Category Archives: On the news

Black Hornet PD-100 PRS nano UAV – The perfect personal drone for military applications

An amazing little personal drone in the form of a micro helicopter has been in use for a while now, strictly for military applications.

The Black Hornet PD-100 nano UAV micro sized helicopter.
The Black Hornet PD-100 nano UAV micro sized helicopter – All PD-100 images are snapshots from the original video

Continue reading Black Hornet PD-100 PRS nano UAV – The perfect personal drone for military applications

Drone for class surveillance in school during exams, an efficient technology?

In Thomas More College in Belgium an “experiment” was made to employ a little personal drone, a DJI Phantom equipped with a GoPro Camera for the surveillance of students during exams, as shown in the following video:

The technology at the moment suffers from a number of limitations: Continue reading Drone for class surveillance in school during exams, an efficient technology?

Pennsylvania Pigeon hunters shoot at multirotor that was filming them

As documented in the video below, a multirotor piloted by pro-animal activists that was filming the activities of some pigeon hunters in Pennsylvania, was shot while in action.

The author of the movie states that shooting the multirotor was an illegal act and constitutes “criminal damage to property”. The police called to the shooting spot by the activists decided to not take any particular action. Continue reading Pennsylvania Pigeon hunters shoot at multirotor that was filming them

Unannounced appearance of mapping drone delays 10 flights at Beijing airport – 4 drone operators detained by police

On December 29, 2013, the flight of an UAV drone was detected over the International Airport of Beijing at 11:00 AM. The drone, an RC model airplane equipped with video camera, was flying at 100 Km/h.

An RC model plane. For illustration purposes only. Kindly shared on Flickr Creative Commons by www.expeditionarguk.com
An RC model plane with camera. Kindly shared on Flickr Creative Commons by www.expeditionarguk.com – For illustration purposes only

An helicopter was sent to intercept the UAV, which tuned out to be a drone owned by a local company that was performing mapping operations of the airport. Although the operation was legal, the flight of the UAV was done without the proper authorizations and without warning the airport operators. Hence the alarm when the drone was spotted flying over the airport.

The departure of 10 civilian flights was delayed because of this accident.

The 4 man operating the drone are detained by the local police and have been charged with “endangering public security” and “seriously interrupting flight order”.

Source: Suasnews

FAA named 6 sites to host the development and testing of drones as commercial airlines

As we recently discussed, FAA is taking steps to regulate and allow private drones in the US aerial space. Federal Aviation Administration FAA have now selected 6 sites, out of 25 applicants, for the testing and development of drones and the establishment of  a regulatory framework  that will allow drones to fly for commercial purposes in the US sky, with a focus on safety.

FAA Logo
FAA Logo

And the winners are…. Continue reading FAA named 6 sites to host the development and testing of drones as commercial airlines

CNBC report on the new drone economy with a short interview to Chris Anderson

CNBC issued a nice short video on the new drone economy. Clearly the drones business is just starting and we will see a great expansion of the drone economy, in particular in the civilian market. Personal drones are on the rise!

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Italian police starts a drone surveillance program in Turin for security and law enforcement purposes

Italian Police have started a program to use multirotors for surveillance and law enforcement purposes in the city of Turin.

The drones – quadcopters in the available videos – are provided by the Italian/Swiss company Aerial View.

Aerial View Logo
Aerial View Logo

Click on the image below for the full story and the video on the Euronews website:

The quadcopter used in Turin, Italy, for law enforcement and surveillance purposes
The quadcopter used in Turin, Italy, for law enforcement and surveillance purposes

Here’s a statement from Omar Morando, Aerial View pilot:

“All the drones have a transmitter that sends in real time the video signal from the camera to a ground station, where there is a HD monitor that can visualise what the camera is recording. Besides you can see the same pictures with special glasses which have inside a micro-monitor. When you wear these glasses, you have the same sensation as you would watch a 42-inch monitor”

Source: Euronews

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Secom’s surveillance drone – An advanced flying security camera

As reported in this Nikkeibp story, Japanese firm Secom has released an innovative security camera, able to get close to the target and shoot pictures and videos to be used for information and evidence in security investigations. It is actually a medium sized  (80cm diameter) quadcopter with an unusual shape that offers way more flexibility and maneuverability than a fixed camera, even with PTZ control.  This one will track the target anywhere even in a huge area.

Images souce: Nikkeibp

Surveillance quadcopter by Secom japanese security firm
Surveillance quadcopter by Secom japanese security firm
Secom surveillance drone, rear side
Secom surveillance drone, rear side

When a non authorized person or vehicle enters the secured area, the quadcopter will get close and gather evidence about the intrusion by taking pictures and video. The drone can take pictures of a car license plate for example.

A licence plate picture taken by Secom's security quadcopter
A licence plate picture taken by Secom’s security quadcopter
Secom's quadcopter is equipped with a camera and two leds, and can determine the color of a vehicle even et night
Secom’s quadcopter is equipped with a camera and two leds, and can determine the color of a vehicle even et night

Police search for flown away Phantom quadcopter

According to this report from seacostonline.com, on your next Phantom fly away you could have a full police department to the rescue. Just ask.

A Greenland resident alerted police that he suddenly lost control of his DJI Phantom quadcopter. The personal drone flew away carrying, you had guesses it, a GoPro camera attached. Should the quadcopter be recovered it would be nice to see the full flyaway video recorded by the Phantom, finally free from the chains of the owner’s radio commands.

The DJI Phantom quadcopter. This great model have reports of an occasional  "fly away" behavior that can lead to crashes, and possibly loosing the aircraft.
The DJI Phantom quadcopter. This great model have reports of an occasional “fly away” behavior that can lead to crashes, and possibly loosing the aircraft.

The police asked residents to be on the lookout of the flown away quad. Flying the quad was not done illegally, so possibly it could be returned to the owner after rescue. Indeed Police Chief Tara Laurent said Thursday that  “He can’t locate it, so we’re trying to help him get it back”.

DHL plans to launch drone/quadcopter based delivery service

After the news about books and pizza drone delivery services, and the recent announcement of the launch of “Amazon Prime Air”, now also the German express courier delivery service DHL wants to enter the game of quadcopter deliveries.

DHL quadcopter for the new drone delivery service - source
DHL quadcopter for the new drone delivery service – source

For the test drive, or maiden flight, the selection of what to carry and deliver was highly significant and probably want to send a message: a packet with a medicine was delivered from a Bonn pharmacy to the DHL headquarters, a two minutes journey.

This screenshot from the DHL web site indeed is indicative of an attention of DHL to the logistics of deliveries for Life Sciences and Health Care:

DHL dedication to Life Sciences and Healthcare
DHL dedication to Life Sciences and Healthcare

The quadcopter weights about 3Kg and was called the  “Paketkopter”.

The DHL "Packetcopter" quadcopter for urgent deliveries - Source
The DHL “Paketcopter” quadcopter for urgent deliveries – Source

The test flights required permission from local aviation authorities.

Souces: DailymailMyfoxny

Check out this video by a DHL fan who built a supposedly unofficial DHL helicopter before the official quadcopter was released :

So in one way or another, we’ll probably see DHL in the air soon.

DHL unofficial helicopter - Source: screenshot from the video above
Unofficial DHL helicopter – Source: screenshot from the video above