Next Generation Mapping Drone

New mapping drone records areas ten times faster than before

Drones are called as remote-controlled aerial vehicles (UAVs - unmanned arial vehicles) can be both independent / machine-controlled flying craft, and also human-controlled aircraft.

The application areas are diverse with these wonderful machines enhanced with technology. Either as a pure hobby object for pure flying or even filming / photography or for professional occasion. On the other hand, they can be also used as military drones / combat drones.

Aerial photography = photography and video technical controls on, for example, high voltage masts and buildings various surveying techniques in the forestry different exploration areas and research in animal protection at the police and fire brigade. Hence the area of application of these drones are increasing day by day in various fields. And also there are a lot of new researches have been conducted to technology enhance these unmanned vehicles. Recently the technical team has formulated a mapping drone that records the ground ten times faster.

The Drone named “Marlyn”

Up to 60 kilometers per hour fast is a mapping drone that has developed the start-up Atmos UAV, a spin-off from the Technical University of Delft in the Netherlands. This technology makes it much faster than almost all conventional airplanes of this type. The reason: "Marlyn" has wings like an airplane, but can still start vertically. The rotors can be rotated by 90 degrees. In the horizontal flight they can use all their strength to move Marlyn forward. The rotors of normal drones have to provide additional buoyancy.

One square kilometer in 30 minutes

The engineers at Atmos has enhanced this mapping drone with wonderful technology that developed Marlyn specifically for taking pictures of the earth's surface. The hybrid mapping drone creates a certain area ten times faster than a conventional aircraft. The first user is the Dutch company, which sees itself as a leader in the use of drones for industrial and agricultural purposes. Marlyn – the mapping drone creates an area of one square kilometer in just 30 minutes. The resolution is three centimeters in this driving mode. The maximum is 1.5 centimeters. This means that a pixel of the recorded image actually has an extension of 1.5 centimeters. In other words, a ten-cent coin can be easily identified.

Rain does not matter to Marlyn

To start and land, this mapping drone needs an area of two by two meters. It can fly in almost any weather. Rain does not matter to her. It must remain on the ground only in strong winds. "With the special features of this mapping drone, we create even the most demanding tasks," says Pieter Franken, one of the founders of Skeye.

Marlyn is wearing a high-resolution camera. Her job makes her autonomous, but after careful preparation. In the first step, by this wonderful technology a flight plan is drawn up that takes into account the required accuracy of the images and the terrain to be mapped. Then start the mapping drone and the data recorder on board at the push of a button. When this mapping drone has landed after the work has been done, the stored image data are read out and edited with any evaluation software.

Self Flying Taxi to Transport Passengers in Dubai

A city that moves faster than a bullet train, requires top-notch transportation services in order to keep pace with the existing trend of the world. In such advanced city traffic related issues are always a matter of concern. We know that Dubai is a highly developed country that has so much in store for you that you cannot imagine.

Dubai has come up with an extraordinary innovation that will make life much easier for all the dwellers there. The head of the department of transport in Dubai has reported that very soon the skies of Dubai will be filled with self-flying taxis that will help people to overcome their transportation issues.

This seems much like a ferry land story where there used to be flying gadgets that made the entire thing very interesting. Dubai have decided to name it Ehang 184, that will be strictly applicable for the airborne services. The flying machine would be designed in such a manner that it won’t require a human to direct it. The technology fed in it is such that it will run on its own. It is suited to carry one passenger at a time along with their luggage. It can fly for 23 minutes.

Dubai is not the first city that has taken such an initiative. In 2006 Summer, Las Vegas had already announced that they will avail this facility to their people. The Ehang 184 that Dubai has unveiled is powered by electricity and has the capability to travel for 31 miles along with a single person and their baggage that should not be more than 100 kg. It can easily cover a distance of 63 miles in just an hour and two hours is required to get it completely charged. This is a magical vehicle that is a complete transportation device without any curbs.

This is an app based service and anyone who wants to avail this facility for themselves are required to download the app first and then enter their destination. This revolutionary transporting device then will automatically demarcate the route and will enable sound and safe travelling to their passengers and reaches them at the required destination. It can fly at a stretch, but is generally required to stop at the required destination that depicts that though it is capable of unbreakable journey, but still it has to hop from one landing spot to another.

The propellers used in it are folded inwards at the time of landing and when it entirely lands it can easily fit in the space that is needed by a single car. It is also inflicted with a fail safe system. The company says that this function is fed in it to ensure that no emergency situation arises when the flying taxing is actually flying high. Due to this function the vehicle lands immediately at the closest place if anything malfunctions during the flight. It is also designed to be secured with encrypted channels for easy communication. This is a big innovation that can redefine a city completely.

Robots and Drones Take Over Classrooms

The future of education is set to go through a massive change with the deployment of interactive boards, laptops, VR gadgets and online learning plans. It has already being said that this generation of kids are getting much different kind or education in a different medium than their parents or grandparents has achieved in the past. Artificial intelligence is breaking new grounds while robotics has gone through a rapid phase of development which makes it easier to bring it in the classrooms with more confidence than before.

Robots & drones in the schools

In September last year London Design & Engineering University technical college offered a chance to over 180 pupils to have a technology based education experience. Their curriculum of 12 weeks allowed kids to experience education not based on traditional chalk board pattern but with reliance on the technology. One group of students was asked to design their own virtual reality environment right from the scratch which offers a journey to the Ethiopian village. This was used to highlight the need of charity in the Water Aid.

A number of primary schools are convinced with the need of starting learning of coding at the younger age. As a reason a number of after school code clubs has emerged which makes use of DIY computers like BBC’s Micro Bit and the Raspberry Pi for tinkering with the coding and sharpening the skills further. A company worth naming here is Tynker which has brought the elegant coding through gaming philosophy to more than 60,000 schools in US. Quite recently it has started a new project which includes teaching coding through drone lessons in an exciting manner.

A new reality comes to classrooms

We are soon venturing into a future wherein students will be interacting or studying in a virtual reality based environment with the help of a headset. Students will not just grasp the information but they will interact with it in form of holograms explaining the intricate solar system or the space itself. The application of Augmented Reality popularly seen in Pokemon Go mobile game and Virtual Reality can emerge as the next frontier. A number of studies have shown that the use of VR devices helps students in intently performing tasks along with developing the ability to adapt to multiple disciples.

Microsoft HoloLens is creating waves across the world by bringing a mixed reality environment to the users in an engaging fashion. Microsoft has worked in closely with the Case Western Reserve University in order to develop a complete hologram of human body. This hologram will offer a great an enriching way for the pupils to understand the human body by effectively dissecting all the different bones, veins and organs of the body in extreme detail.

Apart from this hologram Microsoft is actively working with Pearson group which is well known education provider to develop more enhanced education resources for its HoloLens. However buying HoloLens will not be feasible for the schools at the moment as it costs a massive £2719 for the developer edition.

Help Design the PowerEgg Drone and You could net Yourself a Cool $3,000

PowerVision’s PowerEgg – Compact Portable Drone

PowerVision, UAV and drone specialist launched a latest design initiative – the PowerEgg Design Challenge to perceive who could design the best outer shell for its compact portable drone – the PowerEgg. The winner would get to see their design go into production as well as bag $3,000 as a prize.PowerVision Robotics is famous for its innovations in industrial robotics and the company now intends to enter the consumer marketplace. Having its headquarters in Beijing, PowerVision has revealed its egg-shaped aerial vehicle which would be easy to fly and very much portable owing to its exceptional design.

 PowerVision had chosen an oval shapefor its drone for aesthetic as well as functional motives. PowerVision CEO, Wally Zheng had stated that `we think the oval shape is not only clean and pure but also has structural and functional benefits. This simple yet vital design means that this is more than a flying robot but a work of art. PowerVision is on the lookout of giving graphic designers from across the world irrespective of them being student or an experienced professional, with the opportunity of creating the design which would embellish the recognisable folding egg design of the drone. The contest had been launched on June 22, 2016 and would be running all through July closing on August 7.

Special Chassis to Move Around& Transport

The PowerEgg was initially unveiled in February 2016 where the product of nearly two years’ worth of research and development tends to combine a 360°panoramic 4Kcamera on 3-axis gimbal, real-time HD video transmission up to 3000m together with advanced optical flow sensors for the purpose of easy indoor navigation. It is said that the arms, feet and rotors of the PowerEgg tends to fold back in the special chassis enabling it to move around and transport it with ease.

The winner of the contest would be receiving a $3,000 top prize together with royalties from the sale of PowerEgg consumer drone presenting their design. The second and third place winners would also be getting a special drone and royalties with a$1,500 and $1,000 prize respectively. Ten runner-up entrants would be receiving $200 Amazon gift voucher and $300 gift voucher for buying a PowerEgg through the PowerVision website.

Oval Chassis/Four Larger Propellers

Wally Zheng commented that `to celebrate the launch of the first consumer drone, PowerVision is excited to promote the creativity of users through this PowerEgg Design Contest and that they are looking forward to seeing the creative new designs.The egg shape sets the drone spaced out from the other four axis drones which adopt an x-shaped design. The drone comprises of an oval chassis having four larger propellers which collapse into the body of the device.
This mechanism enables the drone to double into the body of the device and the mechanism permits the drone to fold up into a compact shell thus making it easy to carry it along. When it is folded, the drone seems to be adequately small to fit in a standard backpack. The company intends to begin shipping in its new drone somewhere during the second quarter of 2016. The availability along with the pricing has not yet been disclosed.

Police Train Eagles to Take Down Drones on Sight

Eagles Trained to Bring Unmanned Drones Down in Emergency

The Dutch National Police force has revealed that it would be training eagles in bringing down unmanned drones in emergency cases. The purpose is to disable a drone which may for instance, tend to wander in the airspace of a city centre or an airport or without the danger of falling from the sky and on anyone below.

Development of anti-drone UAV are also taking place though it presently seems to be simpler and cheaper in the use of nature’s greatest hunters instead of one of humanity’s lest dependable robots to do the task. It is reported that the Dutch police will be working with a company known as `Guard From Above’, or a translation of that name for training of the eagles, a firm in The Hague who tend to specialize in training birds of prey for private security, in helping to protect the skies from rogue drones.

With the training, the eagle tends to recognise the drones as prey which they disable with the claws. Thereafter the eagle deposits the drone in a space which is distanced from civilians. A specific example, which was posted to YouTube, the eagle picks out a DJI model and does it quite effectively.

Drones Getting Cheaper & Accessible

So far, the project seems to be under trail with the police assessing if they want a full fleet of drone busting birds of prey. The police have also been working on other systems to take the drone out from the sky including hacking the drone as well as just using a net or the combination of both.

However, the potential of the eagle tends to provide more flexibility once the machine is recovered. Eagles in the wild have portrayed a natural inclination in attacking drones on sight as hawks, rams and chimps and thus it may not be the most awful idea if the safety of the animal can be assured.

Drones are getting cheaper and much more accessible, increasing the apprehension that they could be utilised by criminals or terrorist groups. Taking this into consideration, recently the Japanese police force has announced that they would organise a battalion of anti-drone officers and disable drones.

Animal Instinct of Bird of Prey – Exceptional

The Netherland’s Police had mentioned in a statement that `in future, drones would be used progressively and hence it would increase the number of incidents regarding drones and could also be utilised for criminal purposes. The security firm state that the technique used is not harmful to the birds and is not dangerous than the scraps they get into with prey in the wild.

 Their feet are heavily scaled to precisely protect them from sharp bites, scratches and slashes. Nonetheless, the company has been working with the Dutch Organization for Applied Scientific Research to evaluate whether the propellers of the drone tend to affect the claws of the bird. `Guards from Above’ had mentioned in a press release that they used birds’ natural hunting instincts to intercept drones and this was done safely, accurately and quickly.

The animal instinct of a bird of prey is exceptional and capable of overpowering fast-moving prey. At times the solution to a hypermodern problem is more obvious than one might imagine.

Pilotless Drone to Transport Humans

Autonomous Aerial Vehicle - EHang

One of the transport innovations which had been on display at the CES tech show in Las Vegas was a human-carrying drone. Announced by Chinese company the so-called EHang, the company’s new Autonomous Aerial Vehicle – AAV is a large scale drone which has been designed to separately fly people from one point to another.

The personal minicopter is not operated through manual controls and the passenger can choose a point on a map to travel to a particular place. The device is said to be costing more than $200,000 and could be illegal to ride in public in several countries.Huazhi Hu, CEO of Ehang had started designing the one seater electric drone a couple of years back after two of his pilots had been killed in plane crashes. He had decided that people required a short-to-medium-distance personal air transport where a pilot’s license would not be needed and that took off most of the danger of out of low-altitude flight.

The notion of creating the Chinese built-184 is that users could get to power it and select their destination using a 12-inch touchscreen tablet display and then use the `take-off’ button. The automated flight systems of the drone will then take over from here, handling task like communication with air traffic control together with the other aircrafts, avoid obstacles and navigate.

Safe/Smartest -FailSafe System

It will tend to use the fastest and the safest route between its current place and its destination. Besides being safest, the company has described it as the smartest low altitude autonomous aerial vehicle on the market. The Failsafe system will apparently take control in case of any malfunctions and the passenger would also get the drone to stop and hover in place if required.

If one tends to travel short distance often, this is appropriate option to reduce the strain of traffic and transport through air. One could hop into the only passenger vehicle and go up and away to their choice of destination.

According to EHang, passengers only need to sit back and permit the software and machine to do the work where no piloting or license is needed and flights have now become very easy. EHang also envisages the 184 for shipping medical transport and much more.

Eight Propellers/Four Arms

The craft comprises of eight propellers together with four arms which is created with reinforcements in place should a component tend to fail. EHang has also mentioned that while one is in the air and attacked by a bird, the 184 tends to take suitable action.

Should anyone attempt to hack the 184, the oversized drone is built with encryption which means that one need not worry about someone despicable sending you travelling into a building. The 184 is quite small for an aerial transportation which tends to weight around 440 pounds having a rated load capacity of 220 pounds.

However, the EHang 184 death machine does not seem to be powerful enough to carry across any sort of distance. EHang states that it promises limitless possibilities and would influence the way one tends to travel in profound ways.

Drone Lands on Moving Car in Germany

Drone Trained to Land on Moving Vehicle

Roboticists in Germany have trained a drone to land itself on a moving vehicle. Researchers from German Aerospace Centre – DLR have established their safely landing aircraft on a car which had been fitted with a net travelling at around 75 km/h. They have recommended that the technology can be adapted to enable unmanned aircraft to be built without wheels to permit them to stay airborne for a longer time. The team were capable of programming the drone in identifying a QR code located on the roof of the car and land itself by utilising the QR code as an anchor.

Though remarkable as a visual display, the team are anticipating that by developing a simple as well as an effective piece of software, they could help the next-generation of drone which would not need conventional runways.

The system has been designed for civil application in the field of remote sensing and communication and can be applied to ultra-light solar-powered aircraft which tends to match conventional satellite system at the time of flying in the stratosphere. In case of a disaster, it could support crisis management via live situations reports, replace failed communications networks or provide data on climate change.

No Landing Gear – Increase Cargo Ability

Excluding the landing gear tends to increase the cargo ability of a solar powered aircraft which in turn develops more space for scientific instruments. Moreover, the system also makes landing easy in adverse weather conditions inclusive of crosswinds or wind gusts.

The system could offer a new means of recovering drone aircraft when on the run and without the need of bulky landing gear. To pull off the stunt they had fitted an Audi with a specially adapted roof rack which tends to feature an elastic net of 13 by 16 feet passed through it wherein the net had been designed to accommodate the 44llbs drone with a 10 feet wingspan, to stop it from banging and damaging the roof of the car.

For the purpose of safe landing of the drone on the moving car, the engineers had designed a tracking system which enabled the drone to read the optical markets on the landing platform which enabled the drone to synchronise automatically, its speed with that of the car.

Set of Computer Algorithms Used

Moreover it also supported the aircraft to target the appropriate landing spot with an accuracy of 20 inches. To help in landing gently on the bouncy platform, a set of computer algorithms was used. The experiment carried out at Mindelheim-Mattsies airfield in Bavaria had utilised a human driver to control the car, with instructions delivered by the computer in charge of the landing process.

In the near future, an autonomous drone with self-driving car can communicate with each other for landing without human involvement. However, the system had originally been developed to enable the aircraft to touch down without the need of landing gear.

This could be convenient in space wherein the solar planes soaring between stratosphere and satellites, around 12 miles above Earth could carry additional scientific instruments together with communication gear. This could probably lead to new means of landing helicopters for instance in stormy conditions.

Crowdfunding a Drone That Takes Selfies

World’s Safest Drone by Fleye

The world’s safest drone by Fleye is made by two Belgian founders wherein the drone is the size of a soccer ball with its propellers on the inner side which is encased by a shell. Most of the drones in the market tend to have their propellers exposed. The CEO of Fleye, Laurent Eschenauer, had informed CNBC at the TechCrunch Disrupt conference in London, recently that if they were going to have autonomous flying robots around, they need to make them safe’.

The company had raised around half of its 175,000 euro so far, funding goal on Kickstarter with 38 days left. The starting price is 599 euros for one of the drones. Co-founders are now opening up the operating system of Linus for the drone to run on it, so that the developers may develop apps for it and are expecting to launch the device by April 2016.

The drone is controlled through an Android or iOS smartphone and is equipped with some pre-programmed functions like when a user tends to click the selfie control; the drone autonomously tends to move to position itself to take a picture of the user.

Supports Computer Vision Library OpenCV

The main invention of Fleye is its exceptional spherical design where all the moving parts seems to be sheltered which means that one can be hold, touch, push and bump into Fleye without much trouble of being injured. It also means that while bumping into something, Fleye could be more robust.

One does not need piloting skill to control the drone but just select a flying camera mode, - selfie, panorama, virtual tripod etc. andwatch the live video stream focusing on capturing photos and videos. If one intends to be in manual control, you could use the virtual gamepad or hook a Bluetooth gamepad to the smartphone. Fleye tends to have a powerful on-board computer like the latest smartphone which is dual-core ARM A9, with hardware accelerated video encoding, together with two GPUs, 512MB of RAM and runs on Linux.

Moreover it also supports Computer vision library OpenCV which means that Fleye has the capacity of being programmed to execute mission autonomously, responding to what it tends to see in the environment.

Operating from Logistic to Disaster Recovery

The main anxiety for regulators looking at drones after various high profile occurrences, is safety. A drone had crashed on the lawn of the White House, earlier this year and at a music concert, pop star Enrique Iglesias had reached out to grab a drone which was filming and had sliced open his finger.

 Eschenauer has been betting on a world wherein drone would become universal, operating in areas from logistics to disaster recovery as well as roaming around the office. A camera has been attached on the top for the drones to recognize the world around and to take decisions and also for the people to take videos and photos. However, the company tends to find itself in a competitive space against bigger manufacturers with deeper pockets.

The Chinese drone maker DJI had raised around $75 million this year which was reportedly valued at $10 billion, offering drones for professional filmmakers and hobbyists. Eschenauer has admitted that Fleye will not be able of taking on the recognized players but has stated that the company has made its own niche. He has commented that that they have been carving out their own niche which is proximity. If one desires to capture a film at a wedding or in an industrial plant, one would not use the big drone with big propellers, especially if it tends to becomes autonomous’.

Tokyo Police are Using Drones with Nets to Catch Other Drones

 

Camera Equipped Drones – Capture Suspicious Drone

Exclusive fleet of interceptor drones designed to chase and capture suspicious looking drones in nets flying over sensitive areas in the midst of concern for the safety of the prime minister, has been introduced by Tokyo’s police force. The riot police would be controlling the camera-equipped interceptor drones in chasing private drones which may be spying on buildings including the Japanese prime minister, Shinzo Abe’s office and trap them in large nets before reaching back to the ground.

 Those in control of the force drone would first caution the operator of the suspicious drone to cease the flight before tracking them. In April, a four propeller drone with trace amounts of radioactive caesium was seized on the top of the prime minister’s office which raised terror concerns in the capital. Police had informed that radioactivity levels were only at a maximum of 1 microsievert of gamma rays per hour, which is a level that is not harmful to humans.

Illegal to Pilot Drones in Certain Area in Japan

Yoshihide Suga, the chief cabinet secretary had mentioned in a press conference that `the situation concerns the centre of the Japanese government, the prime minister’s office and are taking every essential measure inclusive of a detailed investigation by police’. Later on, a man had been arrested.

The drones of the police force measures about one metre in diameter while the net measures two metres by three meters which is suspended below the body of the interceptor. The drones will only take to the air when an unlawful drone is spotted and the police officers on the ground will utilise loudspeakers in an effort to warn the drone’s controller to evacuate the area.

The net to catch other quadcopters was eventually decided, as there would be less chance of an aircraft falling from the sky and injure civilians. The force intends to start utilising them later this month before rolling the enterprise out more broadly in February. It is illegal to pilot drones over certain areas in Japan, including airports, over roads or 150 meters above the land.

Drones – Most contentious Creation of Technology

Unmanned aerial vehicles or drones are the most contentious creations of technology and though the opportunity that they provide for the retail industry like Amazon’s delivery services is remarkable, there is a concern over safety, warfare as well as surveillance which tend to continue blocking their adoption in the mainstream utilisation. Solar powered drones had been developed by Facebook to fly over the UK in order to plug gaps in mobile coverage offering a boost to `not spot’ areas of the country which are yet without mobile internet.

As per reports from The Asahi Shimbun andthe Asian Review, a drone had been first deployed on a trial basis from mid-December and a more complete operation would then be introduced later in the year. The drone squads would provide protection for some of the most sensitive areas in the city comprising of the Imperial Palace, the National Diet, where the Japan’s parliament meet besides the office of the prime minister.

 Japan’s police force may be the first law enforcement agencies in introducing countermeasures for the consumer drones, though several other government as well as commercial agencies having been considering the same in the West.

Zano Mini-Drone Project Shut Down by Torquing

Zano Mini-Drone Shut Down

The Zano mini-drone project, one of Europe’s most successful Kickstarter has been shut down by the company. Torquing Group had released a report to supporters of the project stating that it had decided to pursue a `creditors’ voluntary liquidation. The said project is said to be in distress inspite of raising over £2m. According to a message sent by Torquing, the creditors would be contacted by abankruptcyexpert.

The message states that on exploring all options known and after seeking professional advice, they have made the difficult decision to pursue a creditor’s voluntary liquidation. They have been greatly disappointed with the result of the Zano project and would like to take the opportunity of thanking all who supported them during the difficult period, particularly the loyal employees, whose commitment had exceeded all expectations.

Thousands of individuals who had invested in the project through Kickstarter would not be receiving the device for which they had paid to support.According to a comment left on a Zano forum, Ivan Reedman, chief executive of Torquing had resigned recently owing to personal health issues and conflicting differences. This was followed by another hitch in June when Torquing had missed a deadline in distributing drones to supporters waiting for the product.

Europe’s Most Successful Kickstarter Campaign Collapse

Zano drones were in production already and were created to be controlled through a smartphone app. Moreover, the device would also be capable of following users as they moved around outdoors but the function was not working completely when BBC had visited Torquing in August.

One of the supporters had informed BBC that he had invested around £164 in November 2014, in Zano and till a few weeks ago they had been receiving emails stating that the first 7,000 Zanos were almost ready to be dispatched.

He further commented that it was unfortunate to see Europe’s most successful Kickstarter campaign collapse so dramatically, especially when it was nearing shipping. Sandro Ruch another supporter informed that he had invested a couple of hundred dollars and was disappointed with Torquing’s communication with supporters of the project in recent months. He informed BBC that it was the main thing and the main point which was upsetting was that it was a question of investor expectation management.

Social Networks – New Met with Dismay by Supporters

The news was met with dismay by the supporters on social networks and one supporter had written on the Zano Facebook page that he wanted his money back. User on the Kickstarter page for the project had added that being furious seems to be an understatement.

 It was expected to arrive in June and it is now almost six months later that the decision has come up. In one of the statement, Kickstarter had stated that creators on Kickstarter have a remarkable track record though there are no guarantees that a project would work out.

If a developer is unable to complete a project as pledged, their contract with supporters need them to bring the project to the best possible conclusion as mentioned in the Terms of Use. Torquing refrained from responding to request for their comment.

Google Aims to Begin Drone Package Deliveries In 2017

Google – Alphabet Inc. – Delivering Packages through Drone

According to the executive in charge of Google’s drone effort, the new holding company for Google, Alphabet Inc. is expected to start delivering packages to consumers through drone somewhere in 2017. The leader for Google’s Project Wing, David Vos, stated that the company is in talks with the Federal Aviation Administration together with other stakeholders with regards to the setting up of an air traffic control system for drones which would be utilising cellular as well as Internet technology in coordinating unmanned aerial vehicle flights at altitudes of below 500 feet.

He informed the audience at an air traffic control convention near Washington that their goal was to have commercial business up and running in 2017. Among the growing number of companies intending to make package delivery by drone a reality are Google and Amazon.com Inc.

However drone deliveries are not expected to take flight till the FAA final rules for commercial drone operation which are predicted early next year. Two years after the research first started, Project Wing had been announced with YouTube video, in August 2014, showing a field test of its most practical prototype in Australia.

New Kinds & Shape of Vehicle As Project Develops

The prototype flown in Australia at 1.5 meters wide and 0.8 meters tall, shares the same design of four propeller quad copter as popular consumer drones. However the company informs that consumers could expect to see new kinds and shapes of vehicle as the project develops.

Project Wings has conducted testing with NASA inside United States. Co-chair of FAA task force, Vos, charged with coming up with drone registry, stated that a system for identifying drone operators as well as keeping UAV away from the other aircraft can be set up within a period of 12 months. He stated that they are much on an operation function with the FAA and working with the small UAV community together with the aviation community in moving things along.

He is of the belief that they can accomplish a lot in the next 3, 6, 12 months and are hoping to get some strong support in making this happen. He narrated that a drone registry which the Obama administration expects to set in place by December 20, would be a leading step to a system which would utilise wireless telecommunications as well as Internet technology comprising of cellphone application in identifying drones and keeping UAV clear of other aircrafts as well as controlled airspace.

Possibility of Controlling Class G

He also said that Google will like to view low altitude `Class G’ airspace stamped out for drones, stating that it would keep UAC free from most of the manned aircraft besides low flying helicopters while permitting drones to fly over highly populated locations.

He added that there seems a lot that can be done in this market space. He informed that the FAA together with the other stakeholders are on the lookout for possibility of controlling Class G airspace through, for profit airspace services providers that would be utilising wireless communication in order to co-ordinate drone flights and link with the air traffic control system for the manned aircraft.

Drones Operated by Criminal Gangs Used to Deliver Drugs Mobile Phones and Potentially Firearms to Prisoners

Operating Drones – Threat to Security

According to officials, crime gangs are posing as increasing threat to security in Britain’s prison by operating drones and providing new options of smuggling drugs and other probably firearms in the hands of criminals.Commercial small drones are being utilised to pick up packages comprising of illicit items from mobile phone to synthetic drugs in jails which tends to threaten the security by making the intoxicants available that could aggravate and cause disorder in prison cells.

The intelligence officers at the National Offender Management Services – NOMS have shown that they are also disturbed at the prospect of using remote-controlled Unmanned Aerial Vehicles – UAVs to drop lethal weapons in jails after a package of the same size and weight of a gun had been dropped successfully unobserved in an unnamed totally secured prison at the time of covert testing earlier this year.

On investigation it was recommended that many incidents with the help of drones to overfly prisons, delivering packages in the last few months had been linked to serious crime groups. The outcome of it has governors now gearing themselves for security breaches by UAVs in being more recurrent issues over 150 prisons in Britain.

Drones – Cheap & Easy to Use

According to NOMS, the number of attempts to intrude the prisons with the use of four or six drones is generally available through online or high street retailer though small,l is on the rise. Within a span of five months to May this year, nine incidents have been identified in England and Wales when compared to four for the total of 2014.

 Analysts from NOMS gave a briefing at the Defence and Security Equipment International show in London describing drone use as an emerging threat causing a UAV technology, as cheap and easy to use. A senior analyst at the NOMS unit, Eve Richard stated that `in a nutshell, the intelligence recommend that the use of UAVs to release items into the prisons is an emerging threat and it is not a huge issue presently but there could be potential for the same to increase and become more problematic’.

He added that all the prisons could be vulnerable and it does not seem to matter where they could be but it does matter what kind of prisoners they tend to have and in what type of security category they may be.

Three Month Study of UAV Risks

Every space could be vulnerable since it is air space and as long as one can get a UAV over the wall they could be vulnerable. A UAV which is refined and capable of being accurately manoeuvred with the use of GPS technology and move a payload of over 1.5 kg could be bought for less than £1,000 and flown away with the minimum training.

A recent attempt where drones had been used to breach security had been made in March to fly a UAV into Bedford Prison along with a package comprising of mobile phones and drugs. However the aircraft got entangled in barbed wire after it seemed to have been destabilised by its cargo. NOMS has stated that as a part of a three month study of UAV risks, it had carried out a test flight of a drone over maximum security prison.

The drone achieved to fly over the prison and drop packages which were the same size and weight to a handgun prior to withdrawing unobserved by any one on duty. Mr Richard had commented that they had no intelligence that drones were being utilised for trafficking weapons but can now recognise that the possibility is there’.

Drone Maker DJI Bans Washington Flights After White House Crash

According to reports, last week drone of Chinese manufacturer crashed into the White House lawn when it was taking the action to prevent regular incidents. Drone maker DJI stated that “In coming days we will publish a firmware update, which can prevent its flying kit while flying inside Washington DC, which is restricted airspace. And soon after the incidents Drone maker DJI bans all the flights in Washington.


As per the last update currently all aircraft are stopped from crossing national borders, as reports says that last week one of the quadcopters of DJI was found on the ground nearby car park, which is closed to Mexico-US divide. Quadcopter was containing methamphetamine and bags were taped to its body because traffickers were trying to smuggle the illegal drug into United States of America.

Now owners of the Phantom 2 family of drones need to download the updated firmware and later they need install it for the restrictions to take effect and after that programmers will be able to de-activate any kind of the limitations in new models, and these models will come with pre-installed codes. But according to one of the organization, which is Shenzhen-based firm “It would inform the customers that these updates are mandatory and it can make it impossible to add any other future features in it if the firmware will not be installed”.


As per Michael Perry, who is the spokesperson of DJI, “As we all know that aerial systems community is growing day by day, so we feel that it is important to provide additional tools to pilots to fly safely and more responsibly”.

The more DJI officials stated that we are co-operating with national regulators, so that they can make it sure that our sky is still safe and it is open for innovative innovations, as he added that our organization intended to expand the kit’s and additional tools for no fly zone system, and it will work by checking a the GPS location of drone's and it will ensure that drones will not fly in restricted areas such as; an airport runway and other areas of security.


On last Monday, “US Secret Services started an investigation, when one of DJI's Phantom drones was found in the no flying zone of White House. Later it was identified that the device was flown by another government worker, who was the unnamed member of the NGIA (National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency), while drinking he was operating the device through the window of his own apartment. But he was not arrested, as the arrested indicated that there is need to implement new rules to safeguard the President and other members.

Currently, Federal Aviation Administration is working on the controls to govern the commercial use opf small and big drones, but there have been news that it can be ready to issue them until 2017. In mean time new policy of DJI will limit at least some of its drones as they will be able to take flight within the 15.5 mile of radius. We all know that eagle has crash-landed in Washington and now there should not be stronger FAA guidelines for drones are much needed.

FAA Touts Growing Drone Market at CES 2015

With the latest craze of drones right now, the year 2015 has brought up a shining market for drones this providing satisfaction to the customers who have been waiting for the mainstream return of the drones. This automatic aerial vehicle that has come up is no doubt one of the greatest innovations so far and through certain experiments it has been revealed to be most efficiently working too.

These flying robots now have gained their own section in the Consumer Electronics Show that has been held every year. This section has no doubt gained immense popularity and more and more interested customers are seeping in. More people are attracted towards these machines as these auto- robots can take photos and videos from a dimension that you cannot ever imagine.

Some oil companies have taken up these robots to work for its own business as with the help of these they can be thoroughly updated no matter what. Also the random use of this machine is really helping a lot in the upsurge in profit for these companies. This device helps in the monitoring of the low cost security and disaster management simultaneously at a go.

The device is still getting evolved and soon we will get to see the consumers paying $103 million on drones by the time 2015 is ending and the industry is definitely going to spike up if the work goes on in this pace. The only thing that has been pulling back this market is that this has not produced what we know as the must buy products. The main reason for this being the price which is very costly but there is a bit of hope that as time goes by, these high profile gadgets will be cheaper and more efficient so that it becomes mandatory to use them.

The four drone companies that were brought up this year is ZANO, Parrot, Qualcomm and Nixie, and they had brought about a camera that could be attached to your wrist. Another thing that will stun you is that it adds a definite style to clicking selfies as because you can toss it high up in the air and it will click your selfie before gating back to your hand. Also the device is hardy enough and that is the reason why you will not have to think twice before tossing it up.

Things that these devices need to change 

There are some impractical design problems that needs to be fixed first so that the devices become lighter and easy to handle. Also the prices need to be lowered a bit so that everyone can afford it and it can turn into a necessity for every field. Now each and every company are bent upon making their deign perfect so that more and more consumers are allured to it.

FAA has suggested that with the gradual passage of time the machines will definitely gain the perfection that the consumers have been craving for since the last two to three years.

Why Eel Drones Are the Future of Naval Warfare

Eel Drones – Underwater Reconnaissance

The U.S. Navy comprehends the importance of developing updated technology to keep up as well as ahead of other countries and according to recent reports it indicates that at least twelve countries have focused their resources and energy on autonomous underwater vehicles.

It is looking into Eel drones for underwater reconnaissance and/or attack which probably this tech had been around since the 50s though it is now making some progress in several countries which include the US while Russia had begun to explore the capabilities of undersea Eel drone in order to protect battleships and any underwater attack for divers.

The Eel design has been chosen since it has an ideal shape with the capacity to conserve the most energy as well as being undetectable. Aerial drones tend to be an important part of U.S. military strategy and looks more like an aircraft rather than an owl, butterflies or birds. Recently a robotic eel design prototype was debuted by a team of researchers from Singapore led by Jianxin Xu which could signal the future of undersea warfare.

Navy Drone – Slocum Glider 

Presently the most well-known Navy drone is the Slocum Glider from a company – Teledyne Benthos, which received over $200 million this year to develop further, the Glider for the Navy and Xu debates that the Glider, an inflexible torpedo drone leaves much to be desired as well as that nature has provided them with a better design.According to Xu who informed `Defense One’, he states that `Anguilliform’, an eel like fish utilises less energy on a long distance journey than a regular autonomous underwater vehicle. He comments that they are highly manoeuvrable as well as flexible, which makes them more appropriate than Gliders for navigating small spaces.

 Moreover the noiseless propulsion is an added advantage for the military and is less detectable than robot subs which propel themselves like conventional subs. Anguilliform locomotion is derived from the Latin word anguilla for eel which involves wide undulation in the body and is also common to sharks. Due to anguilliform movement, undulation takes the form of a wave which moves down the length of the body of the animal and pushes the water away, from side to side. Research for many years speculating in fluid dynamics, considered thunniform to be faster as well as efficient though recent research disagreed on this issue.

Eel Bots – Less Guidance/Operation 

Eel bots can explore and navigate reefs which tend to be difficult, hulls and undersea geological formations the way other fish are unable to do so. Xu states that the future prototype of his robot would need less guidance for operation and can self-navigate amidst difficult or dark crawl spaces resulting in less operators presiding over robots and make it more cost efficient for the Navy. Its most attractive feature is it adaptability and with the same undulating movement which propels it through the water, can also move forward on land too.

The Pentagon office of Naval Research had provided funds for project and research across the country for the sole purpose of developing UUVs for their military and these underwater drones would probably be used for underwater surveillance purpose like search and rescue operations, attacks on small boats and divers, checking for mines, mapping the sea floor as well as weather data collection. These drones could be powered by hydrogen which would help them in never running out of fuel.

NASA aiming for establishment of traffic rules for Low-Flying and Commercial Drones

NASA is not among the latest companies who got interested in the air traffic control management system. According to the recent files reports, NASA is in search for partners to collaborate and establish a traffic management system for low-flying drones. In the fact sheet containing the proposal on this issue NASA explained that at the moment there are no infrastructure established that can not only enable but also safely manage the extensive usage of low-altitude airspace. Drones and the Small craft which are basically remotely guided and are used by hobbyists along with drones have no knowledge of each other. They might not be able to avoid each other and other things like high winds and power lines etc.

NASA is aiming towards building a system, which will help them in tracking as well as managing the increasing numbers of aircrafts in the air. Even though NASA has been working on a project on the similar lines for more than years, the proposed “Unmanned aerial system Traffic Management” (UTM) is still in its infancy. Currently NASA is planning to work people who have expertise and have contributed towards this idea, which includes aircraft makers, sensors and software developers and aviation experts among others.

Commercial drones

Agency is looking for partners to develop a project for safe commercial usage of drones in United States of America. This multi-year program is an idea towards developing air traffic management for commercial drones. This program is important as the commercial drones used in banned in USA by the Federal Aviation Administration which includes devices like Octocopters, Quadcopters and other remote-controlled aircraft among others.

This means a path has been cleared for people who now legally fly consumer can grade UAS (unmanned aerial system) from various companies ranging from 3D robotics, DJI and Parrot among others. Added to this factor, now Amazon has announced that they will use this device to deliver package.

Airware is among the first partners who are helping the agency in this multi year program. The aim of this device is to ensure a safe management apart from the low altitude use of devices from ground to 500 feet. According to Jesse Kallman, who is the head of Airware's business development and regulatory affairs, the current problem that everyone is facing is that there is no universal system for the ensuring the safety of people on ground apart from those in airplanes and helicopters, as sometimes there are communication issues with drone pilots due to their devices.

Apart from this NASA aims to safe delivery of the pilot at ground. Even though this program it is not expected to launch it for upcoming years, but elements of this work is expected to come out in the market anytime in between.

Are Drones coming to Disney World?

Disneyland has been the main source of entertainment when it comes to having ultimate fun for the kids and the family in the US and around the world. It has been able to attract a variety of crowds since its arrival into the global scene since the 30’s. Even though it has the variety and fatal attractions for the crowd, it is trying to bring up something that will give a unique experience to the crowd. Drone is that object of attraction that is getting everyone’s brains to run and predict a different zone into the area of Disneyland. Disneyland has filed for at least 3 patents over the last months to get giant drones to fly over the zone to animate giant puppets and act as a camera person also.

Thought behind bringing Drones into the scene:- 

• Giving the public a new image: - To majority of the population, Disneyland has been an attraction due to its characters with relation to Disney and the graphical interpretations of them along with the rides. This idea of introducing drones as flying objects will give a new image to Disneyland and increase the technological value.
• Setting a trend for future :- An enhancement of the characteristics and technological value of Disneyland through the use of Drones that will act as robots that will fly, carry objects and increase the cosmetic value is going a set a trend that has never been seen in any area which are counterparts to Disneyland. This will open new avenues and allow the future explorers to experiment on this feature.
• Newer aspects of Drones :- Helium filled balloons will be connected to other drones and will be synchronised with subsequent counterparts and will not need to be controlled from the ground. This will allow automatic operations.
• Will allow illustrations of characters: -These flying drones will be able to act as illustrations for various famous characters based on movies and comic characters giving an attractive feature that will be able to act as a motion sensor and carry varieties with it.
• Carriers: - Major wok for the drones will be as carriers, where they will act to carry display screens and lighting systems that will enhance the look of the Disney world complex and reanimate the features.

Matters to look at:-

• Use of demos to suite the technology: - Before getting into the thick of things, it will be necessary to test the new feature and see its effect along with validation. 
• Need for technology: -There has to be an enhanced technological feature that will allow the objects to be light, movable and be able to understand motion sensory movements.
• Study more about drones: - Drones have been a feature for the military use and has opened its way to be implemented into the commercial use, but a lot of research still needs to be done before bringing it into the commercial scene.

Drones look a substantial way to rock up the interest in the population but patent requests have to be accepted and tests are to be completed totally before taking it on.