Drones ready to take off, but India yet to set rules

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Rediff.com » Business » Drones ready to take off, but India still setting terms of use
Drones ready to take off, but India still setting terms of use

July 14, 2019 08:30 IST
Many new start-ups are trying to adopt drones for their business but India is nowhere close to unleashing the full potential of the sector, says Neha Alawadhi.

IMAGE: A drone flies and sprays chemicals during an operation to reduce air pollution in Bangkok, Thailand.

Over the past few weeks, two companies have made what appear to be significant advances in making drones a part of our everyday life.

Food-tech startup Zomato announced it was working on creating a fleet of drones to deliver food and drinks at our doorsteps.

Another start-up, Bengaluru-based Skylark Drones, unveiled its plans to deploy drones for aerial survey at an iron ore mine in Jharkhand.

The prospect of drones delivering goodies is indeed exciting.

But..

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Private equity firm acquires counter-drone tech maker

M&A

Private equity firm acquires counter-drone tech maker

Government market-focused private equity firm Acorn Growth Companies has acquired Black Sage Technologies, a developer of tools to counter and defend against unmanned aerial systems.

Terms of the transaction were undisclosed. Black Sage said in a release Thursday its customers include the U.S. military and other federal agencies; other aerospace-and-defense companies; and allies and partners in Europe, the Middle East and Asia.

Boise, Idaho-based Black Sage builds sensors, effectors and machine intelligence tools to autonomously take control of and take down small unmanned aircraft.

Black Sage’s flagship “UASX” systems are deployed in fixed-site security, critical infrastructure protection and commercial event airspace monitoring missions. The company touts a hardware-agnostic model for its offerings to integrate sensors with its artificial intelligence-enabled tracking and defense automation systems.

Headquartered in Ok..

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World: Long-Range Drone Delivers Cold-Chain Medicines, Vaccines Between Islands in Caribbean

11 Jul 2019

Long-Range Drone Delivers Cold-Chain Medicines, Vaccines Between Islands in Caribbean
Reportfrom
Direct Relief
Published on
10 Jul 2019
—
View Original

In what could represent a significant step forward in biopharmaceutical supply chain innovation and for humanitarian efforts around the world, a consortium comprised of AT&T, Direct Relief, Merck and Softbox has completed a program testing the potential of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs, also known as drones) to deliver temperature-dependent medicines and vaccines to hard-to-reach locations.

“Experience and research consistently show that those most at risk in disasters live in communities which are likely to be cut off from essential health care due to disruption of transportation and communications,” said Andrew Schroeder, director of research and analysis at Direct Relief. “Drone delivery is one of the most promising answers to this problem.”

In the test, a UAV flew over open water between the islands of the Bahamas, ..

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Dangerous drones could be shot down under new law

Dangerous drones could be shot down under new law Anti-drone equipment seen at Gatwick Airport following a day of disruption caused by drone sightings.A proposed law change would make it legal to shoot down drones in special circumstances.
The Government is currently consulting on changes to the Civil Aviation Act. One proposal is to allow drones to be detained, seized and destroyed in extreme situations.
Pilots and airports complain that current rules are lax as they treat drones equally to planes carrying people, making them almost impossible to bring down even when they pose a safety risk.
Advice to Transport Minister Phil Twyford on the changes warns the system must be designed carefully so it doesn't encourage “reckless or disproportionate” behaviour.
READ MORE:
* Travellers face chaos as drones shut London's Gatwick airport
* 'Violating' drone seen over Auckland home before statue stolen
* Air Force base operations suspended over drone
Drones were effe..

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Safety tips to observe when flying drones

Ife Ogunfuwa

With Amazon developing drone delivery and more research being conducted on unmanned aerial systems by groups such as National Aeronautics and Space Administration, it is only a matter of time before drones become more commonplace. The arrival of cheap drones also puts them within reach for folks who previously weren’t able to afford light quadcopters such as the Blade 350QX series or the DJI Phantom.

According to www.lifewire.com, as more people enter the commercial and hobby drone scene, however, the prospects for drone crashes and accidents also multiply.

Follow nine essential safety tips to help you have a better and safer flying experience—not just for yourself but for the people around you.

Things to do

Fly in good weather. Minimise a lot of problems by only operating your drone during ideal conditions. Good weather lets you not only fly your drone better but also keep track of it in the air. “Good” weather for drones is not limited to clear skies and the absence..

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Board Nears Final Approval of Drone Program

WATCH LIVELate Night With Seth MeyersActress Olivia Munn; comic Ramy Youssef; Matt Maeson performs; Jon Wurster sits in with the 8G Band. NEWSLETTERS Receive the latest local updates in your inboxPrivacy policy | More NewslettersWhat to KnowThe department experienced some issues with the first drones it used,
such as abruptly losing connections with them.But newer technology includes better sensors, higher quality video resolution and other advanced systems.A drone was used in June to locate a person who was suspected of being involved in a car-to-car shooting.The Los Angeles Police Commission Tuesday will consider formally creating the police department's first unmanned aircraft program, which has long been opposed by critics who believe the use of drones amounts to an invasion of residents' privacy.
The LAPD spent the last year testing the proposed program — known as the Small Unmanned Aerial Systems Program, or sUAS — using drones in select situations.
“The (program) was..

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