This robot is a drone and a generator that can go on surveillance missions. Is there anything it can’t do?
Category: drones – Page 97
Wingcopter Partners with UPS Flight Forward on Delivery Drones
Wingcopter and UPS Flight Forward (UPSFF) are collaborating to develop package delivery drones.
The companies will work toward earning regulatory certification for a Wingcopter unmanned aircraft to make commercial delivery flights in the United States, according to a news release. This partnership represents “a critical step toward building a diverse fleet of drones with varying capabilities to meet even more potential customer needs.”
The Wingcopter drone is capable of vertical takeoff and landing in tight spaces and transitioning to high-speed horizontal flight. Its patented tilt-rotor mechanism enables a seamless transition between the two drone modes—multicopter for hovering and fixed-wing for low-noise forward flight. The aerodynamic drone provides stability even in harsh weather conditions.
Plainclothes police seized drone of mass-burial photographer
Two weeks ago, the world was stunned by drone photos and videos of mass burials of COVID-19 victims on an island that is part of the Bronx, in New York City. Last week, renowned photographer George Steinmetz set out to capture his own images, but police seized his drone. And now we have more details of how that went down. “These are humans, and they’re basically being treated like they’re toxic waste, like they’re radioactive,” Steinmetz told Gothamist about the people buried on Hart Island. The island has served as a potter’s field for New York’s unclaimed and anonymous dead since the 19th century.
The Department of Correction, which oversees Hart Island, would not provide an exact number of people buried on the island, but a spokesperson said it was as high as 47 people on a single day.
Indian Army has disinfectant drone, UV gun that kills virus in seconds in its Covid arsenal
The cost of the sanitiser would be Rs 800, and the Army can turn out 10 pieces a day.
The third innovation is a 3D-printed mask priced at Rs 1,200 apiece. Other products being devised include thermal scanners and anti-aerosalination boxes to keep doctors safe. The boxes are made up of transparent acrylic sheets and kept over patients to protect doctors and other healthcare workers from infection. Holes cut into the box help medical staff administer treatment to the patient without coming into direct contact.
The Army is just one of several sections across Indian society that are trying to chip in for the country’s battle against coronavirus, from scientists who have banded together to bust myths to IITians churning out cost-effective and innovative solutions to ease the burden on the healthcare framework.
Drones Use Radio Waves to Recharge Sensors While in Flight
Here’s another neat thing drones can do—beam power across the sky to recharge sensors in hard-to-reach places.
Remote sensors play a valuable role in collecting data—but recharging these devices while they are scattered over vast and isolated areas can be tedious. A new system is designed to make the charging process easier by using unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to deliver power using radio waves during a flyby. A specialized antenna on the sensor harvests the signals and converts them into electricity. The design is described in a study published 23 March in IEEE Sensors Letters.
Joseph Costantine and his colleagues at the American University of Beirut, in partnership with researchers at the Institute of Electronics, Computer, and Telecommunications Engineering in Italy, were exploring ways to remotely charge sensors using radio frequency waves (the same form of energy used to transmit Wi-Fi). However, a major challenge was that the source of the radio waves must be fairly close to the sensor in order to sufficiently charge it.
This prompted the researchers to consider the use of UAVs, which could soar over each sensor. “In addition, a UAV can follow an optimized trajectory that maximizes energy transfer to the sensors in question,” Costantine explains. He says his team developed this system to control and recharge sensors used in agriculture, but that it could be extended to any situation where sensors are deployed in hard-to-reach areas.
Turkey’s deadly drone strike on Iraqi refugee camp draws angry reactions
Drone attack kills refugees in Syria. It is unclear whether the drones are remotely controlled by humans or whether they drones are autonomous.
“Turkey has launched a deadly drone strike on a refugee camp in Iraq’s northern semi-autonomous Kurdistan region…air defense detected a Turkish drone breaching the Iraqi airspace and firing a rocket on Maxmur refugee camp near the town of Makhmour on Wednesday…Two women were killed in the raid, the statement said. Iraqi media later reported that the death toll had risen to three.”
A Turkish drone strike on a refugee camp in northern Iraq has killed three women, sparking condemnation from Iraqi officials.
Air Force to begin combat test of Star Wars solution to taking down drones
Remember those tales of drones harassing northeastern Colorado back in December?
If they ever come back, the Air Force may have a new way to zap them from the sky. The service announced Monday it is ready to test its first high-energy lasers for use against enemy drones overseas.
“(Troops) will utilize this system as an operational asset against small unmanned aircraft systems for the duration of the field assessment,” said Michael Jirjis, who headed development of the laser for the Air Force Research Laboratory in Ohio.
The Navy’s Smallest Warship Gets a Big Laser Gun
One of the U.S. Navy’s newest and smallest warships is the latest to receive a laser weapon system. The USS Little Rock, which made the news last year after being trapped in Canada by ice, will get a laser during an upcoming deployment sometime this year. The laser is one of the most powerful military lasers yet and should give it the ability to damage or destroy small boats, drones, and aircraft.
According to U.S. Naval Institute News, defense contractor General Dynamics will install a 150 kilowatt laser weapon system aboard the littoral combat ship USS Little Rock. The ship is based in Mayport, Florida and will likely join the Navy’s 4th Fleet, responsible for Central and South America.
The Navy Will Put a Laser Gun on a Destroyer by 2021
Pew-pew-pew is coming soon-soon-soon.
The U.S. Navy plans to put a laser weapon on a warship by 2021. The High Energy Laser with Integrated Optical-dazzler and Surveillance (HELIOS) system, or HELIOS, is a defensive weapon system designed to burn boats and shoot down unmanned drones. The weapon will go to sea with a guided missile destroyer assigned to the Pacific Fleet in two years’ time, the Navy says.
The service placed an order for HELIOS in January 2019. The $150 million contract, awarded to Lockheed Martin, calls for the company to deliver two systems. According to a company press release, one will go to White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico for testing. USNI News says the Navy will install the other on a Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer.
Ukraine takes note as Turkey opens new chapter in drone warfare
This is a disturbing article on the utilization of drones by Turkey in attacks in Syria. What is unclear to me is whether the drones were piloted or whether they were autonomous. This is a critical distinction for me because drones that are piloted by humans are under human control and are legal. Autonomous drones are killer robots and are immoral.
“Regardless of an exact death toll and damage evaluation, there is a general understanding that the Idlib attacks were an example of effective air warfare, in which killer drones, rather than piloted jets, played a key role. “My understanding is that Turkey compensated for its inability to fly jets over Idlib by using drones, lots of drones,” says Aron Lund, a fellow with U.S.-based think tank The Century Foundation.”
Ban Killer Robots!
Those who want to win do not prepare for wars of today — they prepare for wars that are to be fought tomorrow.
As it appears, this golden rule of military art is carefully adhered to in the power corridors of Turkey, which is now playing its own complicated game in the multisided war in Syria.
The recent developments in Idlib, the last rebel-held enclave in Syria’s northeast, showed that the Turkish military is hightailing rapidly towards the future, with its massive use of unmanned aerial vehicles.