Drone News – Wed June 10, 2020

Here are today’s most important drone news articles. We publish this post every weekday at 5:30 p.m. Some of these stories are from DroneXL.co and some of them will be from other sources. If you’d like to receive this in an email going forward, be sure to subscribe using the form below.

Drone news from DroneXL.co

Wing to deliver library books by drone to kids in Virginia this summer – Google’s sister company Wing will deliver library books to kids in Virginia this season so that they can do their summer reading. The books will be delivered to students in the state’s Montgomery County School District.

Turkey’s drone breaks national aviation records – Turkey‘s Bayraktar TB-2 unmanned aerial vehicle has flown for more than 200,000 hours according to an official of the top drone manufacturer.

Trade judge’s findings over DJI vs Autel patent dispute to be reviewed again – According to a notice on the U.S. International Trade Commission website, the agency will Review the trade judge’s findings from March over the obstacle avoidance (‘174 patent), the propeller locking mechanism (‘184 patent) and the battery clamp (‘013 patent) dispute between DJI and Autel Robotics again. The target date for completing the investigation is August 10, 2020.

Will Amazon Prime Air finally take off this summer? – Here’s a great article on Amazon Prime Air. It provides a lot of insight of what has been going on behind the scenes of the e-commerce giant’s drone team. Will we finally see Amazon Prime Air take off in the U.S. this summer?

QinetiQ Australia to design and construct the Queensland UAS Flight Test Range – QinetiQ Australia has been awarded a contract to design and construct an unmanned aerial systems (UAS) flight test range (FTR) on behalf of the Queensland Government.

Drone surveillance of protests under scrutiny by lawmakers and activists – Drone surveillance of protests is under scrutiny. The government’s use of drone surveillance to monitor protests and demonstrations is under fire from lawmakers, activists, and conservatives.

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Other drone news

Drone surveillance of protests comes under fire – Predator drone was observed flying over protests in Minneapolis on May 29. The government’s use of cutting-edge surveillance to monitor protests is coming under scrutiny by lawmakers and activists, including conservatives who see it as a threat to constitutional rights, amid a national rethinking of the role of police. The issue came to the fore after a Predator drone operated by U.S. Customs and Border Protection was observed flying over protests in Minneapolis on May 29 in the wake of the killing of George Floyd in police custody there. Drone flights have also been reported over San Antonio and Detroit, according to a letter Tuesday from about three dozen House members.

DHS Wants to Know What the Public Thinks About Using Drones During Emergencies – A forthcoming survey will ask people about their knowledge of unmanned aerial systems and how they are used, and their opinions on the ethical implications. As unmanned aerial systems—or drones—gain wider use among law enforcement and Socorristas, the Homeland Security Department’s Science and Technology Directorate wants to gauge public opinion on how this technology is being used. Drones are currently being used for a host of emergency response capabilities, from monitoring wildfires to tracking protestors and conducting surveillance during civil unrest. To get a better idea of how citizens’ knowledge and feeling about these uses, DHS plans to issue a survey titled, “Understanding Public Perception and Acceptance of First Responders Use of Unmanned Aircraft Systems,” according to a notice posted Tuesday to the Federal Register.

Greece banks on its low coronavirus rate and a long list of new safety rules to lure visitors back to its tourism hotspots. On a warm Saturday in Glyfada, south of Athens, Zisimos Zizos is surveying a sandy beach. With remote control in hand, he sends a powerful drone soaring high into the sky. Using the drone’s camera, he scans the beach and spots a group of young people sitting together on towels. The drone hovers above them, then drops down as a message booms from its speakers: “We keep our distance. We respect public health.” Some of the young people look up at the drone and wave. Others just look away. One by one, they slowly peel away from the group. “On the busy days, I’ll be out here checking on things every few hours,” says Zizos. He works for the municipality as a photographer, but since the Coronavirus hit he’s swapped his camera for the drone. His job is to prevent large gatherings on the beach to reduce the spread of Covid-19. If beachgoers ignore his call to disperse, the municipal police step in and can impose fines of up 1,000 euros ($1,120, £894) per person.

Introducing Pix4Dcloud & Pix4Dcloud Advanced – Pix4Dcloud is now a standalone product and offers a more powerful platform with Pix4Dcloud Advanced. We are excited to announce Pix4Dcloud – a mapping platform for online surveying workflows and site monitoring. Pix4Dcloud replaces the previous Pix4Dmapper Cloud and Pix4Dbim Cloud and offers better functionality.

Hoversurf Hoverbike crashes during test in Dubai | Video – A company seeking to create a futuristic flying bike has shared footage of one falling from the sky in a failed test. The company said the vehicle’s barometer malfunctioned before the crash. Hoversurf added the bike fell from a height of 30 metres, but the pilot was okay. “All safety systems worked well, and the pilot was not injured. Safety is our main concern. It is thanks to such incidents that our designs are becoming more safe,” the company said.

Developing a Drone Program or Course at Your Institution – Several years ago, my department had a little extra disposal money to spend. They offered it to me, so I purchased a drone. It was a DJI Phantom 3 Advanced drone that could take up to 2.7K videos. At the time, the drone was not cheap (over $2000), but as a geography professor, I thought the applications were many (Dare I say, “Limitless?”) and the drone would enhance both teaching and learning.

Keep drones grounded during wildfires, firefighters advise – It may be tempting to capture spectacular aerial photos of wildfires, but using drones is not only reckless, it’s illegal and could have deadly consequences, according to firefighting experts in several states. Both commercial and recreational use of drones have increased over the past several years, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. More than a million recreational drones are registered with the FAA. Recreational drones can capture high-resolution images and video and cost less than $100.

Privacy and drones: part one – In a three-part article, 6SGlobal detail the legal background to using drones with regard to privacy, such as making an impact assessment. Drones are also referred to as Remotely Piloted Air System (RPAS) or unmanned aerial systems (UAS) or unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) (collectively drones). It is known how useful drones are on operations and some may consider that commercially available drones can be put to use to meet service non-core aviation requirements – photography, multimedia applications, surveys etc. UAS’s are covered by the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and as such they are treated in much the same way as ‘Drone’ systems. This paper is aimed at UAS and UAV technology capabilities and how they interact with privacy laws in comparison to those in the European Union (EU). Europe will be the first region to have a comprehensive set of rules ensuring safe, secure, and sustainable operations of drones both, for commercial and leisure activities. Common rules will help foster investment, innovation, and growth in this promising sector.

Air Force launches spy drones over South China Sea – The Air Force is now flying B-1B bombers and Global Hawk spy drones over the South China Sea and other areas within the Pacific theater as part of a broader strategy to sustain surveillance and deterrence missions in the region, following the increased U.S.-Chinese tensions.

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