Drones News - Page 5

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."

On December 7th, Amazon delivered its first package by drone. The first package delivery took 13 minutes from placing an order to delivery.

Back in August, Domino's Pizza began testing drove delivery in New Zealand. In partnership with delivery company Flirtey, today it made its first official delivery in the region: a peri-peri chicken pizza and a cranberry pizza to a couple in Whangaparaoa, 25km north of Auckland. The food was received at 11:19am with an impressive delivery time of under two minutes.

The drone utilizes GPS to find its way and was controlled by a team of experts, including a certified drone pilot.

Flirty is said to be planning on bringing drone delivery to the US. Assuming continued success, it seems inevitable.

GoPro's $799 Karma drone has been recalled after a "very small number" of units were found to randomly lose power during operation. No injuries or property damage have been reported, but presumably GoPro wants to get ahead of the issue (or is required to).

All 2,500 units are estimated to have been sold since October 23. If you're one of the buyers, you can return them to GoPro or at whichever retailer you purchased from for a full refund. If you want an exchange for a fixed model, you'll need to wait until the matter is resolved.

"We are working in close coordination with both the US Consumer Product Safety Commission and Federal Aviation Administration," said GoPro CEO Nick Woodman. "We are very sorry to have inconvenienced our customers and we are taking every step to make the return and refund process as easy as possible."

GoPro announced its new Hero5 Black action camera alongside their first ever drone, with the upcoming foldable Karma drone priced at $799.

The new GoPro Karma features a 3-axis stabilizer that slides out from under the drone, and attaches to a handheld "Karma Group" so that you can record stabilized footage on the ground, as well.

GoPro is offering a more expensive $1,099 bundle that includes the Hero5 Black camera, but if you only want the new Hero5 Session the bundle drops to $999. Karma also includes a slick-looking gaming-like controller, sporting a built-in touchscreen with GoPro CEO and founder Nick Woodman proudly saying that Karma is "more than just a drone", and with these specs and features - he's right.

Domino's Pizza is about to begin testing drone delivery, starting in New Zealand, where aviation laws passed this month allow for such a service. Parterning with drone company Flirtey, the plan is to launch the service to the public later this year, marking the first commercial drone delivery service worldwide.

"With the increased number of deliveries we make each year, we were faced with the challenge of ensuring our delivery times continue to decrease and that we strive to offer our customers new and progressive ways of ordering from us," says Domino's Group chief executive and managing director, Don Meij. "Research into different delivery methods led us to Flirtey. Their success within the airborne delivery space has been impressive and it's something we have wanted to offer our customers."

Meanwhile, New Zealand Transport Minister Simon Bridges says he's in full support of the service.

If you've ever wanted a portable robot buddy, the Hover Camera is pretty close. Combining foldable functionality as well as "follow me" functionality, the compact drone will go wherever you go whether he's on or off. It's not quite pocket sized, but will fit into a backpack or messenger bag very easily.

The Hover Camera is also very safe as its propellers are enclosed by a carbon fiber frame, so you can grab it like you would a toy.

Developed by Beijing startup Zero Zero Robotics, it's intended for aerial photography and videography. Specs-wise, it weighs 238 grams, includes 13mp and 3mp cameras, supports 4K video, live streaming, and a 360 Pano mode complete with face and body tracking, and features Qualcomm's Snapdragon Flight platform.

The Australia Post is currently testing drones for small package delivery. Assuming all goes well, they will be used to test home delivery later in 2016.

The company -- the first of its kind to test this kind of thing, beating Google's plan by some margin -- believes the drones will mean quicker delivery, including for imperative items like medication.

It's said the testing will be rigorous as it's carried out over the next few months. The Post's goal is to to determine exactly what the drones can deliver, how far it can deliver it, and how customers will receive their goods.

Set as an advertisement for the upcoming World Drone Prix set to kick off in Dubai, the marketing team for this event has released an awesome video depicting a race between a drone and the McLaren 650s supercar.

Spotted on Gizmodo, we're told that a straight line drag race between these vehicles would be a fruitless venture, but the twists and turns of a drone race actually gives this remote controlled 'rocket' a chance.

This isn't me telling you that travelling to work at over 100mph by drone is going to be the next best thing, but it's something cool to think about at least. If you're a little short on cash and can't pick up a McLaren 650s as your Sunday driver, maybe a pocket rocket drone is more up your alley.

So what exactly goes on at Area 51 in the Nevada desert these days? Well, we're no closer to the truth, but thanks to one incredibly ballsy drone pilot, we've got some new views over some of the world's most restricted airspace.

Pilot Hans Faulkner sent his drone up over a number of locations at the secretive base, North West Gate, and the Groom Lake from South Gate - a historically significant site which served as the airspace for some of the experimental aircraft and which the pilot uploaded to his YouTube channel.

Faulkner described the spot as "very difficult to move around" and that "white trucks follow us and hide when we record them". My hat's off to you, Hans.