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.”
drones
Drone Life: Attorney Launches Drone Legal Database
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
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 a hopeful future. Humanity is self-isolating, social distancing, and, yes, quarantining in an effort to beat back the coronavirus. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the drone videos are as surreal as the experience itself.”
Digital Trends: Spanish police are using drones to scold citizens who go outside
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
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
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 the Army’s U.S. patent application published on Thursday.”
Slashgear: DJI mobile app will let anyone identify drones in flight
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 restrict all drone users, it wants to make it easier to identify and punish only the bad ones. Its solution is almost too simple to be true, taking the form a free mobile app.”
Engadget: Alphabet’s Wing starts drone deliveries to US homes
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
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
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
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
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
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 Information System (GIS) containing orthophoto maps of Malta’s road network as well as digital road surface models, road condition and damage data that can be used to establish reconstruction prioritisation levels.” I had never heard the term “orthophoto” before, but GIS Lounge enlightened me.
Ecns: Drones increasingly used to protect Great Wall
Ecns: Drones increasingly used to protect Great Wall. “The use of drones helps human inspectors gain a precise understanding of the preservation of the Great Wall at delicate levels and reveals more information on areas difficult for people to access. Yanqing has the most extensive Great Wall elements in the capital city as well as a complete preservation system. Authorities said drones, satellite images and other new technologies will provide the most comprehensive, accurate data on the Great Wall to create a digital archive platform.”
CBR: DJI Drone Hack Opens Up Flight and Video Records to Threat Actors
CBR: DJI Drone Hack Opens Up Flight and Video Records to Threat Actors. “The research team at cybersecurity firm Check Point discovered a vulnerability which allowed hackers to gain access to the flight logs and videos capture by DJI drone operators. Headquartered in China, DJI is one of the world’s largest producer of drones and quadcopters for the consumer market. Check Point researchers Oded Vanun, Dikla Barda and Roman Zaikin discovered that an attacker could gain access to DJI customer accounts without the account holder being aware that the saved flight paths and footage from their drones were accessible.”
