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Archive for the ‘drones’ category: Page 40

Dec 24, 2021

Israel starts fourth phase of ambitious national drone initiative

Posted by in categories: business, drones, robotics/AI

Israel is nearing the halfway mark of its national drone initiative – an ambitious pilot program seeking to test and prepare operational capacities for UAV use in daily life and business, and place participating companies at the forefront of rapidly approaching aerial services.

According to an official statement, the purpose of the trials is to “integrate the use of drones in routine activities such as transportation of basic products, first aid; (and) deploying a drone attached to a vehicle for real-time monitoring of traffic movement with AI-based elements that can provide forecasts, and much more.”

Dec 23, 2021

A Swedish company has created a microchip that allows users to carry their COVID vaccine passport under their skin

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, computing, drones

The implant, which costs 100 euros, will allow people to have their vaccine passports implanted to make them easily-scannable.


Militaries around the world have focused on aerial drones. Now, a DARPA project wants to put a drone underwater for months.

Dec 23, 2021

DARPA project will build full scale underwater drone demonstrators

Posted by in category: drones

Militaries around the world have focused on aerial drones. Now, a DARPA project wants to put a drone underwater for months.

Dec 22, 2021

Underwater Drones? DARPA’s Manta-Ray Project Just Moved to Phase 2

Posted by in categories: drones, robotics/AI

And it can stay submerged for a very long time.

The U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has awarded Phase 2 contracts for its unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs) program called Manta-Ray, the agency said in a press release.

Continue reading “Underwater Drones? DARPA’s Manta-Ray Project Just Moved to Phase 2” »

Dec 22, 2021

UN talks adjourn without deal to regulate ‘killer robots’

Posted by in categories: drones, geopolitics, governance, robotics/AI, treaties

In Machinia, Damon learns that the robot uprising was the result of the weapons of war simply refusing to wage war. In the article that follows, the UN is already very concerned about autonomous weapons being deployed that do not require human governance. #war, #UN


GENEVA — Countries taking part in UN talks on autonomous weapons stopped short of launching negotiations on an international treaty to govern their use, instead agreeing merely to continue discussions.

The International Committee of the Red Cross and several NGOs had been pushing for negotiators to begin work on an international treaty that would establish legally-binding new rules on the machine-operated weapons.

Continue reading “UN talks adjourn without deal to regulate ‘killer robots’” »

Dec 22, 2021

EXCLUSIVE U.S. concerned over Turkey’s drone sales to conflict-hit Ethiopia

Posted by in categories: drones, government

ISTANBUL/ADDIS ABABA, Dec 22 (Reuters) — U.S. authorities have taken issue with Turkey over its sales of armed drones to Ethiopia, where two sources familiar with the matter said there was mounting evidence the government had used the weapons against rebel fighters.

Washington has “profound humanitarian concerns” over the sales, which could contravene U.S. restrictions on arms to Addis Ababa, a senior Western official said.

The year-long war between Ethiopia’s government and the leadership of the northern Tigray region, among Africa’s bloodiest conflicts, has killed thousands of civilians and displaced millions.

Dec 20, 2021

National Drone Initiative Launches Fourth Phase

Posted by in categories: drones, robotics/AI

Israel’s National Drone Initiative has launched the fourth phase of its pilot program, which this time will include night operations as well as flights in which cargo will be delivered directly via winches to the end customer.

NDI began flights over urban areas in January 2021, resumed trial flights on Sunday, involving several companies that manage and operate autonomous drone networks.

For the next two weeks, flights will take place day and night above Gush Dan and Yerucham, in order to integrate the use of drones in routine activities such as transportation of basic products, first aid; deploying a drone attached to a vehicle for real-time monitoring of traffic movement with AI-based elements that can provide forecasts, and much more.

Dec 20, 2021

FlyingBasket FB3 heavy-lift drone nails first urban transport flight in Turin

Posted by in categories: drones, security

Italian company FlyingBasket has reached an important milestone for the future of urban air mobility (UAM), performing the first urban area flight operation in the Italian city of Torino (Turin). The flight was part of a logistic demonstration in collaboration with Leonardo, an Italian global high-technology company, among the top world players in Aerospace, Defense, and Security, and Poste Italiane, the Italian postal service provider.

FlyingBasket’s FB3 eVTOL cargo drone with 100 kg payload capability has been in commercial operation for a year now since it received the first operational authorization to perform complex logistic missions in sparsely populated areas. During the demonstration, two FB3 heavy lift drones transported delivery packages over the Stura di Lanzo river. One drone with a cargo compartment and another with a sling payload carried 26 Kg each over a 3.9 Km distance to the destination (total flight 7 Km).

The sling payload with a cargo hook makes convenient delivery possible without the need for landing infrastructure whereas, the cargo compartment is designed to facilitate easier cargo handling, keeping it more protected from the elements during the flight. The demonstration set out a compelling instance for beyond pilots’ visual line of sight, or BVLOS flights in the advanced air mobility (AAM) context. The objective of the operation was to demonstrate the fast, efficient, and safe use of heavy-lift UAVs for freight hauling – in this instance, above a major urban center for the first time ever in Italy.

Dec 19, 2021

MIT Breakthrough Gives Insect-Sized Drones a Carrying Capacity Nearly Three Times Their Own Weight

Posted by in categories: drones, innovation

A new approach to building the soft actuators, which drive the drones’ wings boosts the lift-to-weight ratio to 3.7 to 1.

Dec 19, 2021

Killer robots aren’t science fiction; a push to ban them is growing

Posted by in categories: drones, law, military, robotics/AI

It may have seemed like an obscure United Nations conclave, but a meeting this week in Geneva was followed intently by experts in artificial intelligence, military strategy, disarmament and humanitarian law.

The reason for the interest? Killer robots — drones, guns and bombs that decide on their own, with artificial brains, whether to attack and kill — and what should be done, if anything, to regulate or ban them.

Once the domain of science fiction films like the “Terminator” series and “RoboCop,” killer robots, more technically known as Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems, have been invented and tested at an accelerated pace with little oversight. Some prototypes have even been used in actual conflicts.

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