Drones - Page 4

US military officials are increasingly concerned about small drones being used as flying improvised explosive devices (IEDs) that can be used against civilians and military personnel.

To help defend against future threats, the Counter Rocket, Artillery and Mortar (C-RAM) system is being developed, a gun-based solution that could be used to down drones. However, it is extremely difficult to quickly identify and engage drones:

"In addition, due to their size, construction material, and flight altitude, hobbyist drones are difficult to defend against if their presence in a particular area is unknown or expected," said Kelley Sayler, associate fellow at the Center for a New American Security, in a recent paper.

In the search for two convicted killers able to escape from prison three weeks ago, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has publicly declined assistance from the Air National Guard 174th Attack Wing. The ANG offered its MQ-9 Reaper drones, which are conducting training missions over Northern New York, to aid law enforcement as they search for Richard Matt and David Sweat.

If Gov. Cuomo wanted to use the drones, his office would need to file an official request with the New York State Division of Military and Naval Affairs. The drones, however, have not been deemed a necessity over state police helicopters.

"The only advantage the MQ-9 would have over a state police helicopter is the loiter time," said Eric Durr, spokesman for the NY DMNA, in a media statement. "And the determination was made that it was not a necessary asset."

The US military wants to create solutions to identify and engage enemy drones, as new technologies allow warfare to evolve and change at a significant rate. Future wars will likely rely on drones and robots, with a lot of attention dedicated towards small drones.

The US Navy is currently working with the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, while the Naval Air Station Patuxent River has a research agreement with the University of Maryland. Johns Hopkins is helping create a drone defense system, and the University of Maryland wants to more accurately identify drones.

"These things are in everybody's hands," said Conrad Grant, a researcher at the Johns Hopkins physics laboratory. Consumers can purchase small drones for a few hundred dollars, leading the way to anyone being able to carry out suspicious activities against the police or military.

Researchers are working on a new drone that is able to automatically unfold itself and quickly go airborne, with the compact and foldable drone ideally suited for emergency first response. The custom quadcopter drone is able to launch in less than one second, and is easily transportable since it's the size of the palm of your hand.

The current prototype has to be folded up by hand - taking less than 10 seconds with a skilled operator - but an auto-fold feature is in development. The drone weighs just 1.3 ounces, so first responders at a natural disaster site could launch a number of these small aircraft to help survey a site.

"You can take it out of the box, switch on the motor, and it's ready to fly," said Dr. Stefano Mintchev, professor of robotics at Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne, in a statement to LiveScience.

Drone technology is advancing rapidly, and it may not be too much longer when humans will no longer need to directly control them, according to Intel.

During the Intel Future Showcase in the UK, Intel and Ascending Technologies showed off a drone that uses six Intel RealSense Cameras - that power the drone so it can fly by itself. Using the onboard cameras, a drone can create a real-time 360-degree map of the world, supporting depth and distance analyzing functionality. The idea of a self-navigating drone might be frightening to some, but appears to be a small glimpse of the future.

"Ultimately it will make for a safer and more useful robot... it can avoid people for example, so we can be less likely the drone will run into someone and cause harm," said Scott Dwyer, product and marketing manager at Intel, in a statement published by BT.

Valeo, a well-known French automotive parts manufacturer, is utilizing technology from defense contractor Safran, in an effort to provide self-driving vehicle software technology by 2020. Valeo wants to provide carmakers with applications in the next three years, as autonomous vehicles are on the horizon.

Both companies fitted a Volkswagen CC for a live demonstration, and the vehicle was equipped with radar, lidar and camera systems - able to adapt to slow-moving and stopped vehicles, live traffic lights, and posted speed limits.

"We realized very quickly that we had much more in common than we'd expected," said Guillaume Devauchelle, innovation chief for Valeo, in a statement to Reuters. "It turns out than an autonomous vehicle is really a terrestrial drone."

Drones are being embraced by Hollywood directors, as the small unmanned aircraft are able to capture photographs and video footage from unique angles. Drones also are being tasked with live news footage, as they can be rapidly deployed and are relatively inexpensive.

However, there is some concern related to drone safety due to the ease in which drones can be utilized - experience isn't really a necessity before flying a drone. It can become even more dangerous on a film set, which tend to be high-pressure and fast-moving.

"Whenever you have a tool at your disposal that allows you to tell the story more efficiently and more poignantly, you use it," said Pieter Jan Brugge, executive producer of "Bosch," in a statement published by the Wall Street Journal. "The shot tells the story."

3D Robotics has released the DroneKit API for drone app development, and the free open software can be used for drone apps or onboard drone software.

The purpose of releasing the API for the community is so those interested in drones are able to customize how they use them in the field. DroneKit allows for waypoint flight paths, drones can follow GPS targets, view playbacks and log analysis of flights, and other advantages currently unavailable.

"Unlike other APIs for drones, there are no levels of access to DroneKit; it's completely flexible and open," said Brandon Basso, VP of software engineering for 3DR. "The platform works on laptops as well as mobile devices. Best of all, once an app is created, the app automatically works on any computing platform - the interface is always the same."

Earlier in the week, the US Secret Service said it will conduct drone exercises near the White House and throughout the Washington, D.C. area. The tests are expected over the next few weeks, but times, dates and locations for the exercises weren't made available.

Ironically, it's a decision that comes weeks after a drunk federal employee crashed his drone on White House property. Although it was ultimately a harmless incident, it revealed a potential threat with more drones taking to the skies.

The Secret Service didn't offer very many details and only offered this statement:

The use of drones and robotics will be more prevalent in future warfare, providing a great technological edge to a few leading nations. The US and UK might be most recognized as drone leaders, but there are almost 90 different countries using military robotics.

When the US began military operations in Iraq more than 10 years ago, there were only a small number of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) available. However, there are now more than 7,000 drones, including aircraft, helicopters, and unmanned ships and other sea-based craft - and the US military wants to purchase even more options.

The use of drones also allows for military strikes against targets too dangerous or remote for fighter pilots and ground troops. Faster development of artificial intelligence has some experts worried if robotics and drones may become too smart for mankind's good.

Ukrainian forces are overwhelmed by drones and electronic jamming from pro-Russian separatists, as electronic warfare shows how devastating it can be on the battlefield. Ukrainian soldiers lack proper training and equipment to stop continued artillery strikes, and cannot communicate with one another due to radio signals being jammed.

"It is very difficult for Ukrainian forces to be able to operate on radios, telephones and other non-secure means of communications because their opponents have such an exceptional amount of jamming capability," said Lieutenant General Ben Hodges, commander of US Army Europe, in a statement to reporters. "Even if you can acquire where mortar or rockets are coming from, to be able to do something about it is very difficult if you can't communicate."

In addition to electronic warfare, pro-Russian fighters are using drones to conduct surveillance operations - collecting intelligence on Ukrainian military defenses and locations. The drones likely originated from the Russian government, and have become vital in coordinated artillery and mortar strikes against Ukrainian soldiers.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued a new statement verifying the Super Bowl is a "no drone zone," and anyone caught flying a drone near the stadium faces potential criminal charges. There is a mix between security and safety concerns and copyright regarding filming sporting events, so drone operators should avoid the potential headache.

"The FAA bars unauthorized aircraft - including drones - from flying over or near NFL regular- and post-season football games," according to a statement from the FAA. "The same restriction applies to NCAA college games in stadiums seating 30,000 or more fans, Major League Baseball games and many NASCAR events."

The FAA is struggling to create private and commercial drone flight laws, as the number of unmanned aircraft continues to rise in the United States. However, the FAA is straightforward when it comes to the Super Bowl and other major sporting events: "If you want to see video of the Big Game, watch it on TV. Leave your drone at home."

Small drones being flown by recreational hobbyists can be hijacked using malware, as a security expert found a backdoor in the Parrot AR drone. The AR quadcopter helicopter drone can be controlled by a smartphone, tablet, NVIDIA Shield and similar devices, but can be hijacked with the Maldrone malware.

Security specialist Rahul Sasi was able to infect the drone and could interfere with its navigation features. Once compromised, he could issue a kill command, or fly the drone under his command - opening the odor to potential invasion of privacy cases, or stealing an onboard camera/video recorder.

"In this we would show infecting a drone with Maldrone and expecting a reverse tcp connection from drone," according to researchers. "Once connection is established we can interact with the software as well as drivers/sensors of the drone directly. There is an existing AR drone piloting program. Our backdoors kills the autopilot and takes control. The backdoor is persistent across resets."

With the ability to fly up to 61 mph, track emergency calls using a GPS for navigation and reach a patient within 12 square km in under 60 seconds - this drone is set to greatly increase cardiac-related survival rates for members of the public.

Once the drone arrives at the scene, an operator can observe, speak with and instruct any willing helper how to operate the devices located on-board. Still not impressive enough? As according to their official Facebook page, a 125 mph model is currently being worked on, achieved through more power and decreased drag.

Complete with the on-board camera, GPS capabilities and speaker system, this drone is set to carry a defibrillator, allowing passers-by to attempt a heart restart of any cardiac victim that may need this drones life-saving service.

A man from Queensland, Australia has just received a harsh reminder of the drone flight regulations after receiving an $850 fine thanks to uploading drone flight videos to YouTube - in which he displayed illegal activities.

The Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) rang up the Queensland resident, notifying him of multiple breaches he had conducted. He's gotten off lightly as according to CASA, with the investigator stating that "while each individual breach was not major in itself, the number of breaches has caused me concern," as seen on EFTM.

As a quick recap of the basic rules, CASA states that non-commercial drone flight must not be conducted:

Many first-time drone pilots are taking to the skies in the United States, and that has increased safety concerns regarding drone crashes. One such concern is a "flyaway" when the small drones catch a jet stream and simply blow away - and pilots are unaware of how to regain control of the flying craft.

Most consumer drones weigh around 2.2 pounds, and if it was being flown at 400 feet, can yield more than 900 pounds of force if it slammed straight into the ground.

"There's just too many people that just have no idea what they're doing flying with their cool cameras," said Bill Stockwell, drone flight instructor at McHenry County Community College, in a statement to the Chicago Tribune. "I fly a competitive 7-foot helicopter that goes about 140 mph. If it was flying at 400 feet, which is legal, it would hit the ground with 2,200 pounds of force. Can you imagine what that would feel like?"

Exploring Mars has proven to be a beneficial yet extremely tricky operation for NASA, with the Mars rovers helping yield a lot of insightful knowledge - and NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory hopes to use the Mars Helicopter to add to exploration.

The Mars Helicopter would be able to travel up to three times the distance that either rover can travel in a single Martian day, along with pinpointing new locations for the rovers to explore.

The light craft could weigh just 2.2 pounds and measure 3.6 feet from the tip of one blade to the other - and the prototype body looks similar to a medium-sized tissue box. The JPL is currently testing the proof-of-concept in California, with no possible launch dates discussed.

As more private drone operators take to the skies for the first time in 2015, privacy concerns appear to be at an all-time high. Drone Labs recently introduced its Drone Detector solution, alerting users to a drone's presence - able to detect recreational and commercial drones. Instead of using acoustics-based solutions, the Drone Detector uses multi-factor authentication to identify a drone's presence.

"To be clear, most [drone] pilots are responsible, law-abiding people," said Zain Naboulsi, co-founder and CEO of Drone Labs. "We [at Drone Labs] are drone pilots ourselves. Unfortunately there are some bad pilots out there who don't follow the rules. We are committed to protecting people from unwanted drone invasions."

The FAA estimates up to 30,000 commercial drones flying by 2030 over the United States, but hasn't estimated the number of private drones.

Quadcopters are starting to hit the mainstream market in force, thanks to their recently lowered pricing, ease of flying for beginners and various camera opportunities including GoPro recording or First Person View (FPV) flying - as seen below mounted on normal two-winged, one propeller R/C aircraft.

The Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) has issued a warning this holiday season, stating on their Twitter that pilots should be aware that they must "remember to keep 30m away from vehicles, buildings & people." This comes after a Melbourne man ended up crashing his drone in the middle of a police operation and almost taking down an officer with it.

Little-known to most, if you're looking to use a quadcopter for commercial filming purposes, you must actually obtain an official license - with only a handful of people holding these nation-wide, so I'm told.

The United States Air Force is boosting pay for drone pilots, and using additional manpower from the Air Force Reserves, in an effort to fill a drone pilot gap. Drone pilots are in high demand by the US military, with current pilots working up to 14 hours per day, six days per week, according to the US Air Force.

Current drone needs to help battle ISIS in Iraq and Syria have placed additional strain on the Air Force, despite initial plans that demand would drop after most troops were withdrawn from Afghanistan. Now, the Air Force is trying to find ways to entice pilots to stay in the military and continue leading operations.

"We thought we were drawing down and had a plan in place to man this enterprise that would, if we had actually drawn down, we'd be fine right now," said General Mark Welsh, US Air Force chief of staff, in a statement to the media. "We've met the operational demand signal, but we're doing it by putting people in a position where they're not having a debate whether they want to continue doing this."