Sony’s new UAV
Sony has released a video showing off the DTO1-E. This is a VTOL airplane what looks to have a swivel prop and is meant to carry up to 22 pounds with a flight time of 2 hours and a maximum speed of 106 MPH. That is all pretty impressive. Watch the video above.
Read More3DR supporting education with 3DU.
3DU from 3DR.
3D Robotics has started a new program for academic discounts, and support for educators and researchers. This program is called 3DU. They are offering discounts across their store for education purposes. They are also sponsoring some programs, which will hopefully get more students exposed to the usefulness of UAVs. There is more information in this Techcrunch article.
Source: Techcrunch
Read MoreTesting Drones over wildfires
Boeing subsidiary Insitu loaned one of their ScanEagle aircraft to survey the Paradise fire in Olympic National Park. The tests are reported to have gone “very well”. Insuitu’s drone was able to map out fire boundaries and help helicopter crews find hot spots. This winter, they plan to do further testing and get a better understanding of the capabilities of the drones.
Read MoreGetting a Pilot’s license to teach a class on Journalism.
Matt Waite is getting close to receiving his pilot’s license so he can legally fly UAVs. He is a professor at University of Nebraska-Lincoln and head of the Drone Journalism Lab. Columbia Journalism Review have run an article about Matt’s endeavor to re-open the Drone Journalism lab. In 2011, he received a letter from the FAA telling him to shut it down, since the FAA did not have regulations. Now that the FAA is giving 333 exemptions, Matt is working on getting his pilot’s license to be able to fly UAVs as part of his class. It really is a lot of hoops to jump through, just to teach students about a technology that will likely impact their careers greatly in the years to come. Head over to the story and read more about it.
Read MoreUAV operator facing federal charges for flying close to ferry.
So, I am not sure what the exclusion zone around a ferry is, but it seems that a UAV operator stumbled into it recently. The article talks about the 450 ft vessel takes six-tenths of a mile to stop, and some how, a 3lb UAV is dangerous to it. The last paragraph of the article mentions that they don’t know what the person is recording, from the UAV, and that even the reporter was not allowed to take photos of most of the controls in the wheelhouse.
I will come out and say, that if a UAV is IN the wheelhouse, the operator has screwed up. Being outside, with a wide-angle lens has nothing at all to do with photographing the controls in the wheelhouse.
Read MoreGreat article defending UAVs.
James Mulcahy penned a great article named DRONE OPERATORS DO NOT WANT TO SEE YOU NAKED. James goes through the what people are saying about UAVs and how they are out of touch with reality. And how UAV operators are being harassed by others. He touches on the legalities involved and brings to light the hypocrisy of some pilots calling to ban them. This is a very well-written article, and I highly recommend checking it out.
Read More
Recent Comments