SmartDrone101: October 2016

Monday, October 31, 2016

Drone USA, Inc. Enters into Agreement to Test All Classes of UAVs at the Santa Maria Airport in the Azores Arquipelago, Portugal

Drone USA
October 3, 2016

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Drone USA, Inc. (OTC Markets:DRUS) (“Drone USA” or the “Company”), a developer and manufacturer of low altitude Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (“UAV”) and related technologies, today announced that the Company has entered into an agreement with the Portuguese Government (Secretaria do Mar, Ciência e Tecnologia -“SMCT), the national aviation authority of Portugal (Navegação Aérea de Portugal – “NAV”) and Aeroportos de Portugal (airports’ management authority – “ANA”) ; enabling the Company to fly and test UAVs at the airport of Santa Maria island, in the Azores archipelago, in Portugal.

“The speed and efficiency at which the Regional Secretary for the Sea, Science, and Technology achieved this exceptional agreement is commendable, and representative of a higher level of strategic thinking with the potential to benefit the economy of the Azores and the UAV industry.”

Michael Bannon, Drone USA’s Chief Executive Officer commented, “This agreement assures synergy and cooperation between flight operations, air traffic control, and the regional government, and is unique in terms of all the characteristics that come together to yield an optimal context for our sector. We are excited to move forward, and believe that this agreement will benefit not only the Company, but the local community as well.”

Fausto Brito e Abreu, the Regional Secretary for the Sea, Science, and Technology commented, “We are very excited with this agreement we signed with Drone USA, and I believe that the Azores offer a unique setting to test and develop UAVs, for operations over land and sea. The Azores Regional Government over the coming years will have a growing demand for these technologies, for environmental monitoring at sea, fisheries control and scientific research. Also, in 2017 we expect the Azores International Research Center (AIR Center) to be created and start its operations in oceans and climate science.”

Drone USA, Inc. is discussing a proposal to create a UAV program based on Medium Altitude, Long Endurance (MALE) systems, tailored to the specific needs of the nine-island archipelago, and aimed at creating high-tech jobs and contributing to the local economy.

The proposal will be further discussed with the regional government, as well as with governmental and military entities in Lisbon, Portugal.

The initiative intends to address multiple needs such as the enforcement of fishery regulations, search and rescue operations, disaster response, prevention of contraband, environmental protection, and scientific research. The ultimate goal is to transfer operations, maintenance, logistics, and data acquisition and exploitation to an indigenous team, thus creating high tech jobs and allowing for progressive higher levels of operational autonomy at competitive budgets.

Paulo Ferro, Drone USA’s chief strategy officer commented, “The speed and efficiency at which the Regional Secretary for the Sea, Science, and Technology achieved this exceptional agreement is commendable, and representative of a higher level of strategic thinking with the potential to benefit the economy of the Azores and the UAV industry."

About Drone USA, Inc.

Headquartered at One World Trade Center in New York, NY, Drone USA plans to become a primary developer and manufacturer of low altitude unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) and related technologies. Target markets include select defense segments (military), public safety (police, fire, emergency response), and high growth commercial applications such as agriculture, photogrammetry, mining, utilities, and entertainment. The Company seeks to strengthen its systems portfolio by acquiring UAV firms with superior technologies that are proven in high-growth markets, as well as complementary technologies such as sensors and software.

For additional information about Drone USA, please visit www.droneusainc.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements in this press release may be considered “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements may include projections of matters that affect revenue, operating expenses or net earnings; projections of growth; and assumptions relating to the foregoing. Such forward-looking statements are generally qualified by terms such as: “plans, “anticipates,” “expects,” “believes” or similar words of like kind. Forward-looking statements are inherently subject to risks and uncertainties, some of which cannot be predicted or qualified. Future events and actual results could differ materially from those set forth in, contemplated by, or underlying the forward-looking information. These factors are discussed in greater detail in the company’s business plan and filings with the OTC Markets Group.

GoPro Announces Foldable Karma Drone

UAV Coach
Alan Perlman
September 19, 2016

Today, GoPro has unveiled their foldable Karma drone, available to buy on October 23rd. It costs $799 alone, $1,099 with a Hero 5, or $999 with a Hero 5 Session.

The Karma features a detachable stabilizer that can be used to make non-aerial, handheld shots more steady. A rugged, outdoor-ready travel case is included with each Karma:

The GoPro Karma is compatible with either the HERO4 (black or silver), the HERO5 black, or the HERO5 session, the latter two products also just announced this morning.

The transmitter has an integrated FPV screen and is being positioned as extremely simple to use. At the end of the setup process, a built-in flight simulator helps to reinforce flight concepts. There are also a few auto-shot paths:

Dronie
Cable Cam
Reveal
Orbit

There’s also a “Passenger App” that lets friends see the live video and to control the camera while the Karma is in-flight.

I look forward to reading more reports about the Karma and to testing it myself this fall.

GoPro's foldable Karma drone goes on sale today

Trusted Reviews

Launch day has finally arrived for GoPro's first drone, following its introduction last month, but the company has a lot of ground to make up against its rivals.

While it may be better known for its rugged cameras, GoPro isn't content to leave the drone market to companies like DJI with its Phantom range or new small Mavic Pro, which costs a similar amount as the Karma.

At the time of writing, the UK store is still showing a 'coming soon' page, along with Karma units compatible with Hero5 and Hero4 cameras. Both models of Karma without a camera cost £719 in the UK ($799 in the US), while the 'Karma plus Hero5 Black' bundle costs £999. On its own, a Hero5 Black costs £349, so the bundle represents a saving of around £70.

The Karma's biggest competition is likely to be from the Mavic Pro, which just about tops it on paper. although both have slightly different purposes.

Nonetheless, GoPro is going to need to convince buyers that it's not just dabbling in the drone market, and that it's here to stay. Making an investment in a drone isn't a cheap endeavour, so you naturally want to make sure that the camera company that made your device is serious about the business.

The Karma's a pretty solid shot at that though.

Read more at:
http://www.trustedreviews.com/news/gopro-s-karma-drone-is-now-available-to-buy-in-the-uk#IfKjQjxiKuGDZGuT.99

As of today, it’s finally legal to fly drones commercially

The Washington Post
Brian Fung
August 29, 2016

For years, American businesses have been clamoring for the government to roll out a set of regulations for drone technology so that the companies can legally start using them for everything from agriculture to filmmaking to delivering packages.

On Monday, an important set of federal drone rules finally took effect across the country — making it possible for firms to start using drones in a limited manner. Over time, the government will write other rules that will enable the use of commercial drones even more widely. But for now, this marks a huge milestone for the industry, one that's likely to lead to big changes for business and the economy. Here's what you need to know to get up to speed:

What do these rules say?

Well, a few things. Most important are the big limitations. These rules cover commercial-purpose drones that weigh up to 55 pounds (that's inclusive of any payload they may be carrying, such as cameras or packages). The drones can be flown only during the day and can't be flown over people who aren't somehow related to the flight. They can fly only up to an altitude of 400 feet, a speed of up to 100 miles per hour and they have to stay within visual contact of the operator.

Do the pilots have to have a pilot's license?

Not necessarily. But they do have to pass a written test on aeronautical knowledge, kind of like a bigger version of the test you'd take to get a driver's license. The study guide is about 80 pages long and covers topics such as "proper radio procedure" and how temperature and humidity can affect the air in which a drone is flying.

Has the Federal Aviation Administration started granting these licenses already?

As of early Monday morning, when the rules went into effect, the FAA had received about 3,000 requests for these drone pilot certifications. That gives you an idea of how much interest there is in flying under these rules.

What's still missing as these rules go into effect?

For the purposes of typical consumers like you and me, the most important restriction is that companies still can't run what are called "beyond-line-of-sight" operations — meaning it will still be a while before companies like Amazon can officially spin up on-demand drone deliveries.

That's not to say it will never happen: Companies can apply for special testing waivers from the FAA that allow them to go farther than what the rules permit. And those are generally approved on a case-by-case basis. The FAA is also running an experimental program called Pathfinder that's looking at how companies like CNN and others can fly drones over people (for example, for newsgathering purposes) and in beyond-line-of-sight operations.

The FAA has granted 76 of these waivers. Of those, 72 had to do with flying at night, which is still prohibited under the official regulations.

Can you be penalized for not obeying the rules?

The short answer is yes — that's part of the point. According to FAA Administrator Michael Huerta, commercial pilots who fly outside the parameters of the regulations risk punishment by the agency. (For what it's worth, even private hobbyists who aren't covered by these regulations have to register their drones with the FAA or face fines.)

What's the point of commercial drones, anyway?

Beyond package delivery, companies are eager to use drones for mapping and surveying land, remotely assessing fields and crops, inspecting the integrity of cell towers and railroad tracks, shooting films and providing aerial photos of real estate. Some wireless carriers even want to use drones as flying mobile data hotspots in large stadiums or during natural disasters. You can do some of this today with helicopters, but at much greater cost.

What about privacy?

The government has published privacy guidelines for drone users. These aren't legally binding like the FAA's Part 107 rules are, but many of them just sound like common sense. For example, they recommend not flying over other people's private property without their permission, if you can avoid it. If you're taking pictures or video over someone's property, you might want to tell them before you start.

What comes next?

The FAA will design further rules that will open up the possibility of flying commercial drones over people. A draft of those is expected by year's end. And the government will make it a priority to address beyond-line-of-sight capabilities, though it's less clear when those rules may be ready.

Read more at:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-switch/wp/2016/08/29/as-of-today-its-finally-legal-to-fly-drones-commercially/

Drone Journalism Lab

dronejournalismlab.org

September 1, 2016

Links, thoughts and research into using drones, UAVs or remotely piloted vehicles for journalism at the Drone Journalism Lab at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln's College of Journalism and Mass Communications.

Announcing: The Drone Journalism Lab Operations Manual

By Matt Waite

If you’ve been paying attention to drones at all, you know this was a huge week for flying robots. The FAA’s long-awaited rules for the commercial use of small drones took effect on Monday, and thousands of would-be pilots have already taken the required test to get licensed.

It’s likely that many hundreds of the eventual thousands of licensed drone pilots will be journalists. Many of them are climbing that first hill this week and taking the test. The second big hill to climb is professionalizing operations in newsrooms.

Doing so means having written procedures and policies. And we’re here to help you get started.

Today, with support from The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, the Drone Journalism Lab is releasing its operations manual as an open source, Creative Commons-licensed document(PDF). We want the Drone Journalism Lab Operations Manual to give newsrooms across the United States and the world a foundation to work from. It covers everything from how to conduct a preflight briefing to what ethical issues you should consider before flying a drone.

The manual is a mixture of hard-earned experience in the field, requirements under the FAA’s Part 107 regulations, best practices for drone use, and methods that manned aircraft pilots use to fly airplanes. It defines three roles in each drone flight: The Pilot in Command, the only federally required role in the flight; the Observer; and the Journalist. The pilot is the responsible party under regulation. The observer is there to tell the pilot if something entered the area and is a concern. The journalist is there to ensure that what is needed for the story is being captured. A drone flight could have all three of these roles, or just the pilot. But that means the pilot is taking on extra work, which requires extra caution.

News managers need to be very clear on one thing: The Pilot in Command, by federal regulation, is the final authority on if the drone flies or not. The Pilot in Command holds the license, and will be the one punished by the FAA if something goes wrong. If a licensed drone-pilot reporter says no to a flight because it’s not safe, that’s it. End of discussion. It wouldn’t be the city editor or the news director losing a license or receiving a fine: It would be the pilot. Newsrooms with manned helicopters are used to this: If a manned helicopter pilot says no, that’s it. News managers may not see drones as aircraft and drone pilots as real pilots, but the FAA does. The manual covers all of this—and much more. We’ve made it an open document so that newsrooms can contribute their ideas and experiences back to it. We’ve hosted the document on Github, which is a social code sharing website that also works pretty well for text documents. Unfamiliar with Github but want to get involved? Open an issue, and tell us what you think we need. An old hand at Github? Fork the document and go wild. We’d love your pull request.

If you just want the manual, we’ve put PDF copies online too. The point is we really think newsrooms need written policies and procedures, and this is a good start.

For more, visit dronejournalismlab.org and follow @mattwaite on Twitter. A version of this post also appears on the Knight Foundation’s site.

Say hello to underwater drones: The Pentagon is looking to extend its robot fighting forces

LA Times

Samantha Masunaga

August 18, 2016

This fall, an unusual vessel will begin sea trials off the coast of California.

The 51-foot-long Boeing Echo Voyager will have no crew. It will glide underwater for days or weeks, quietly collecting data from the ocean floor to send back to crews on ships or on land.

Ever since the start of the war in Afghanistan in 2001, the U.S. military has relied more and more on flying drones to take on dangerous air missions. But increasingly, drones are taking to the sea as well.

The U.S. Navy has proposed about $319 million for the development and purchase of underwater drones in the president’s budget for the coming fiscal year. It envisions them stealthily gathering intelligence on opponents, detecting and neutralizing mines, hunting submarines and charting the ocean floor.

Last year, the Navy created the first deputy assistant secretary position focused on managing the development of unmanned systems, including underwater, surface and aerial efforts.

Recent advances in autonomy, data transmission and miniaturizing computing power coincide with the military’s increased interest in finding ways to integrate unmanned systems into its war planning.

In this video produced by Liquid Robotics, the company shows how its Wave Glider unmanned surface vehicle works.

It’s part of a much broader strategy to leverage artificial intelligence and stay one step ahead of rivals, as the Pentagon did with guided weapons in the 1990s.

“As tensions continue to grow with China and Russia, two militaries that have sophisticated and very large navies, there is a growing interest in making use of unmanned technology in the maritime sphere,” said Arthur Holland Michel, co-director of the Center for the Study of the Drone at Bard College in New York.

“They are scalable, they are dependable, they can operate with a fairly high degree of autonomy,” he said. “All these things would have been useful 30 years ago, but the technology wasn’t quite there.”

The potential for naval drones to operate free of human operators was shown earlier this year when the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or DARPA, unveiled its Sea Hunter, a largely autonomous, unmanned anti-submarine vessel.

The prototype, 132-foot-long Sea Hunter is designed to sail on its own for up to three months, find a submarine using sonar and other sensors, and trail it while sending location data back to human operators. The vessel completed its first performance trials off San Diego in late July, according to its builder, Reston, Va.-based Leidos.

Underwater drones face different challenges than their aerial counterparts. For one, communication is more difficult, making it hard for an autonomous vehicle to report information it might pick up underwater.

That hurdle is being worked on by Liquid Robotics, a Sunnyvale firm that makes the Wave Glider. The unmanned vehicle floats on the surface and uses wave and solar power to propel itself and its sensors for up to a year.

The surfboard-shaped drone functions as a kind of gateway between underwater acoustic communications and air-based radio transmissions. The vehicle’s sensor computer connects a surface radio modem and antenna with an underwater acoustic modem, allowing information to be transmitted quickly back and forth.

The same connection can be established with ships, though that can be expensive, or with buoys, which don’t allow for much movement.

Other underwater vehicles have towed long antennas, but that is a much slower method of transmitting data, said Graham Hine, senior vice president of global partner development at Liquid Robotics.

“We’re thinking it would be the router of the ocean,” he said. “Once you start to network things and then have ubiquitous communications and positioning, things start to get interesting.”

The Wave Glider can carry a range of acoustic sensors that listen for vessels on the sea or piece together a picture of the ocean floor.

Originally developed by company co-founders Roger Hine and Joseph Rizzi to listen to whale songs, the Wave Glider caught the interest of the Navy, which has worked with the company since 2008, Graham Hine said.

Two years ago, the company struck a partnership with Boeing Co. to develop a military version, the Sensor Hosting Autonomous Remote Craft, or SHARC, that combines the Wave Glider platform with Boeing’s sensor technology.

Boeing sees the platform as a potential communication conduit between underwater vehicles and aircraft, ships or satellites. It is working with the Navy’s research lab to develop additional capabilities for SHARC.

“Ultimately, it is a more efficient and effective way to do maritime surveillance, we think, in large ocean areas,” said Egan Greenstein, senior director of autonomous maritime systems at Boeing.

But to do a thorough job of surveillance and undersea data collection, drones need to stay submerged for weeks or even months without external help or power.

Boeing experienced this challenge first-hand when it used its Echo Ranger unmanned underwater vehicle for oil and gas surveying. The drone charged up and reported its status at a host ship, but when storms blew in all operations had to stop.

Eventually, Boeing stopped using the Ranger for that kind of commercial work.

“It was profitable while we were out doing the survey missions,” said Dan Tubbs, deputy director of Sea & Land at Boeing Phantom Works in Huntington Beach. “It was not profitable when it was in port all the time.”

In March, Boeing unveiled the 50-ton Echo Voyager, which is designed to carry out months-long surveillance and reconnaissance missions for defense, commercial and scientific customers.

Powered by a hybrid electric-battery/marine diesel system, the drone periodically surfaces to snorkel depth to recharge its batteries by raising a mast and running the diesel engines. That’s when the drone also can connect to satellite operations to transmit data to operators. It can send limited communications while submerged, but only to a nearby ship.

To bolster its endurance, the Echo Voyager has backup systems. To give it a degree of autonomy, the navigation system incorporates motion and rotation sensors, as well as sonar to avoid obstacles.

Autonomous systems have the potential to cut personnel costs, but developing them has proved to be complex and costly.

In February, the Navy canceled further production of a remote mine-hunting system developed by Lockheed Martin Corp., cutting down the expected order from 54 to 10 that had already been delivered. The system was to be used in the Navy’s new littoral combat ships, but the autonomous vehicles that towed mine-hunting sensors were unreliable.

“The autonomy side of the equation, the research is happening at a very quick pace,” said Holland Michel of Bard College. “But as you see time and time again, it’s very challenging to make unmanned systems that can make intelligent and dependable decisions on their own.”

The biggest challenge to the industry’s growth could be its lack of versatility. There are simply more applications for unmanned aerial vehicles than underwater drones, especially in the commercial market, said Michael Blades, senior industry analyst for aerospace and defense at research and consulting firm Frost & Sullivan.

“I think the market will grow steadily, but it won’t be explosive like the unmanned aerial vehicle market,” he said.

Eventually, though, the two drone worlds will merge.

In May, AeroVironment Inc. of Monrovia announced it had a contract to sell to the Navy its small, Blackwing unmanned aircraft, a single-use drone that shoots out of a tube from submarines or autonomous undersea vehicles. It sends back data, then drops into the water once it’s done.

A company spokesman said he could not comment on the size of the contract.

New rules on small drones: What you need to know

LA Times
Samantha Masunaga
August 29, 2016

For companies that want to use small drones, a new era began Monday.

That’s when rules kicked in that free them from having to request special permission from the federal government for any commercial drone endeavor — a waiver process that often took months.

Although industry experts say the Federal Aviation Administration’s new rules on commercial drones largely make it easier for companies to use the unmanned aerial vehicles, there are still a lot of constraints.

Here’s what you need to know.

What do the rules say?

Under the new commercial-drone rules, operators must keep their drones within visual line of sight — that is, the person flying the drone must be able to see it with the naked eye — and can fly only during the day, though twilight flying is permitted if the drone has anti-collision lights. Drones cannot fly over people who are not directly participating in the operation or go higher than 400 feet above the ground. The maximum speed is 100 mph.

As drones fill the California skies, lobbying efforts in a budding industry push back against drone regulations »

Drones can carry packages as long as the combined weight of the drone and the load is less than 55 pounds.

Before Monday, people needed a pilot’s license to fly a commercial drone. Under the new rules, people over age 16 can take an aeronautical knowledge test at an FAA-approved facility and pass a background check to qualify for a remote pilot certificate.

What if companies have plans that would break those rules?

Businesses can apply for a waiver of most of the operational restrictions as long as they can prove their proposal will be safe.

The FAA has already approved 76 such waivers, most of which involve commercial operations at night, FAA Administrator Michael Huerta told reporters Monday.

The new set of rules “just standardizes the exemption process and lowers the barrier to entry,” said Arthur Holland Michel, co-director of the Center for the Study of the Drone at Bard College.

But, he said, the new waiver process will probably help regulators understand how companies want to use drones beyond these initial, limited regulations. That could one day lead to rules for more complex drone operations, such as those proposed by Amazon or Google.

What types of industries will benefit most from these rules?

Real estate, aerial photography, construction and other industries that want to use drones for basic functions, such as taking a few photos or videos of a property, probably will benefit the most because their plans align more closely with the regulations, industry experts said.

NEWSLETTER: Get the day's top headlines from Times Editor Davan Maharaj »

But companies with more ambitious or capital-intensive plans, such as oil and gas firms that want to investigate pipelines, or farmers who want to look at large fields, will largely be limited by restrictions such as the visual line-of-sight rule. Even security companies that want to have drones patrol after dark will need to apply for a waiver if they want to operate.

What about drone delivery companies?

Although the new rules allow drones to carry loads, the visual line-of-sight rule and the weight restriction will keep more ambitious companies with plans for long-distance travel, such as Amazon, from making significant deliveries that way.

Will these rules lead to a huge increase in commercial use of drones?

The FAA thinks it might. The agency has predicted there could be as many as 600,000 drones used for commercial operations during the next year. As of Friday, it said, there were only 18,940 registered for commercial purposes.

But it’s hard to tell because the industry is so new, Holland Michel of the Center for the Study of the Drone said.

The elimination of the pilot’s license requirement lowers the barrier to entry — operators just need to get their remote pilot certificate and register their drone — but it’s not clear whether users will think it’s worthwhile to invest in drone operations with the current restrictions, he said.

Gretchen West, senior advisor at law firm Hogan Lovells and co-executive director of the Commercial Drone Alliance advocacy group, said she expects to see an uptick in use once the rules take effect.

Regulations, however, are only one obstacle to wider adoption of commercial drones, she said. Many enterprise companies are averse to risk, and issues surrounding privacy and public perception still need to be addressed.

“There’s still a lot of challenges we have to overcome as an industry to prove the value of drones, even outside the regulatory environment,” West said.

Do these rules apply to people who fly drones for fun?
The new rules do not apply to people who are flying drones strictly for recreational purposes. The FAA has a separate set of rules for those drone operators.

What’s next for commercial drone regulations?

The FAA said Monday that by the end of the year, it plans to release a rule on flying commercial drones over people.

Looking ahead, NASA is also researching prototype technology that could be used for an air traffic control system for low-flying commercial drone operations. This system would not require humans to monitor each drone continuously.

Field testing of some operations for firefighting and agriculture finished last year, and further testing of operations that go beyond visual line-of-sight will start in October, according to the NASA website.

Suicide drone? Iran presents amphibious attack UAV

RT Question More

October 27, 2016

A handout picture released on October 26, 2016 by the Tasnim news agency show what Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards referred to as "suicide drone" and capable of delivering explosives to blow up targets at sea and on land, in the Iranian capital Tehran. © Tasnim news / AFP

Iran has unveiled a new drone reportedly designed for stealth suicide missions against both land and sea targets. It is the second drone to be introduced by the Islamic Republic this month.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards have reportedly announced that they have developed a “suicide drone” designed to deliver explosives to blow up land and sea based targets, Tasnim news agency reported, before taking down the article.

Designed to be used primarily for maritime surveillance, the UAV can also carry missiles in addition to “heavy payloads of explosives for combat missions to launch suicide attacks,” Tasnim said, according to media reports.

The new military hardware is said to be capable of flying at very low altitudes to avoid detection, descending to just two feet (half a meter) above water. However, it can also be flown as high as 900 meters (3,000 feet) at a speed of around 250 kilometers per hour (160 mph).

Iran unveils combat UAV based on captured US spy drone design (VIDEO)

“Flying at a high cruising speed near the surface of the water, the aircraft can collide with the target and destroy it, either a vessel or an onshore command centre,” the statement noted.

In addition to its destructive capabilities, the drone also has an advanced military camera at its disposal, which can be used at night and in damp sea conditions. Powered by two small propellers, it has a range of 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) and a flight time of four hours.

Earlier this month, the Revolutionary Guards announced that it had cloned an American made attack drone. Production of the Saegheh (Thunderbolt) drone involved using reverse-engineering of a US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) RQ-170 Sentinel drone that was captured in December 2011. The Iranian drone reportedly has high endurance and can carry a payload of four smart guided bombs.

Read more at:
https://www.rt.com/news/364258-iran-amphibious-suicide-drone/

Russia develops cheap, easily replaceable miniature reconnaissance drone

RT Question More
October 30, 2016

FILE PHOTO: Black Hornet Drone © Mike Blake / Reuters

Russia is developing a cheap pocket-size reconnaissance drone and other miniature UAVs, which can be easily replaced if shot down on the battle field.

“Right now we are working on several types of UAVs,” Russia’s United Instrument Corporation said in a statement. “Each drone or a group of drones will be chosen to perform specific missions depending on the objective, weather conditions and the landscape,” the company added.

The Russian mini-UAVs will challenge the 16-gram Norwegian-built Black Hornet drone, which is currently used by the US Marine Corps’ Special Ops units.

All the drones in the line are dragonfly-sized copters, which are easy to control, maneuver and maintain, according to the manufacturer.

The operational rage of the aircraft will be enough to carry out battlefield reconnaissance as well as take part in law enforcement and anti-terrorist operations.

“Such drones are relatively cheap and can be quickly replaced if shot down or malfunctioning, and this is what makes them so special,” the statement added.

Drone Collision Tests Provide Backup to a Great ADS-B System

Vigilant Aerospace Systems

July 6, 2016

CNN recently reported on the collision tests being done to evaluate if airliners can withstand an aerial collision with a standard commercial drone.

The FAA release of the new Part 107 drone regulations has turned an event larger spotlight on drone safety.

Headed by the ASSURE FAA Center of Excellence for UAS, the collision tests are analyzing the material collision resistance of the planes themselves.

However, as we integrate a larger number of commercial drones into the market, more people are looking for safety systems to prevent collisions.

FlightHorizon Safety System for Detect-and-Avoid

We are happy to announce our FlightHorizon avoid-and-detect systems for manned and unmanned aerial systems as a collision prevention solution.

FlightHorizon is a NASA licensed, patented, and researched detect-and-avoid avionics system that uses Automatic Dependent Surveillance Broadcast (ADS-B) to detect other aircraft and provides precise collision avoidance instructions to the pilot, steering them away from conflicting air traffic.

Our FlightHorizon systems have undergone rigorous programming and multi-drone in-flight tests by NASA and is set to be one of the first safety systems compliant with new commercial drone regulations.

We are excited to see the growing concern for and news coverage of drone safety measures. Material assessment tests on current aerial vehicles are important, however we at Vigilant Aerospace believe that a good avoid-and-detect system provides a proactive approach to avoiding the dangers of aerial collisions.

Watch our FlightHorizon explainer video here: New Explainer Video: What Does FlightHorizon Do for Drone Operators?

(Wired) Review: DJI Phantom 4

WIRED

Scott Gilbertson

April 22, 2016

IF THERE’S A drone that can claim ownership of consumer airspace, it’s DJI’s Phantom. The company’s white, 4K-camera-toting quadcopter is the Prius of the skies; hip, accessible, and ubiquitous.

WIRED RECOMMENDS 2016

DJI PHANTOM 4
8/10
LEARN HOW WE RATE

WIRED

Automated flight features make it possible to fly places and get shots previous models could not. It's harder to crash into stuff, with is safer for you and for your wallet. Insanely fast sport mode is a ton of fun. Camera improvements make for better 4K video.

TIRED

The batteries have changed shape again. If you're upgrading, you'll need buy new batteries again too. Collision detection could be better. You lose the object avoidance powers if you snap on the optional prop guards.
BUY IT NOW | DJI

Chat with a drone pilot at your local park, there’s a good chance they’re flying a Phantom. But if you chat with a pilot who’s flying DJI’s latest offering, the Phantom 4($1,399), he might even be able to have an entire conversation with you while the drone flies itself.

This latest iteration of the Phantom drone contains enhancements in two key areas: the automated flight control, and the collision avoidance system. It’s not yet a fully autonomous drone that you can command to do your bidding with a flick of a finger, but it seems things are headed there, because this bird is remarkably easy to fly, and the on-board sensors keep it from zipping head-on into a tree.

The Phantom 4 looks similar to the Phantom 3, though the props have changed. Each of the four motors now sit outside the fairings over the propeller arms, which makes the Phantom 4 look a bit sleeker and less bulky. Also, there are no prop guards. The new object avoidance system gets messed up if you snap the guards on (you also have to buy the guards, $19 for a 4-pack). I occasionally missed having the guards there, especially when flying indoors around people. But you shouldn’t do that anyway, right?
You’ll Miss Me

The most important enhancement in the Phantom 4, however, is the new object detection and avoidance feature. The pitch is that the Phantom 4 will stop you from flying your drone into trees, and will somehow miraculously make it possible for anyone to fly no matter what their skill level. The truth is more prosaic. The obstacle detection features only work when you’re flying forward. It relies on forward-facing cameras that can recognize large objects. Those cameras cannot warn you about obstacles when you’re flying in any other direction. Want to hit a tree? Just back up. Or go left. Or right. Or slightly off center.

That’s not to say the collision avoidance system isn’t useful. It is, but it isn’t enough for you stop worrying about flying into things. It works best on large dark objects. I flew it directly toward a volunteer subject. It stopped about four feet in front of him and refused to get closer. It was however happy to fly straight into his raised arms, which where not sufficiently big enough to detect. It was also happy to fly into bushes—again, the bushes were likely not dense enough to trigger an override. The Phantom 4 will also not detect what might be a drone’s greatest enemy: power lines.

Still this is the first iteration of DJI’s object detection system, and it’s not hard to imagine future releases adding more cameras around the body of the Phantom to make detection possible on all sides. It will also be interesting to see what sort of software upgrades DJI might offer to make the system stronger.
Automatic for the People

The collision detection is at its best when combined with what might be the best new feature in the Phantom 4, TapFly. This feature allows you to use your touchscreen device to simply tap any point in the drone camera’s field of view and have the Phantom fly toward it. There’s a horizon line you can use to control the altitude of your automated flight, and the collision avoidance system will keep the copter away from most solid objects.

I used TapFly to navigate gaps between trees that I would never have attempted on my own. That alone makes the Phantom 4 worth the upgrade. Again, it’s also not hard to see how this capability might improve in future releases. For example, DJI could add a way to slow down and speed up the drone at specific points in the flight path.

The other new automated flight control system is an object tracker, which works well for tracking people in relatively open settings. The idea here is that you can train the drone’s camera on a subject like a cyclist or a runner, then have the drone follow them, flying above and behind them as it captures a smooth, gliding shot. It’s not perfect. The software sometimes gets confused if someone of similar appearance crosses paths with your subject. But barring shooting in crowds, this works well—well enough to be moderately creepy and stalkerish, especially if the Phantom is at shooting an unknowing subject from max range, one half mile straight up. (I didn’t test this because it would be against FAA regulations.)

Luckily for the paranoid, while the Phantom’s camera has been improved, it still probably couldn’t pick out individuals from that altitude. (And don’t worry, the police have a drone for that.) The Phantom 4’s camera improvements are subtle, but when looking at footage from a Phantom 3 next to footage from the 4, you’ll notice the latter has considerably less chromatic aberration, less noise, and slightly less distortion.
Fire in the Sky

The new sport mode is one of the highlights of the Phantom 4. The Phantom line was already the nimblest of the half dozen drones I’ve tested, but the sport mode puts it in a class all its own. With a top speed of 45 miles an hour, an ascent rate of 20 feet per second, and the ability to turn so fast the craft nearly flips over, sport mode is not necessarily the best way to shoot incredible video. In fact, at top speed the props will be in your shot, and there will be some vibration in the video you shoot. But it sure is fun to fly that fast. Shooting forward while flying backward looks good well above normal mode speeds (though again, not at 45 mph), which will enable professional filmmakers to better track high speed sequences like chase scenes or races.

Sport mode does come with a price: the battery drains much more quickly. Also, you can’t use any of the automated flight controls or collision avoidance features. Sport mode is very clearly aimed at experienced pilots. If you happen to be one, it’s a lot of fun.

DJI claims the Phantom 4 is five times more stable than previous models, and while I have not empirical way to test this, it sounds correct based on my time with it. When watching footage where the Phantom 4 was just hovering, I frequently found myself thinking I had accidentally paused playback because the video shot did not change or shake at all. Even in moderate wind, the Phantom 4 managed to hold its position with hardly a waver.

Much of that stability comes from the Phantom 4 expanded array of downward cameras and sonar sensors. The Phantom 4 has double the number of downward facing cameras compared to the Phantom 3. This comes in handy indoors, which is one place the Phantom 4 is nothing short of incredible. Flying a drone indoors is a nerve-racking experience, even with the relatively stable Phantom 3. The Phantom 4, however, maintained its increased stability even inside when I flew it around an unused ice hockey rink. It was actually enjoyable to fly inside, though the lack of prop guards made me reluctant to get it too close to the walls.

The Phantom 4 is DJI’s best Phantom offering yet. While the automated flight features might not entirely live up to the hype, they do make possible things that would have previously been very difficult or even impossible. They also pave the way for even better automation in future releases.

Thursday, October 27, 2016

These Duelling Star Wars Drones Can Hit Speeds of Up to 35 MPH

GIZMODO
Andrew Liszewski
October 21, 2016

First revealed at the European Star Wars Celebration back in July, Propel’s fleet of remote control Star Wars drones is finally available for pre-order—at least if you live outside of the US. UK-based sites like Firebox are finally listing the drones as available for pre-order for $300 a piece.

Why so expensive? The drones, available in Speeder Bike, X-Wing, and TIE Advanced X1 fighter (Vader’s ship) designs only measure in at about a foot long. But they’re impressively detailed, thanks to having their invisible clear plastic propellers located on their underside so that the flying toys don’t need to be full of holes to facilitate airflow. They push off the ground when they take flight, instead of being sucked up into the air.

The packaging that Propel has created for the Star Wars drones is as impressive as the quadcopters themselves, which each include a physical remote control so that you don’t have to resort to fussy smartphone touchscreen controls via an app. Given these drones can hit a top speed of 35 miles per hour, you’re going to want to make sure you’re in complete control when you’re really pushing them to the limit.

As demonstrated at the European Star Wars Celebration, Propel’s drones don’t just look amazing. They can also be customized for your flying skills, be you an amateur or an expert, and allow for aerial dogfights using built-in lasers that cause your opponent’s controller to shake every time you successfully hit their craft. After three direct hits, their drone will (safely) fall out of the sky.

Propel also demonstrated a Millennium Falcon, but for some reason Firebox doesn’t list it as available for pre-order on its site. The other three, however, should start shipping starting on November 24, if you’re among the first to get a pre-order in.

DJI Is Misleading Customers About Delays For Its Newest Drone

GIZMODO
Christina Warren

October 27, 2016

Despite DJI’s promises that shipments for its new Mavic Pro drone were underway, very few drones have made their way to customers. Last week, we wrote about the shipping delays plaguing the drone. Hours after we published our story, DJI released a statement announcing that shipping had begun. But according to customer reports and leaked company communication, only a small fraction of the highly-anticipated $1000 UAVs on backorder have shipped.

We’ve heard from a number of irate Mavic Pro buyers who confirm that not only have their drones not been shipped yet, they can’t get updated information from DJI on when to expect them.

DJI resellers are having a hard time getting units too. Gizmodo obtained an email sent to a DJI distributor from a member of the global sales and marketing team at DJI.

The email reads in part:

The truth is, that is only a very small quantity of it released to comfort the market. (Please make this confidential, just for you dealers.)

Please try your best to convince your customers to stick with you, don’t cancel their preorders. IF they head to DJI official store for it now, they will have to wait much much longer to get it because there are hundreds of thousands of preorders in line on DJI official store now and they will have to take care of it for the whole globe.

Sorry for the inconvenience and I will try my best to ship out orders as soon as possible starting from Oct. 25th.

In other words, a DJI representative is telling vendors that DJI only started shipping some units to “comfort the market,” which is a fancy way of saying the shipments were a way to assuage customer concerns about delays and poor communication. It’s always possible a DJI rep is telling one vendor one thing, just so she can get more product to someone else. Still, it looks bad when even vendors are getting the runaround and can’t get specific information about shipping dates.

DJI declined to confirm the veracity of the email, or to comment on its contents, but it did confirm that the marketing representative was an employee of the company.

Hundreds of DJI customers are using this shared Google Spreadsheet to track orders and shipment status. Of the 525 customers who had placed orders at the time of publication, only 25 had actually received their units. One rumor on a Mavic Pro forum suggested that 50 units had shipped to customers, but a DJI spokesperson told Gizmodo that figure was completely untrue.

“We haven’t released shipping data in the past and we aren’t going to start now,” the spokesman told me, “but I can guarantee you far more than 50 units have shipped.” DJI did confirm that full production of the Mavic Pro has not started but said the company was doing everything it could to get production ramped up as quickly as possible.

Meanwhile, stores that are supposed to be carrying the Mavic Pro are pushing back availability dates too. The Mavic Pro was supposed to hit Apple retail stores on November 2. But if you try to place an order now, shipment dates have moved 6-7 weeks with in-store pickup not projected until December 16th.

I’ve spoken to a number of Mavic customers and all have repeated to me that the worst part of this entire ordeal is having no information on when they will get their unit. They could deal with a delay if they just had an honest assessment of when their drones would arrive. To add insult to injury, preorders that took place through DJI were charged as soon as the orders were received. That means DJI has received tens of millions of dollars from customers who still don’t know when their product is going to ship.

Fed-up customers report that cancelling orders is a nightmare too. Not only do you have to do it through DJI’s web chat (which often has long wait times), anyone who ordered from the United States faces a $50 charge for currency exchange rates because DJI is based in China.

Right now it’s clear that DJI isn’t going to get Mavic Pro drones out to customers as quickly as it had planned. Unfortunately, it seems the company is unwilling to be upfront with customers about their screwup.

This Modular Drone Transforms Into Whatever You Want

No guarantees that what you build will fly, though.

Popular Mechanics
By David Grossman
Oct 19, 2016

If you're as keen on designing a drone as you are on flying one, Makeblock's new Lego-like drone might just be what you're looking for. The unique modular flier just blew through its Kickstarter campaign with two months to go, and would let you build everything from a drone, to a hovercraft, and everything in between.

The Airblock is meant to be deconstructed and flown easily. With eight modular pieces, it can be turned into wheels, a flyer, or even a cupholder. Controlled via Bluetooth, it's designed to be as simple as a plug-and-play drone can get. And since it's an open-source design, other folks could build hardware that plays nice with it as well.

Makeblock planes on selling its drone at a retail price of $149, but as with all Kickstarter projects, there's no guarantee that it will ship on time, or be any good when it arrives. So as always, it's wise to wait until the little drone actually comes out before plunking any money down on it. That said, if the Airblock is as good as it looks, it could be the perfect introduction into the world of aerial acrobatics.

Source: Kickstarter

Pilots report close calls with drones at JFK Airport

CBS News

AUGUST 3, 2015

The FAA is investigating drones flying too close to one of the nation's busiest airports. Two airline pilots reported close calls as they approached New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport in recent days.

Read more at:

http://www.cbsnews.com/videos/pilots-report-close-calls-with-drones-at-jfk-airport/

Report details threat of attacks by drones

CBS News
AUGUST 3, 2016

A report by the Department of Homeland Security says the growing availability of drones in the U.S. increases the chances of one being used to carry out a terrorist attack or commit a crime.

Read more at:
http://www.cbsnews.com/drones/

Dutch police department's newest anti-drone recruits have wings

CBS News

MAY 29, 2016

Hunter the bald eagle is the world's first bird trained to take down drones that cause trouble in the sky. Police chief Mark Weibes says the rogue devices have been seen hovering over packed parades and airports. This is a low tech solution to a high tech problem.

Read more at:

http://www.cbsnews.com/drones/

Collision Avoidance: The Latest Big Leap In Drone Technology

A main blog
Cool Stuff and Multirotor & Drones
October 24, 2016

Image courtesy flickr

Drones are quickly evolving. Some quadcopters can zip through the sky at over sixty miles per hour, and other drones can remain in continuous flight for a half-hour. As unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) continue to get faster and are able to stay in the air for longer periods of time, new safety precautions are needed. Few things can cause a drone enthusiast’s stomach to drop faster than watching their investment crash and tumble hundreds of feet to the ground.

Manufacturers are constantly seeking to improve their designs in order to stay competitive in the booming industry of drones. One safety feature that has emerged this year is the collision avoidance system — and it is revolutionizing the market.
What is a collision avoidance system?

Collision avoidance systems map out the surrounding area by creating full three-dimensional stereoscopic images, much like human eyes. Most models with such technology feature two or more cameras. These cameras are able to discern the placement of objects. This information can be used by drones to prevent crashes.

In March 2016, DJI was one of the first companies to introduce a built-in collision avoidance system (dubbed the Obstacle Sensing System) to the consumer market with the Phantom 4 — and the feature will likely become standard in high-end UAVs in the years to come. DJI’s system is comprised of two forward-facing cameras that can detect obstacles up to nearly 50 feet away. When an object is detected, the Phantom will cease movement and hover in place. The pilot can then manually redirect the vehicle around the obstacle.

Another popular model with an object avoidance system is the Yuneec Typhoon H. This hexacopter is equipped with technology called Intel RealSense. It is marketed as the most advanced collision avoidance system for consumer drones. Front-facing sonar detectors aid in close-range object detection. Enthusiasts hotly debate the pros and cons of the Typhoon H versus the Phantom 4, but it is indisputable that both UAVs have revolutionized the industry with these new object detection systems.
How does collision avoidance change the game?

While the price of high-end drones might dissuade consumers from taking the leap, built-in safety measures could make higher-end models more cost-efficient than one might expect; some businesses have been making a killing in the last couple years by selling drone insurance and extended warranty coverage. Many enthusiasts opt to protect their UAVs with a proper carrying case. As built-in safety measures are introduced, such precautions will not be the only way for users to protect their vehicles. Obviously, object detection technology will reassure concerned pilots who do not want to risk damaging their UAVs. Enthusiasts can enjoy piloting with a greater peace of mind.

Not only do these systems prevent damage to drones or other property, they also allow for new features that consist of automatically piloting the device:
Recent high-end models of drones are able to return to the takeoff point when the battery is low, or when one loses communication with its pilot.
Object tracking — the automated following of a specified person or object — is now possible. The UAV will keep its camera trained on the subject and will move to keep it within sight.
Automatic navigation, such as that used in DJI’s proprietary TapFly system, allows users to automatically send a drone to a remote location. Owners simply tap on a map and the drone will determine the best route to reach the selected destination.

During all three of these scenarios, object detection can prevent crashes from occurring. DJI and Yuneec have taken full advantage of their collision avoidance systems by including features like these in the Phantom 4 and Typhoon H, respectively.

This technology will also have huge implications for businesses and consumers, changing the way in which we interact with drones. In the near future, postal and food delivery services will use drones equipped with collision avoidance systems; in fact, Google will be launching a drone delivery service as early as 2017. This technology will permit delivery drones to travel without incidences and deliver packages in areas free of obstacles. In the future, drones will continue to be used by organizations in innovative ways, thanks to collision avoidance systems.

Moving forward, commercial drones will continue to impress. As manufacturers innovate with new features, drones will play a bigger part in our everyday lives. Recent innovations mean that piloting can be automated. Inexperienced users will appreciate the safety measures. Videographers will be able to capture 4k video footage of any subject without the need to even manually pilot. The possibilities that anti-collision technology introduce are endless. Those who have not yet explored drones should take note: the future is now.

Read more at:
http://blog.amainhobbies.com/collision-avoidance-latest-big-leap-drone-technology/

Wednesday, October 26, 2016

A320 collision heightens UAV safety concerns

Flight Global
21 APRIL, 2016
BY: BETH STEVENSON

Fresh concerns over the potential danger of operating unmanned air vehicles in the vicinity of manned aircraft have been sparked by the collision of a British Airways Airbus A320 with a UAV at London Heathrow on 17 April.

While the A320 was rapidly returned to service following ground checks, and the UK Air Accidents Investigation Branch is looking into the incident, a number of parties have used the event to highlight their concerns over the increased use of unmanned aircraft, particularly near airports.

The British Airline Pilots Association (BALPA) is calling for "compulsory registration, or some equivalent system of traceability" to track misusers of unmanned systems, stressing its oft-repeated sentiment that "drones pose a serious potential threat to flight safety".

"While I'm sure most drone operators are likely sensible and follow the guidance set out by the [Civil Aviation Authority], there will always be those who fly their drones either not understanding or not caring about the risks," says Steve Landells, a flight safety specialist at BALPA.

Statistics point to a growing risk from unmanned air vehicles: the CAA says that 40 airprox incidents involving UAVs were recorded in 2015, up on the nine near-misses that took place in 2014.

The US Federal Aviation Administration, meanwhile, reports for the nine months from November 2014 to August 2015 a total of 764 UAV sightings in what it considers dangerous areas. That is an average of 85 incidents per month.

In contrast, the figure for the five-month period from August 2015 to January 2016 – the most recent available – is 582, which increases the per-month average to 116.

The FAA says the number of sightings has increased "dramatically" over the past two years, and the FAA receives some 100 reports a month.

Ed Stone/REX/Shutterstock

"The agency wants to send out a clear message that operating drones around airplanes, helicopters and airports is dangerous and illegal," it adds. "Unauthorised operators may be subject to stiff fines and criminal charges, including possible jail time."

"The FAA promotes a strong culture of safety and responsibility," it tells Flightglobal. "The safe integration of unmanned aircraft is multi-faceted, and the FAA’s approach must be as nimble as the technology itself. Registration is one tool the agency is using to meet this critical goal."

In an effort to appease concerns regarding UAV integration, the FAA has introduced mandatory registration for UAVs weighing more than 250g (8oz) and less than 25kg (55lb).

A number of UK politicians have now pressed the government to respond to the Heathrow event, including calls to replicate the registration system implemented in the USA.

"We would like drones to be fitted with some form of technology that makes them 'visible' to air traffic controllers, so if one is flown in an irresponsible manner, ATC can issue avoidance action to the manned aircraft and they know the exact location to send the police to," Landells adds.