Author: markdickinson

India has over 6 lakh rogue drones; agencies analysing sky fence, drone gun tech

India has over 6 lakh rogue drones; agencies analysing sky fence, drone gun techRecent incidents like the lethal drone attack on Saudi Arabia's largest petroleum company and arms dropping by UAVs in Punjab from across the India-Pakistan border has alerted Indian security and intelligence agencies.PTI|Sep 29, 2019, 03.10 PM ISTBy Neelabh Srivastava

NEW DELHI: India has an estimated over 6 lakh rogue or unregulated unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and security agencies are analysing modern anti-drone weapons like 'sky fence' and 'drone gun' to counter terror or similar sabotage bids by these aerial platforms, official sources said on Sunday.

An official blueprint prepared by central agencies has been accessed by that states unregulated drones, UAVs and remotely-piloted aircraft system are a “potential threat” to vital installations, sensitive locations and specific events and a “compatible solution” is required to counter them.

A data estimation study conduc..

Autonomy New Mexico interns build drones to test hypersonic tech

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AeroVironment: Get Ready For The Drone Revolution With This Undervalued Stock

SummaryAeroVironment is a technological leader in small drone technology for both commercial and military use.
Following the recent drone attack in Saudi Arabia, I expect global demand for these small UAS systems to rise.
The company is profitable, has no debt (and a lot of cash), and trades at a reasonable valuation, making it an excellent strategic buyout target.
The firm is also pioneering “High Altitude Pseudo-Satellites” that may be able to significantly enhance cellular communication.

Drone helps filmmaker rescue pets stranded in the Bahamas after Hurricane Dorian

Breaking News EmailsGet breaking news alerts and special reports. The news and stories that matter, delivered weekday mornings.SUBSCRIBESept. 27, 2019, 3:51 AM UTCBy Suzanne CiechalskiA California cinematographer is combining his daily work with his passion for animals to help rescue pets stranded in the Bahamas after Hurricane Dorian devastated the islands.
Doug Thron, 49, who uses his drone to help relief efforts on the Abacos Islands in the northern Bahamas, has already found about 12 dogs and cats.
“I was actually pretty shocked to see as many animals as I did,” Thron told NBC News. “[It] still blows me away how these animals survive. Their will to survive is pretty strong.”
Thron traveled to the island earlier this month to participate in relief work and to film the destruction “to keep it in the public eye.”
“Then I went looking for animals because I knew with the giant piles of rubble that they'd be exceptionally hard to find,” he said.
Hurricane Dorian destroyed entire tow..

Binny Bansal, Kalyan Krishnamurthy, Sujeet Kumar invest in drone-tech company

1 min read

. Updated: 27 Sep 2019, 11:16 AM IST

As attack drones multiply, Israeli firms develop defenses

YEHUD, Israel — Israel, one of the pioneers of drone warfare, is now on the front lines of an arms race to protect against attacks by the unmanned aircraft.

A host of Israeli companies have developed defense systems they say can detect or destroy incoming drones. But obstacles remain, particularly when operating in crowded urban airspaces.

“Fighting these systems is really hard … not just because you need to detect them, but you also need to detect them everywhere and all the time,” said Ulrike Franke, a policy fellow at the European Council of Foreign Relations.

Drones present unique challenges that set them apart from traditional airborne threats, such as missiles or warplanes.

They can fly below standard military radar systems and use GPS technology to execute pinpoint attacks on sensitive targets for a fraction of the price of a fighter jet. They can also be deployed in “swarms,” which can trick or elude conventional defense systems. Even small off-the-shelf drones can be turne..

Croc-spotting drones to patrol north Queensland skies

AdvertisementSurf Life Saving Queensland will deploy drones equipped with special crocodile-spotting AI in north Queensland this summer to better protect swimmers.
The CrocSpotter technology has been developed by a multi-organisation team combining drone tech, artificial intelligence and cloud computing into a flying eye in the sky that can spot a crocodile in murky waters with much greater accuracy than a human.
The Wetpac Little Ripper drone, which incorporates croc-spotting technology, in action above the Mowbray River.
Drone company Westpac Little Ripper developed its drones to spot swimmers in trouble. It then worked with software developers to come up with a shark-spotting algorithm.
It has now adapted its system again, this time to spot crocodiles in rivers and on beaches in tourist areas of northern Queensland.
AdvertisementThe team unveiled the technology at the World of Drones Congress in Brisbane on Thursday with a live feed from a drone flying near Cairns, more than 1600 ki..

Self-Piloted passenger drones coming to Australia soon: What are the risks?

Credit: ID 62410910 © Alain Lacroix | Dreamstime.com

I love the idea of passenger drones and flying cars. I grew up watching “The Jetsons” on Saturday morning’s thinking that would be us one day. It’s funny when you think about it, some of the engineers who are putting these vehicles together today would have been growing up thinking the same thing as me. Long have movies, TV been a place where brilliant people see something and say “you know what I can make that for real” and they do.
Passenger drones are not quite here yet though which I am admittedly very disappointed about (which I am sure you would all have guessed) but honestly they are becoming reality. Especially if you are talking about passenger drones. A report by Deloitte “Elevating the future of mobility” from January last year is an interesting read and discussing some of the challenges that the industry faces. In the report/article it predicts that we could see Passenger drones as early as 2020, some form of traditiona..

XTEK secures exclusive contract to supply and service drones used by Australian Defence Force

Tech

Berkay Erkan

17:42 Wed 25 Sep 2019

Investor deep dive

XTEK expects at least $11.6 million of revenues this half-year

During A Police Raid, Russian Activist Uses Drone To Whisk Sensitive Data To Safety

(Mis)Uses of Technology

from the video-or-it-didn't-happen dept

Drones have moved beyond the novelty stage, and are now capable of having a global impact. That was shown most dramatically by the recent drone attack on the world's largest oil processing facility in Saudi Arabia. The loss of production has caused the price of oil to spike, and fears about a global recession to mount — all because of a few tiny drones. An article in the Guardian suggests:

Drones are now an integral part of the inventory of the region's most advanced militaries, and the also-rans. Non state actors have been clamouring to secure them as well — convinced by the utility of hard-to-detect, dispensable flying toys to be used as weapons of war.

But as Techdirt has noted before, drones are not all about death and destruction. BBC News has an interesting example of a novel use from Russia. It concerns a police..