The UK’s high-powered DragonFire laser weapon just shot down its first drones — bringing it one step closer to the battlefield.
The short lifespan of conventional batteries means they either cannot be used or have significant drawbacks in situations where it is not feasible to charge or replace them. For example, pacemakers, satellites, high-altitude drones or even spacecraft are low-power electrical devices where long life of the energy source is needed.
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Researchers used a rubbery polymer to make a new electrolyte membrane that is less likely to crack and lasts 1.7 times longer than before.
SpaceX confirms to the FCC that it’s exploring using its sea-based drone ships to also act as ‘gateways’ for Starlink.
China’s People’s Liberation Army is on the market for robotic special operations robots or UAVs that can operate independently for a long period.
China’s PLA unit 78,092 has publically announced its intention to develop robotic autonomous special operations drones.
Recent technological advances, such as increasingly sophisticated drones and cameras, have opened exciting new possibilities for cinematography. Most notably, film directors can now shoot scenes from a wide range of angles that were previously inaccessible and in far higher resolution.
Researchers at University of Zaragoza and Stanford University recently developed CineMPC, a new cinematographic system that relies on a fully autonomous drone that carries a cinematographic camera to film multiple targets autonomously, while following a director’s instructions. The platform modulates various drone and camera parameters to satisfy these instructions. The team’s innovative system, outlined in IEEE Transactions on Robotics, could bring a wave of innovation to the film industry and other sectors that can benefit from high-quality video footage.
Continue reading “A fully autonomous drone system for cinematography and wildlife monitoring” »
Connecticut-based WaveAerospace recently unveiled a multi-role unmanned multi-copter in development for the last five years.
Huntress Turbojet’s flight tests will take place in the summer and it is expected to be delivery-ready by early 2025.
The all-weather hybrid-electric drone has a top speed of Mach 0.7 (467 knots) and flight endurance of two hours.
The British Antarctic Survey (BAS) said successful tests would allow the drones to undertake research such as surveying marine ecosystems and studying glaciers, while reducing CO2 emissions by approximately 90%.
The Windracers Ultra UAV (uncrewed aerial vehicle) is a twin-engine, 10-metre aircraft that can carry up to 100kg of cargo or sensors for distances of 1,000km and does not require a human pilot to take off, fly or land as it is equipped with a sophisticated autopilot system.
Unlike piloted Twin Otter aircraft, which are costly to operate and face logistical challenges in the extreme environment, the BAS said the “groundbreaking” unmanned drones are safer and “could enable dramatic increases in flight time”
The Royal Zoological Society of Scotland (RZSS) has recaptured the escaped Japanese macaque that led authorities on a high-profile chase for nearly five days.
The macaque in question escaped its enclosure at Scotland’s Highland Wildlife Park zoo on Sunday, prompting a frenzied search throughout the region. Japanese macaques, of course, aren’t exactly Scottish locals; the event has reportedly been quite the ordeal for the area, especially considering how deft the monkey proved at evading recapture.
“You would think we were chasing an international fugitive,” area local Carl Nagle, who caught sight of the macaque on Sunday night as it chomped down on the Scotsman’s backyard birdseed, told The New York Times earlier this week, “instead of an innocent monkey.”
South Carolina-based ocean exploration company Deep Sea Vision claims to have found the aircraft of American aviation pioneer Amelia Earhart, who famously disappeared back in 1937 while trying to become the first female pilot to circumnavigate the globe.
If confirmed, the discovery could be a huge development in one of aviation’s greatest mysteries.
With the help of an underwater drone equipped with a high-tech radar and a 16-member crew, Deep Sea Vision claims to have come across an object that closely resembles Earhart’s Lockheed Electra aircraft roughly 16,000 feet below the surface and 100 miles off Howland Island, a location where the two were supposed to land to refuel.
