happy

Using a collection of off the shelf components he was able to build a very impressive monitor that lets the viewer see through the eyes of his quadcopter at less than half the cost of commercially available offerings.

Cheap FPV Goggles turned pocket sized display

[nomand] didn’t necessarily have a use for a cheap FPV headset, but he did like the idea of having a pocket sized display that he could pass off to others so they could see what he’s seeing during flights. So he harvested the principle components from a Eachine VR006 headset and designed a new 3D printed enclosure for them. The final result looks fantastic, and is much cheaper than commercial alternatives on the market.

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Australia Drone News

Eye in the sky: Drone captures Australian landscape as you’ve NEVER seen before

AWE-INSPIRING aerial images captured from a drone have revealed the secret patterns of the Australian landscape only visible from above.

Microdrones Continues Global Growth with Australian Expansion

Microdrones expanded its global footprint, with dedicated resources to support Australia, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea. The team currently consists of a sales and customer service presence and the groundwork for rapid expansion.

Australian filmmaker James Ricketson to launch formal bid for clemency with Cambodian King

Jailed Australian filmmaker James Ricketson will seek a royal pardon from the Cambodian King, instead of appealing his conviction for espionage.

AIAussie Little Ripper Drone Wins National Innovation Award

The ‘Little Ripper Drone’ surf lifesaving drone developed by Westpac Rescue and The Ripper Group has been recognised by the Australian Information Industry Association at their annual iAwards for innovation.

Drone technology out of Australia could help keep sharks away from swimmers

World first drone technology out of Australia could help keep sharks away from swimmers and surfers. The eye in the sky is fitted with a SharkSpotter artificial intelligence (AI) algorithm that can distinguish dolphins from sharks from live video feeds.

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