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INDIANAPOLIS, Ind.—Are drones the public safety tool of the future? Wayne Township Fire Department certainly thinks so. For the past three years, the department has invested in, and expanded, the used of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) to a point where they’re second nature on many calls.

“Once we got the aircraft and we started using them, we immediately saw a huge benefit,” said Cpt. Michael Pruitt, public information officer with Wayne Township Fire Department.

The first immediate benefit Wayne Township Fire saw was giving commanders new “eyes” on incidents without needing helicopters or putting personnel in harm’s way. That goes for fires, hazmat situations and severe weather.

In one case, Pruitt said the department was called to a tanker leak. When they arrived on scene it was unclear where the leak was coming from and what it was. They flew the department’s drone close enough to read the label on the tanker and identify the liquid..

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First UK police drone unit launched in Devon, Cornwall and Dorset

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Media captionFirst police drone unit launched in Devon, Cornwall and DorsetThe first dedicated police drone unit in the UK has been launched.
Devon and Cornwall Police began testing the drones with Dorset Police in 2015, but have now established a permanent unit with three full-time staff.
It is hoped the drones could be used to track suspects in firearm incidents as well as in counter-terrorism operations.
The unit's six drones have already been used to find missing people and gather evidence to secure court convictions.

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Some of the drones are fitted with thermal imaging cameras

It is aiming to have 40 officers complete their Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) drone training and up to 18 drones in operation by the start of 2018.

Some of the drones have a police livery and are equipped with zoom cameras and thermal imaging.
As well as crime scene and ..

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THEY have led to growing concerns over the risk to aircraft safety and the impact on personal privacy. But one mountain rescue team believes drones could help lives and prove to be a crucial device when it comes to search and rescue efforts.

Lochaber MRT, based in Fort William, is already using the aerial technology to assist in its work in remote parts of Scotland and wants to train more of its team members to operate drones.

The team used a drone last week to help find a female climber who had injured a leg on Sgurr a’Bhuic, near the Nevis Range ski slopes on Aonach Mor.

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Meanwhile, it also deployed one over Glen Nevis to create a 3D image of the wild country around the glen, which is the final stretch of the hugely popular West Highland Way and close to some of the most frequently visited mountains in the land.

It is thought two hillwalkers who went missing two years ago might have got into difficulty in the area.

Eric Cyl, 62, originally from Kilm..

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BI IntelligenceThe Rise of the Drone Industry
For years, the drone market was in a nascent phase and had yet to break into the mainstream. Then, in 2015, drone industry growth took a major step forward when the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) granted hundreds of new exemptions for companies to operate drones in the U.S.

These exemptions included several new use cases in multiple industries, such as insurance, construction, and agriculture. Each of these scenarios demonstrate the broad range of commercial applications for drones.

The FAA helped push drone market growth forward by formulating a regulatory framework with its consumer drone registry. Drone manufacturers and tech suppliers are doing all they can to capitalize on this and turn drones into a full-fledged industry.

Drone Industry Growth Until Now
There's no arguing the drone industry growth that has occurred in the last few years, but discrepancies arise in trying to quantify that growth depending on how you def..

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School holiday drone camps are encouraging Darwin girls towards careers in STEM

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July 12, 2017 10:11:27

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Jacqueline Luntungan, Jordan Jones and Peggy Tom are keen to learn about drones. (ABC Radio Darwin: Mark Rigby)

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School holidays used to be about playing quoits with the kids down the street, but for around 50 girls from Darwin this mid-year break has been a real buzz.
The girls aged between 10 and 17 have been taking part in She Flies drone camps where they learn to pilot and program drones.
But the camps were about more than just learning to fly for fun, according to She Flies co-founder and chief education officer Karen Joyce.
“What we're doing here this week is actually not even about the drones,” she said.

Photo:
Dr Karen Joyce often uses drones to map and surv..

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Drone used by Lochaber Mountain Rescue Team

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Lochaber MRT

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Two members of Lochaber MRT have been trained to pilot the team's drone

A Scottish mountain rescue team has been deploying a drone to help it in its searches for lost and injured climbers.
Lochaber MRT used the aerial technology last week to help find a female climber who had injured a leg on Sgurr á Bhuic.
The team has also deployed its drone over Glen Nevis to take photographs to create a 3D image of the area.
The area involved was the potential location of two hillwalkers who went missing two years ago.
Kilmarnock-born Eric Cyl, 62, was last seen heading off into the Mamore mountain range near Fort William at the end of May 2015.

Tom Brown, 65, from Lanarkshire, was last seen leaving his Lanarkshire home on 1 July the same year.
A drone was used in a search for Mr Cyl involving Police Scotland and mountain rescue teams soon after he disappeared.
Lochaber MRT hope to use its equipmen..

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The five-day intensive commercial drone course will lead to the award of a Remote Pilot License, certified by the Civil Aviation Safety Authority of Australia (CASA). (Reuters)

The University of Adelaide has become Australia’s first varsity to offer a professional course to train people to fly drones or remotely piloted aircraft. The five-day intensive commercial drone course will lead to the award of a Remote Pilot License, certified by the Civil Aviation Safety Authority of Australia (CASA). Under Civil Aviation Safety Regulations, the operation of drones over two kilograms for commercial purposes needs certification. “Drone technology is rapidly evolving and growing in popularity in a range of industries, from agriculture and mining through to engineering and defense,” said Professor Lian Pin Koh, Director of the university’s Unmanned Research Aircraft Facility that runs the course.

“We have been using drones for a wide range of environmental and agricultural research applications..

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The emergence of terrorist drones flown by ISIS in Iraq has fueled interest in drone-defense technology – while raising questions about whether the U.S. is ready for potential drone terrorist attacks on the homeland.

Over the last six months, ISIS has increased its use of weaponized and surveillance drones against Iraqi and U.S. forces. U.S. Central Command told Fox News coalition troops have as many as 30 encounters a week with unmanned aerial vehicles. These drones are inexpensive ones modified to drop grenades or to surveil troop movements.

Underscoring the accessibility and affordability of these drones: During the last two months, the U.S. military has destroyed at least five ISIS drone facilities, including one factory and four storage facilities.

TRUMP GIVES CIA POWER TO LAUNCH DRONE STRIKES

ISIS has posted online propaganda videos touting its drones along with detailed tutorials explaining how to arm them. The emerging drone threat has led some experts to question wheth..

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