A few years ago I wrote about how YouTube opened up rallying to the world in a way that it never had before, taking the sport out of forests and onto screens everywhere. I didn’t expect the same of drones and drifting but here we are.
Nov. 12 (UPI) — A group of shocked cyclists captured video of the moment a drone operator nearly pulled off a high-tech bike theft.
The video, recorded in Hustopece, Moravia, Czech Republic, shows the cyclists climbing a local landmark known as Lookout Tower and taking video of a drone flying nearby.
The cyclists start scrambling down the tower when the drone lowers down to the ground and picks up one of the bicycles.
Continue reading “Drone’s high-tech bike theft attempt caught on camera” »
California firm’s long-anticipated flying motorcycle will set you back $150,000.
This drone-like flying motorcycle can be yours for $150,000. Hoversurf Official via YouTube.
Continue reading “Hoverbikes are finally here, but don’t expect to fly cheap” »
The U.S. military is investing billions of dollars each year in developing autonomous technologies that could enable planes, helicopters and drones to fly into some of the world’s most dangerous places, without a human pilot.
AI-empowered systems may soon allow autonomous flying machines to reduce the number of pilots and soldiers working in high-risk environments. Could these flying robots also be firing weapons? WSJ’s Jason Bellini reports, in the latest episode of Moving Upstream.
With the rapid advances in drone technology spanning the 20th century, it should come as no surprise that miniature flying robots are on the horizon: Between now and 2020, Goldman Sachs’ forecasts a $100 billion market opportunity for drones, helped by growing demand from the commercial and civil government sectors.
What is surprising is that it has taken researchers more than two decades to finally come up with a fully autonomous version. That’s because the electronics needed to power and control the wings were so heavy that, until now, flying robotic insects had to be tethered to a wire attached to an external power source.
Yet a team of engineers at the University of Washington, led by assistant professor Sawyer Fuller, were able to figure it out. Relying on funding from UW, they created RoboFly, a robo-insect powered by an invisible laser beam that is pointed at a photovoltaic cell, which is attached above the robot and converts the laser light into enough electricity to operate its wings.
DJI is taking one of its newest drones and turning it into something small businesses and government agencies might want to use. The Chinese drone maker just announced the Mavic 2 Enterprise — a modular $1,999 version of the Mavic 2 Zoom — that is better suited for tasks like inspection or search and rescue.
Mavic 2 Enterprise comes with three different accessories. There’s a 2,400-lumen spotlight, a 100-decibel speaker, and a flashing strobe. The loudspeaker allows operators to remotely blast up to 10 custom recordings, and the strobe is visible from three miles away. DJI says the accessories help move its products “beyond imaging” and “into configurable platforms that enhance aerial productivity.”
