Australian Aviation: Google Drone Service Wing To Expand In Australia. “Google’s drone delivery service, Wing, is set to expand to new locations in Australia in the coming months after successful trials in Canberra and Logan, Queensland. The business’ head of policy and government affairs, Margaret Nagle, revealed orders have soared 500 per cent because of […]
The Drive: MQ-9 Reaper Flies With AI Pod That Sifts Through Huge Sums Of Data To Pick Out Targets. “General Atomics says that it has successfully integrated and flight-tested Agile Condor, a podded, artificial intelligence-driven targeting computer, on its MQ-9 Reaper drone as part of a technology demonstration effort for the U.S. Air Force. The […]
North Carolina Department of Transportation: NCDOT Helping in Effort to Use Drones in COVID-19 Relief Efforts. “State transportation officials announced today a public-private partnership that will use drones to deliver critical medical supplies and food during the COVID-19 response.”
Drone Life: Attorney Launches Drone Legal Database. “As drone technology flies into more aspects of everyday living, legal conflicts are sure to follow. Florida-based aviation attorney Jonathan Rupprecht decided to take a crack at bringing order to the chaos, releasing an online database of drone-related legal activity.”
Mashable: Drone videos of quarantined cities around the world are both eerie and inspiring. “It’s like something out of a disaster film: deserted streets, empty sidewalks, boarded-up storefronts. But unlike all the zombie and alien-invasion movies that preceded them, the real photos and videos showing quarantined cities from around the world suggest the possibility of […]
Digital Trends: Spanish police are using drones to scold citizens who go outside. “While the majority of people are taking social distancing and shelter-in-place orders seriously, some aren’t, and police in Spain have adopted a new tool to help convince those people to stay indoors: Drones.”
ABC News (Australia): Google-affiliated drone delivery company clashes with Government over safety and noise concerns. “The Federal Government’s move to dodge responsibility for noise in the emerging drone-delivery sector has been met by opposition from a surprising source — the world’s leading drone-delivery company.”
EurekAlert: New US Army software rapidly converts live drone video into 2D and 3D maps . “Dr. Richard ‘Ricky’ Massaro, from the Corps’ Geospatial Research Laboratory, designed a computational algorithm to convert full-motion videos from small drones into image files, extract the metadata, and produce accurate 2D and 3D geospatial images in real-time, according to […]
Slashgear: DJI mobile app will let anyone identify drones in flight. “DJI, perhaps the world’s biggest maker of professional and hobby drones, is keenly aware of the privacy violations drones can cause. But rather than lock down the drone market, DJI proposes giving everyone a tool to identify errant drones. In other words, rather than […]
Engadget: Alphabet’s Wing starts drone deliveries to US homes. “Alphabet’s Wing has started making deliveries by drone to homes in the US for the first time. During a pilot program in Christiansburg, Virginia, drones will drop off packages from FedEx, Walgreens and local retailer Sugar Magnolia, which include over-the-counter medication, snacks and gifts.”
CNN: Alphabet’s Wing to make Walgreens’ drone deliveries in small Virginia town. “Drone deliveries are finally coming to the United States in a very limited way. The drone delivery service from Google’s parent company Alphabet will launch a delivery pilot in a small Virginia town next month.”
DroneDJ: UK database of drone pilots would cost eye-watering £4m. “UK database capturing information of drone pilots would cost an eye-watering £4m. The government database would collect the personal information of around 150.000 UK drone pilots. Apart from its very high initial price, the database would cost another £2.9m per year to maintain.”
Yahoo News: Google’s Wing Aviation gets FAA OK for drone deliveries. “Google affiliate Wing Aviation has received federal approval allowing it to make commercial deliveries by drone. It’s the first time a company has gotten a federal air carrier certification for drone deliveries.”
The Intercept: Pentagon Says All Of Google’s Work On Drones Is Exempt From The Freedom Of Information Act. “All 5,000 pages of documents about Google’s work on the drone effort, known as Project Maven, are barred from public disclosure, because they constitute ‘critical infrastructure security information.’”
Malta Today: Drones will map out 2,500 kilometres of Malta’s roads for new database. “Aerial photos of over 2,500 kilometres of roads in Malta and Gozo will be captured by specialised drones during the next few weeks, starting from the northern parts of Malta. These images will then be processed to develop a new Geographic […]