(Cornell University via EurekAlert) ITHACA, N.Y. -- Armed drone strikes earn more public support and legitimacy when they have international approval from organizations such as the United Nations, according to a survey conducted by a team of Cornell researchers.
Drones that carry weapons are increasingly employed as counterterrorism tools, but nations use and constrain strikes differently. France, for example, submits its strikes to the U.N. for approval; the U.S. typically does not.
This difference matters when it comes to public support and perceptions of legitimacy, according to doctoral students Paul Lushenko and Shyam Raman, and Sarah Kreps, the John L. Wetherill Professor of Government in the College of Arts and Sciences and a professor in the Cornell Jeb E. Brooks School of Public Policy.
The researchers cite as examples two drone strikes in 2021. France used a drone to kill Adnan al-Sahrawi, the Islamic State’s leader in western Africa. Soon after, the U.S. used drones to kill two al-Qaida leaders in Syria.
While the weapons were similar, the approaches were not. France went to the U.N. in advance to secure backing; the U.S. acted unilaterally.
(TechCrunch) If drones are to take over any of the numerous tasks they are supposed to, they’re going to have to get a lot smarter — and learn to work together. In a demonstration of both of these things, Chinese researchers show off a swarm of drones collectively navigating a dense forest they’ve never encountered.
We’ve seen drone swarms before, going back a long ways in fact, but while they’re often well coordinated, they’re not collectively autonomous. That is, although they fly in an adjustable formation and avoid obstacles, their trajectories are being controlled by a central computer monitoring their positions and issuing commands.
As you can imagine, it would be useful to have drones that can coordinate their movements with each other, absent any central organizing function. But this is difficult to effect, since the bulk of the sensors and computational resources needed to quickly and effectively perceive and react to the environment are detrimental to the very agility needed to do so.
Researchers at Zheijang University in Hangzhou have succeeded, however, with a 10-strong drone swarm smart enough to fly autonomously through a dense, unfamiliar forest, but small and light enough that each one can easily fit in the palm of your hand. It’s a big step towards using swarms like this for things like aerial surveying and disaster response.
Based on an off-the-shelf ultra-compact drone design, the team built a trajectory planner for the group that relies entirely on data from the onboard sensors of the swarm, which they process locally and share with each other. The drones can balance or be directed to pursue various goals, such as maintaining a certain distance from obstacles or each other, or minimizing the total flight time between two points, and so on.
Snap’s new flying camera, the $230 Pixy drone, went on sale last week — but the earliest buyers were told they’d have to wait three months to actually get the gadget. We’re now thinking that the company didn’t make enough, because Snap has extended the Pixy’s shipping time to four whole months, according to the drone’s website.
And remember my friend, future events such as these will affect you in the future
Drones to Save Lives by Providing Urban-Grade Healthcare In Rural Areas of India May 18, 2022
Introduction:
(Eurasia Review) A new experimental programme has shown how drone technology can be used to bring quality healthcare to people living in the remotest areas of India.
Healthcare professionals delivered vaccines, COVID-19 testing samples and medical products to a population of over 300,000 people represented by eight district health facilities in the Vikarabad district of the southern state of Telangana. The district was chosen because it includes communities living in the dense forests of the Anantagiri hills. The trial involved over 300 drone sorties in a 45-day period.
The trial oversaw the first vaccine delivery over long range (beyond visual line of sight) in Asia. It is part of a wider programme, Medicine from the Sky, led by the World Economic Forum’s Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution India, in partnership with the Government of Telangana, Apollo Hospital’s Healthnet Global and NITI Aayog, the Indian government’s federal think-tank. The programme aims to work with business, policy-makers and communities to use drone technology to extend urban-grade healthcare to India’s remotest areas. Multiple stakeholders were consulted throughout, including healthcare workers, local communities, local police, district-level administrators and local air traffic control.
Walmart Drone Delivery Headed to 4 Million Households
May 24, 2022
Introduction:
(The Produce News) Walmart is expanding its DroneUp delivery network to 34 sites by the end the year, providing the potential to reach 4 million U.S. households across six states: Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Texas, Utah and Virginia. This provides the company with the ability to deliver over 1 million packages by drone in a year.
"We continue to expand our delivery operations to help customers get the items they need when they need them, and it’s been an exciting journey," said David Guggina, senior vice president of innovation and automation. "From Express delivery, where customers can have items delivered to their doorsteps in as little as two hours, to InHome, where they can get those orders placed right into their refrigerators, we’re proud to offer customers multiple options that help them save time and money."
Between the hours of 8 a.m. and 8 p.m., customers will be able to order from tens of thousands of eligible items for delivery by air in as little as 30 minutes. Customers can order items totaling up to 10 pounds.
After completing hundreds of deliveries within a matter of months across its existing DroneUp hubs, Walmart has seen how drones can offer customers a practical solution for getting certain items, fast. "More importantly, we’ve seen a positive response from our customers that have used the service," said Guggina. "In fact, while we initially thought customers would use the service for emergency items, we’re finding they use it for its sheer convenience, like a quick fix for a weeknight meal. Case in point: The top-selling item at one of our current hubs is Hamburger Helper."
Participating stores will house a DroneUp delivery hub inclusive of a team of certified pilots, operating within FAA guidelines, that safely manage flight operations for deliveries. Once a customer places an order, the item is fulfilled from the store, packaged, loaded into the drone and delivered right to their yard using a cable that gently lowers the package.
A team of researchers at the University of Zurich, has developed a highly agile quadrotor drone that is able to avoid obstacles and carry out trajectory tracking. In their paper published in the journal Science Robotics, the group describes how they designed their drone, what they put into it and how well it worked when tested.
Quadrotor drones can be very agile fliers, most particularly when they have a human pilot guiding their movements. Autonomous quadrotors, on the other hand, have suffered from agility issues, particularly when traveling at high speeds. In this new effort, the team in Switzerland has improved the agility of a quadrotor drone with their new design built using a variety of technologies.
Integrating Drones in Urban Airspaces – European Demonstration Program Begins at Cranfield
June 30, 2022
Introduction:
(EurekAlert)
• European project is conducting demonstration flights of drones in urban environments across the UK, Netherlands and Spain
• First demonstration in Cranfield, UK, on 30 June, tests the feasibility of urban air mobility management systems, and paves the way for more complex trials
• Project gives a glimpse of the future, with increased use of urban airspaces by a variety of drones
In the near future city-dwellers can expect to see a variety of drones in the airspace above where they live, perhaps transporting patients to hospitals, helping tackle fires, or simply delivering parcels. This vision of Urban Air Mobility (UAM), making use of different types of drones, will also help people travel faster and more efficiently through unmanned air taxis – and researchers say it will be in place in a matter of a few years.
A new European project, AMU-LED, is now carrying out co-ordination and substantial testing to manage this airspace traffic and check safety, interoperability and feasibility. The first trial demonstration takes place at Cranfield University, UK, on 30 June, and will be followed by other trial events in the Netherlands and Spain.
Fireworks are Out, Drone Shows are In This Fourth of July by Jennifer A. Kingson
July 4, 2022
Introduction:
(Axios) Colorfully lit drones will be flying in patriotic formations over cities and towns across the U.S. this July 4th as a newfangled alternative to fireworks — particularly in the bone-dry West, where sparks can cause catastrophic wildfires.
Why it matters: Finally, there's an appealing alternative to traditional pyrotechnics, which critics have been hating for years (due to noise, pollution, injuries, and environmental harm).
• Among some fireworks fans, sentimental attachment is being supplanted by pragmatic concerns: In Douglas County, Colorado, for instance, last December's holiday fireworks caused grass fires at three launch sites.
Driving the news: As communities ban fireworks because of drought, a small but growing number are turning to nighttime drone shows as the flagship entertainment for Independence Day.
• Demand is so high that the handful of companies that operate drone lights shows say they're completely booked — and have been for months, leaving lots of late-to-the-table municipalities out of luck this year.
• "We've fielded hundreds of requests that we, unfortunately, can't take," said Graham Hill, founder and CEO of Hireuavpro.com, which makes shows of 10-12 minutes using anywhere from 100 drones ("the entry-level") to 500.
One Size Doesn’t Fit All for Wing’s Drone Deliveries by Brian Heater
July 14, 2022
Introduction:
(Techcrunch) For many, drone delivery has understandably felt like a fool’s errand. It’s a category clouded by regulator and logistical concerns, and one that’s often felt — at best — a long ways down the road. Wing has been among the leading lights in a space that’s seen its share of setbacks — including its chief big-name competitor, Amazon.
The firm’s growth has been slow and deliberate. It’s necessary due to the various hurdles that need to be cleared in order to bring such a vision to life, and possible thanks to the vast resources of parent company, Alphabet. Even vertical takeoff drones require a long runway.
In February, Wing promoted CTO Adam Woodworth to CEO after eight years with the GoogleX graduate. A month later, the firm announced that it hit 200,000 commercial deliveries, a big, round figure primarily driven by its expanding presence in Australia.
Wing still has a bit of that X shine on it, and as such hasn’t sought out a ton of press beyond some controlled releases via its blog post. It’s an approach I can appreciate as someone who sees so much early-stage tech get overhyped before it’s fully baked. It’s an easy way to set unrealistic expectations for what will ultimately be a long journey.
Experimental Zephyr Drone Sets New Record for Uncrewed Flight Duration by Brett Tingley
July 27, 2022
Introduction:
(Space.com) An experimental aircraft tested in conjunction with the United States Army has been in the air above the Sonoran Desert for 42 days, breaking its own record for longest uncrewed flight.
The solar-powered, high-altitude Airbus Zephyr S took off from the U.S. Army's Yuma Proving Ground on June 15, 2022 and has since been flying patterns over the Yuma Test Range and Kofa National Wildlife Refuge.
The flight has now broken Zephyr's previous record of 25 days, 23 hours that it set in August 2018. The latest flight has seen Zephyr reach a number of additional milestones including its first flight over water, first flight into international airspace, the longest continuous flight while being controlled through satellite communications, and the farthest flight from its launch point, according to a U.S. Army statement(opens in new tab).
Zephyr features a narrow, almost skeletal-looking fuselage and wings boasting a wingspan of 82 feet (25 meters). Despite its large size, the drone is made from lightweight carbon fiber composites, bringing its overall weight down to just 165 pounds (75 kilograms).
Airbus describes(opens in new tab) Zephyr as "the first stratospheric UAS of its kind" which is able to fly continuously for spans of months at a time. The aircraft is known as a "High Altitude Platform Station," or HAPS, sometimes referred to as a pseudo-satellite. This class of aircraft is designed to remain aloft for extended periods while using solar energy to charge its onboard batteries, which are then used to keep the aircraft flying at night. Thanks to its energy storage system, Airbus claims Zephyr's in-flight operation is completely carbon neutral.
Drones are Sniffing Out Landmines in Ukraine by Alex Fitzpatrick
August 29 , 2022
Introduction:
(Axios) The landmines that plague Ukraine following six months of drawn-out fighting have a new enemy as minesweeping teams get a boost from high-tech drones.
The big picture: As much as 62,000 square miles of Ukrainian land could be "contaminated" by mines, per Kyiv's most recent estimate. Removing all those explosives-in-waiting will take years, if not decades.
Why it matters: Landmines are indiscriminate, killing both soldiers and civilians, and pose a threat even well after a conflict ends.
Mines killed or injured at least 7,073 people around the world in 2020, per the Landmine and Cluster Munition Monitor. Civilians made up 80% of those casualties, and among that group, at least half were children.
Drones, robots and similar tech can help reduce the inherent danger of locating buried mines
Swarm of 40 Drones Over Fort Irwin an Ominous Sign of What’s to Come by Tyler Rogoway
September 13, 2022
Introduction:
(The Drive) After years of more or less being in denial of a rapidly growing and uniquely problematic threat, the battle of Mosul six years ago saw homemade explosive-laden drones constantly attacking friendly forces. This forced the Pentagon to begrudgingly accept this new 'democratized' weapon of warfare for which it had little defense — small and easy-to-field weaponized drones — as a major threat. Since then, the U.S. military has been running flat out trying to catch up to what is a rapidly evolving range of capabilities that are now causing havoc on battlefields and beyond. One ominous video posted by the commander of the U.S. Army's National Training Center sums up what our troops are going to be facing in the future and how the military is racing to prepare for it.
Brig. Gen. Curtis Taylor posted the video on Twitter under his official account, with the caption stating:
"At sunrise this morning a swarm of 40 quadcopters all equipped with cameras, MILES, and lethal munition capable launched in advance of 11th ACR’s [11th Armored Cavalry Regiment] attack on a prepared defense by 1AD [1st Armored Division]. Drones will be as important in the first battle of the next war as artillery is today." (See linked article for referenced Twitter feed).
caltrek wrote: ↑Tue Sep 13, 2022 6:31 pm Swarm of 40 Drones Over Fort Irwin an Ominous Sign of What’s to Come by Tyler Rogoway
September 13, 2022
Introduction:
(The Drive) After years of more or less being in denial of a rapidly growing and uniquely problematic threat, the battle of Mosul six years ago saw homemade explosive-laden drones constantly attacking friendly forces. This forced the Pentagon to begrudgingly accept this new 'democratized' weapon of warfare for which it had little defense — small and easy-to-field weaponized drones — as a major threat. Since then, the U.S. military has been running flat out trying to catch up to what is a rapidly evolving range of capabilities that are now causing havoc on battlefields and beyond. One ominous video posted by the commander of the U.S. Army's National Training Center sums up what our troops are going to be facing in the future and how the military is racing to prepare for it.
Brig. Gen. Curtis Taylor posted the video on Twitter under his official account, with the caption stating:
"At sunrise this morning a swarm of 40 quadcopters all equipped with cameras, MILES, and lethal munition capable launched in advance of 11th ACR’s [11th Armored Cavalry Regiment] attack on a prepared defense by 1AD [1st Armored Division]. Drones will be as important in the first battle of the next war as artillery is today." (See linked article for referenced Twitter feed).
OH YEAH! It took me years to realize it and accept it for my sense of self preservation that I will not fight any wars in the future. I am a conscenscious objector though it unfortunately took me until 2016 to realize that. I should have paid attention in the USA when they started with women graduating US Army Airborne school and Ranger school around 2010 or earlier. But I was too proud back then so I was not paying attention to the signs of what was going down. The wars of the future will be men and women fighting against robots and who knows what else. Look at all these movies in the past 20 years basically showing this with the most recent one within the past 2 years being "Tomorrow War".
Wars always were a class conflict between poor folks of both opposing nations when kept simple with people dying on both sides. Now it will be so obvious what was being done in years before in terms of death counts that anyone with any sense will not fight in a war. The same loud mouths that used to sometimes avoid dying in human wars of the past 20 years at least will now have a high chance of not coming back. I think dealing with those folks calling everyone else weak will be short lived because these battlefields of the future will be a massacre.
