News Archives - Page 24 of 84

Embry-Riddle Study Finds 1 in 5 Drone Flights are a Risk to Manned Flight

In February 2018, a YouTube video revealed a small unmanned aircraft system (sUAS) taking off from a parking lot and climbing more than 1,000 feet as a passenger jet came dangerously close to the drone on approach to McCarran Airport. The irresponsible drone operator then flew upside down to get a better shot of the Frontier Airlines […]

First Civilian BVLOS Flights with Radar

Avitas Systems, a GE venture, announced that it received Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) approval to fly an unmanned aerial system (UAS) beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) in Loving County, Texas. The permission authorizes Avitas Systems to fly a UAS over 55 pounds at low altitudes without a visual observer for industrial inspection; it is […]

Drone Finds Man Lost in Desert

The temperature was up in the eighties. And his friend, who went off to explore their surroundings without carrying any water, hadn’t been seen for an hour. That’s what happened to a pair of travelers who were driving through the sprawling Taklamakan Desert in western China on Sunday, when one of them went missing. Beijing Youth Daily […]

Drone Finds WW II P-38 in Glacial Ice

On July 15, 1942, six P-38 Lightning fighter aircraft and two B-17 Flying Fortress bombers encountered a blizzard while supporting the Allied war effort in the British Isles. The aircraft were forced to conduct an emergency landing on the glaciers of Greenland, and though all the crew members were rescued nine days later, the aircraft […]

Disney’s Spray Painting Drones

We’ve seen some pretty interesting work come out of Disney Research in the past, like techniques for digitally recreating teeth, makeup-projecting lamps, a group AR experience and a stick-like robot that can perform backflips. One of its latest projects is PaintCopter — a drone that can autonomously spray paint both flat and 3D surfaces. Disney […]

Medical Supply By Drone

DHL, the German government and the Darmstadt-based drone manufacturer Wingcopter have completed successfully a six-month trial delivering medicines in 40 minutes to an island in Lake Victoria that normally takes six hours by road. Following an invitation by John Mongella, the Regional Commissioner of Mwanza, a port city on Lake Victoria, the 4kg-capacity Wingcopter made […]

Farewell Good Organizers: Why Dozens Are Leaving the Sport and Hobby

Local organizers have been the backbone of the first-person-view (FPV) drone racing community since 2014. They have thrived as independent event organizers, sanctioned chapters, and regionally based leagues that built local series and qualifiers for larger organizations, entertainment shows, and international championships. Without local organizers, drone racing would be a brick building without the mortar […]

Washington DC Capitol dome detail with waving american flag

FAA Reauthorization Act Passes

Today the U.S. Senate passed H.R. 302, the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018 by a 93-6 vote. In addition to funding for the FAA for the next five years, it makes major changes to drone regulations. The Senate vote will move the Act on to be signed by President Trump and will bring much needed stability to […]

“Bee Drone” Flies Like an Insect

The University of Maryland’s Perception and Robotics Group has been working on a system that allows a drone to fly through very small and completely unknown gaps using just a single camera and onboard processing. It’s based on a bee-inspired strategy that yields a success rate of 85 percent. The modified drone used in UMD’s experiments includes […]

New Battery Configuration Allows 2-Hour Flights

California-based startup Impossible Aerospace says that their new battery configuration can allow drones to fly for two hours! The company says it simply rethought the way drones are designed and built and notes that its first drone, which is about the size of a DJI Phantom, can last up to two hours in the air, […]