Drones News - Page 4

If you didn't know, Amazon are planning on implementing a drone delivery service that would allow for Amazon buyers to receive their goods in 30 minutes or less.

While that might seem like a far-fetched idea, the reality of it arriving in the US has just taken a few more steps closer to being real. According to an announcement by the Federal Aviation Administration, a massively significant milestone in drone flight has just been reached. Reuters reports that the The University of Alaska has just completed the first FAA-approved "beyond line of sight" drone flight this week.

Why is this milestone so significant? Until now, drones were under a law of "line of sight" which requires drone operators be in vision of their drone at all times. Irish Automation is a company who makes collision avoidance software for drones, this software was used by the University of Alaska in their test and was approved by the FAA. Alexander Harmsen, CEO of Iris Automation spoke out about this achievement, saying "This is the first time detect and avoid technology is approved by an aviation authority as reliable enough to allow for BVLOS [beyond visual line of sight] drone operations".

Since drones have become a layman's new toy there has been many creations and attachments made for them, but this truly does take 1st place for awesome - introducing the Wasp Flamethrower Drone.

Above we have a video released onto the Throwflame YouTube Channel and it showcases the brand new flamethrower attachment called the Throwflame TF-19 Wasp. This attachment is designed to fit a commericial-grad heavy lift drone and is equipped with a one-gallon fuel tanker that is capable of launching flame up to 25 feet.

The tanker supplies 100 seconds of flame throwing awesomeness and comes in at the cost of $1499. That isn't the full cost though, since the TF-19 is an attachment you will need a drone to fly it. According to Throwflame, who talked to the The Verge, the drone in the video is a DJI S1000 with an A2 flight controller, 6S 16,000mAh LiPo battery and a TBS Tango R/C remote. All of that prices out to about an additional $2,600.

Boeing has revealed a giant drone that is capable of changing the way that transportation of cargo is done from small destination of point A to B. The giant drone is capable of lifting 500 pounds of weight and will serve a staple example of what future autonomous flying aircrafts can achieve.

Amazingly the massive drone came from a concept drawing on a piece of paper and only took Boeing engineers three months to bring to life, titling the creation"unmanned electric vertical-takeoff-and-landing (eVTOL) cargo air vehicle (CAV) prototype." The company has said that the drone has passed all testing done at Boeing research labs in Missouri, and that the drone represents "another major step in our Boeing eVTOL strategy."

Greg Hyslop, Boeing chief technology officer said that the company has an "opportunity to really change air travel and transport, and we'll look back on this day as a major step in that journey."

The times of taking a selfie with an outstretched arm is over as AEE has created a drone that attaches to the back of your phone case, and once activated, will hover at the perfect height for the ultimate selfie.

Selfly is your very own selfie and recording drone assistant, merely unfolding the from the back of the users phone case will allow for on-the-fly selfies and live streams. The drone has the ability to take pictures in 1080p and record record in 60FPS but sadly only has a four-minute battery life. Selfly can take panoramic shots and allows for the user to set the drone at the perfect height using the virtual joysticks or the point-and-fly option within the app.

Of course having a drone attached to the back of your phone case is going to increase the width of your phone, but luckily enough it isn't as bad as you would think. Selfly only increases the width of the average phone by about half an inch, which is a small price to pay if selfies or 1080p recording wherever you go is something you desire to do for a short amount of time.

CES 2018 - At last years Superbowl halftime show Intel displayed a drone-based light show, at this years CES Intel gave the same treatment at their keynote and also introduced a new version of a drone called the 'Shooting Star Mini.'

These very small drones are completely safe to fly in-doors and also have the ability to be able to self-detect where they are in the space of the room, while in conjunction to the other drones partnered with them. At the keynote these drones danced to the song 'Stargazing' by Kygo, the performance was a preprogrammed routine implemented in the numerous drones that were combined together to create the light show.

Unfortunately these drones will not be available on the consumer level as Intel only intends them to be used for specific light show events such as the one at CES. Instead of being individually controlled, Intel say that one person can control up to 100 of them at once, which in turn when following the pre-programmed choreography will produce a immaculate light show.

Now that Wi-Fi is almost a necessity, nothing is more annoying than walking into a room in your home that is just out of reach of the signal to router, with iRobot soon updating the Roomba app with the ability of letting owners of use their Roomba to see which rooms are Wi-Fi dead zones, and which are not.

Your Roomba will be able to map out the problematic Wi-Fi areas within your home, and combined with mapping out floor areas and specific route planning, Roomba devices will have more efficiently navigate from room to room within homes.

Roomba device will be able to map out the strengths of certain areas within users homes, and once Roomba owners update their devices, people struggling with Wi-Fi signals in certain areas of their homes will be able to adjust their Wi-Fi settings accordingly, mostly eliminating Wi-Fi dead zones in their houses.

DJI have announced the arrival the world's first super-compact 35 digital film camera, the Zenmuse X7. Aimed for professional cinematographers and video production enthusiasts, the Zenmuse X7 features an integrated gimbal and can capture 6K CinemaDNG RAW and 5.2K Apple ProRest at 30FPS or 3.9K Cinerma DNG RAW and 2.7k Apple ProRes at 60 FPS.

Taking advantage of new FSI-Cu technology, the X7's sensor features thinner interconnections, this increases photo-sensitivity and enables a more compact lens mound to be used. Utilizing DJI's new Cinema Color System, this innovative system preserves accurate colors for easier post-processing while maintaining color accuracy.

Four lenses are currently available with focal lengths at 16mm, 24mm, 35mm and 50mm, all capable of resolution up to 8K. They're not cheap however, prices start at at $1,199 to $1,299 for the 50mm. When attached to the DJI Inspire 2, flight times are marginally impacted. This is a result of the Zenmuse X7's weighing only 631 grams, with expected flight times of up to 23 minutes.

The new Parrot Mambo FPV allows pilots to get a first-person view of flying their mini-drone thanks to Parrot's HD camera, and all new Parrot Cockpitglasses 2 that provide a 96° field of view for the ultimate immersion. This puts the pilot at the heart of the cockpit, and in complete control of the drone.

The Parrot Mambo is a quadcopter that offers superior flight stability curiosity to state of the art technology features and is capable of reaching speeds up to 30km/h. The Parrot Mambo caters to all skill levels and features three piloting modes (easy, drift and racing). Racing mode deactivates all assists, allowing you to be one with the drone. A 120° FOV HD camera is the Parrot Mambo FPV's eyes, transmitting images to your attached smartphone in your Parrot Cockpitglasses 2. You can even share your experience with friends thanks to a live streaming feature.

Offering a precise flying experience, the Parrot Flypad controller features a customizable joystick and button controls that provide control for your Parrot Mambo up to 100 meters away.

DJI, innovators regarding aerial and handheld cinematic, have released two new drones to complement their extensive drone range, the Mavic Pro Platinum and the Phantom 4 Pro Obsidian. Two iconic drones that are enhanced for new ways to explore the world.

The Mavic Pro Platinum includes the same 4K video recording 12 Megapixel camera and up to 7km control range as the standard Mavic Pro. However, we're treated to an elegant platinum finish, extended flight duration of 30 mins and operates at 60% noise reduction. These features make the Mavic Pro Platinum DJI's best portable drone yet.

DJI's Phantom 4 Pro Obsidian retains all features the Phantom 4 Advanced offers, which include a 1-inch 20 megapixel camera capable of 4K 60FPS video recording and a top speed of 70 km/h. Included in the Pro Obsidian is the sleek, matte grey finish that allows for aerial imaging in true renegade style.

Retired RAF drone operation deputy commander said their future potential drone pilots might be the teens who are playing games on their PCs, Xbox and PlayStation consoles.

Greg Bagwell, former Air Marshal that oversaw RAF drone operations in Syria, states that they need more new blood to pilot their drones since most of the current batch are quitting due to the enormous pressure in an exchange with theguardian: "The problem we have had is that in seven years of constant operations we have not been allowed to have a break point, to step back and take stock without having to keep pushing crews. It was stressful for the operators to mount complex attacks over Syria and Iraq and then to return at night to a family home in the UK."

The ex-deputy commander believed that the RAF need to test the viability of making pilots out of teenagers who spend their days on video games: "We need to test harder whether we can take a young 18- or 19-year-old out of their PlayStation bedroom and put them into a Reaper cabin and say: 'Right, you have never flown an aircraft before [but] that does not matter, you can operate this."