Drones

[indago]

From The Irish Times 7 January 2016:
--------------------------------------------------------
Stepping into a personal drone that will fly you to your destination seems like the stuff of science fiction, but one Chinese start-up proposes to do exactly that. In one of the most ambitious — some might say outlandish — launches at the CES 2016 event in Las Vegas, drone maker Ehang released the new “184” drone, a self-flying vehicle that can carry a human passenger.

...Ehang plans to operate a fleet of vehicles that could pick up customers on-demand “just like a taxi”, Mr Hsiao said.
--------------------------------------------------------

article (http://www.irishtimes.com/business/technology/popping-to-the-shops-your-personal-drone-awaits-1.2488109)

[indago]

Tristan Navera wrote for Dayton Business Journal 7 January 2016:
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Federal Aviation Administration says 181,000 drones were registered in its new system in the two weeks since it launched. FAA administrator Michael Huerta said the number is a strong one considering the program started Dec. 21. Under its rules, all craft of a certain size must be registered to fly outdoors by Feb. 19 or face civil or criminal penalties.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

article (http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/morning_call/2016/01/drones-proved-popular-for-christmas-181-000.html)

[indago]

From The Irish Times 7 January 2016:
--------------------------------------------------------
Stepping into a personal drone that will fly you to your destination seems like the stuff of science fiction, but one Chinese start-up proposes to do exactly that. In one of the most ambitious — some might say outlandish — launches at the CES 2016 event in Las Vegas, drone maker Ehang released the new “184” drone, a self-flying vehicle that can carry a human passenger.

...Ehang plans to operate a fleet of vehicles that could pick up customers on-demand “just like a taxi”, Mr Hsiao said.
--------------------------------------------------------

article (http://www.irishtimes.com/business/technology/popping-to-the-shops-your-personal-drone-awaits-1.2488109)

Scary, isn't it?

[indago]

From USA TODAY 16 January 2016:
-------------------------------------------------------
He calls himself the “Drone Slayer.” And William Merideth, who shot down a drone over his Hillview home last summer, says he’d “do it again, with a smile.”

Dismissing criminal charges against him for firing a gun within city limits, a judge said Merideth was within his rights when he took out the $1,800 unmanned aircraft, which Merideth said he feared was peeping on his teenaged daughters on the back porch.

But a lawsuit filed this month by the drone’s owner, John David Boggs, could settle an issue that experts say has never before been addressed by the courts: the conflict between a homeowner’s right to privacy and the federal government’s exclusive sovereignty over the skies.

...Critics say misusing a drone to spy on a neighbor is no different than climbing a ladder to look into their upstairs window.

...But Merideth, who goes by Willie, has said he saw the drone about 10 feet over the roof line by his neighbor’s house, looking under a canopy, and later hovering over his own property.

He told WDRB.com after the shooting that Boggs, with three other men, later confronted him, asking, “ 'Are you the SOB that shot my drone?' and I said, 'Yes I am.’ I had my 40mm Glock on me and they started toward me and I told them, 'If you cross my sidewalk, there's gonna be another shooting.' "

...Merideth says that he called police on two previous occasions when he saw the drone hovering over his property, but he said they told him they couldn’t do anything about it. He said that led him to take matters into his own hands.

“At some point,” he said, “Enough is enough.”
-------------------------------------------------------

article (http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2016/01/16/suit-shot-drone-set-us-law/78919334/)

[Abbey Marie]

Great. Now we can have crappy drivers in the sky, too.

[indago]

From The Associated Press 24 January 2016:
-----------------------------------------------------------------
In California, residents are using smartphones and drones to document the coastline's changing face. Starting this month, The Nature Conservancy is asking tech junkies to capture the flooding and coastal erosion that come with El Nino, a weather pattern that's bringing California its wettest winter in years — and all in the name of science.

The idea is that crowd-sourced, geotagged images of storm surges and flooded beaches will give scientists a brief window into what the future holds as sea levels rise from global warming, a sort of a crystal ball for climate change. Images from the latest drones, which can produce high-resolution 3D maps, will be particularly useful and will help scientists determine if predictive models about coastal flooding are accurate...

...Trent Lukaczyk heard about the experiment from a posting in a Facebook group dedicated to drone enthusiasts. For the aerospace engineer, who has already used drones to map coral reefs in American Samoa, the volunteer work was appealing.
-----------------------------------------------------------------

article (http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_EL_NINO_FUTURE_FLOODING?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2016-01-24-12-19-55)

[Abbey Marie]

Indago, just a suggestion, but it would be much more interesting if you posted something original, instead of straight up article after article. Or at least post your substantial opinion on what you are copying & pasting? Or maybe that's just me...

[aboutime]

Indago, just a suggestion, but it would be much more interesting if you posted something original, instead of straight up article after article. Or at least post your substantial opinion on what you are copying & pasting? Or maybe that's just me...


Abbey. One who visits DP might get the impression that Indago actually works for the AP.

[indago]

Abbey. One who visits DP might get the impression that Indago actually works for the AP.

Which one would that be?

[Gunny]

Abbey. One who visits DP might get the impression that Indago actually works for the AP.

:laugh2:

[aboutime]

Which one would that be?


AP? Really? So, you do just cut, and paste, but never bother to learn the author?

AP (in your case) stands for "Anonymous Posting".

[Gunny]

AP? Really? So, you do just cut, and paste, but never bother to learn the author?

AP (in your case) stands for "Anonymous Posting".

I thought the author of AP IS a drone?

:dunno:

[indago]

AP? Really? So, you do just cut, and paste, but never bother to learn the author?

AP (in your case) stands for "Anonymous Posting".

So, the "One" you are babbling about that visits DP is AP?

[aboutime]

So, the "One" you are babbling about that visits DP is AP?


Are you really that screwed up in the head? You sound like the drugs you are taking have EXPIRED, with your Mind.

[indago]

perv: "One who visits DP might get the impression that Indago actually works for the AP."

indago: "Which one would that be?"

I am trying to get you to clarify who the "One" is "who visits DP" that "might get the impression that Indago actually works for the AP".

You never did make the clarification, and only continued on with your babblings, and you say I'm "screwed up in the head"?

You are one strange dude...

[Perianne]

AP visits DP in the TeePee. Also C3P0. :)



That was some good writing on my part!

[Little-Acorn]

the federal government’s exclusive sovereignty over the skies.
Did I miss the part of the Constitution that gave the Fed govt "exclusive sovereignty over the skies"?

Yes, I know, aircraft hadn't been invented when the Constitution was written.

But now they've been around for more than a hundred years. We've amended the Const many times in that period. Where's the amendment that gave the Fed its "exclusive sovereignty"?

The Fed exercises control over a lot of aircraft under its authority to "regulate commerce between the several states". But when did most of these model planes and helicopters (they aren't drones) ever cross a state line?

The excuse "Well, the Fed govt IS regulating them now, so that makes it legal" is preposterous on its face.

[indago]

Did I miss the part of the Constitution that gave the Fed govt "exclusive sovereignty over the skies"?

Yes, amazing, isn't it? There is no sovereignty in America. And who but the Feds would claim such a thing.

[indago]

Journalist Cecilia Kang wrote for The New York Times 24 January 2016:
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The last time Congress weighed in on rules for nonmilitary drones, in 2012, the flying machines were hardly a hit with consumers. And companies said little about using them for commercial purposes.

Now Congress is set to make a stand again. But this time, hundreds of thousands of recreational drones are in use, and companies like Amazon have their hearts set on using drones to deliver packages — and they are taking their case to Capitol Hill.

The efforts in the halls of Congress are to shape the Federal Aviation Administration’s approach to drone rules on safety and privacy. They are part of a multifront intervention by advocates for broader drone use as well as by their opponents, who argue that the machines pose significant safety and privacy risks. Together, the two sides have quickly emerged as a vocal and passionate contingent in this city.

...Every time a drone is spotted “near an airport runway, or used to smuggle contraband over a prison wall, reminds us that this technology poses another kind of threat,” Mr. Nelson wrote. “I ask that your agencies increase collaboration to mitigate the risk.”
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

article (http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2016/01/24/drone-lobbying-turns-to-captiol-hill/?ref=todayspaper)

[indago]

From The Associated Press 24 January 2016:
-----------------------------------------------------------------
In California, residents are using smartphones and drones to document the coastline's changing face. Starting this month, The Nature Conservancy is asking tech junkies to capture the flooding and coastal erosion that come with El Nino, a weather pattern that's bringing California its wettest winter in years — and all in the name of science.

The idea is that crowd-sourced, geotagged images of storm surges and flooded beaches will give scientists a brief window into what the future holds as sea levels rise from global warming, a sort of a crystal ball for climate change. Images from the latest drones, which can produce high-resolution 3D maps, will be particularly useful and will help scientists determine if predictive models about coastal flooding are accurate...

...Trent Lukaczyk heard about the experiment from a posting in a Facebook group dedicated to drone enthusiasts. For the aerospace engineer, who has already used drones to map coral reefs in American Samoa, the volunteer work was appealing.
-----------------------------------------------------------------

article (http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_EL_NINO_FUTURE_FLOODING?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2016-01-24-12-19-55)


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sBqsuxttoR4

[indago]

From The Associated Press 31 January 2016:
-----------------------------------------------------------------
China is already the world's biggest drone manufacturer, churning out remote-controlled flying machines that range from 3-D urban mappers to tear-gas spraying models for police. But it lacks qualified pilots to fly them. Young men in particular are flocking to drone schools such as TT Aviation Technology Co., one of more than 40 in China, hoping to land a potentially lucrative job in an exciting new field. ...Drones are touted as game-changers in a range of industries, including agriculture, logistics, film production and law enforcement. ...So far, more than half of TT Aviation's products are used in agriculture. China has vast farmlands, and there is a high demand for drones to be used in pesticide spraying because the labor force is shrinking even as labor costs rise, said Yang.

...The Shandong Qihang Surveying and Mapping Technology Company has used photographs taken by its drones to build vast urban databases and 3-D models of cities. Every building can be catalogued, with information about the people and businesses behind every window stored in a database — a valuable technology for government bodies like the census bureau, urban planners and public security agencies, said company vice president Wu Haining. "With oblique photograph technology and through cooperation with the government, people will be able to check any uploaded personal information in a room from any building in our 3-D map," said Wu, whose company also produces surveillance drones with five cameras.
-----------------------------------------------------------------

article (http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/AS_CHINA_DRONE_SCHOOL?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2016-01-31-01-05-03)

[indago]

Journalist Joan Lowy wrote for The Associated Press 8 February 2016:
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Federal Aviation Administration says there are now more registered drone operators in the U.S. than there are registered manned aircraft. ...the agency passed the milestone last week when it topped 325,000 registered drone owners. There are 320,000 registered manned aircraft.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

article (http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_DRONES_MILESTONE?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2016-02-08-18-08-51)

[indago]

From The Associated Press 13 February 2016:
-----------------------------------------------------------------
A southern New Jersey man who shot down a drone flying above his neighborhood has pleaded guilty to criminal mischief. ...The drone's owner has said he was taking aerial photos of a friend's home under construction before he heard gunshots and lost control of the device. The man retrieved his damaged drone and notified police. Percenti has said he was trying to protect his family's privacy. He could have faced more than five years in prison if he was convicted on both counts.
-----------------------------------------------------------------

article (http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_DRONE_SHOOTING?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2016-02-13-11-41-04)

[Perianne]

From The Associated Press 13 February 2016:
-----------------------------------------------------------------
A southern New Jersey man who shot down a drone flying above his neighborhood has pleaded guilty to criminal mischief. ...The drone's owner has said he was taking aerial photos of a friend's home under construction before he heard gunshots and lost control of the device. The man retrieved his damaged drone and notified police. Percenti has said he was trying to protect his family's privacy. He could have faced more than five years in prison if he was convicted on both counts.
-----------------------------------------------------------------

article (http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_DRONE_SHOOTING?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2016-02-13-11-41-04)

I don't know how I feel about this.

A few years ago, I was laying out. We had a fenced back yard and I expected privacy. The neighbor got a chair, or something, and stood over the fence and took pictures of me. My husband paid him a visit and offered to whip his butt for him. The neighbor decided that taking pictures of me laying out was not worth a butt whipping, so that was the end of that.

I would think the same thing sorta applies here.

[indago]

I don't know how I feel about this.

A few years ago, I was laying out. We had a fenced back yard and I expected privacy. The neighbor got a chair, or something, and stood over the fence and took pictures of me. My husband paid him a visit and offered to whip his butt for him. The neighbor decided that taking pictures of me laying out was not worth a butt whipping, so that was the end of that.

I would think the same thing sorta applies here.

Except if he had whipped the neighbor's butt he might have been charged with assault and battery and would have to appear in court, get a lawyer, and such. Think of the cost...

[indago]

Journalist Susan Haigh wrote for The Associated Press 28 February 2016:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The YouTube video of a drone-mounted handgun firing rounds into the Connecticut woods — and a companion video of a flying flamethrower lighting up a spit-roasting Thanksgiving turkey — have reignited efforts by state legislators to make it a crime to weaponize an unmanned aerial vehicle. ...Connecticut would be one of the first to restrict how drone owners can modify their craft into potentially dangerous weapons. "I am a huge Second Amendment supporter and it would make me very happy because I don't see any, any civilian purpose for a flying gun," said Clinton police Sgt. Jeremiah Dunn, whose department investigated the video.

...The teen's father contends a new state law is unnecessary, arguing that his son did nothing wrong. "This is a solution looking for a problem that doesn't exist," said Bret Haughwout.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

article (http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_WEAPONIZED_DRONES?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2016-02-28-11-12-20)


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FI--wFfipvA


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f-I088QS6yM


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SNPJMk2fgJU

[indago]

From Military.com 10 March 2016:
-------------------------------------------------------
The Pentagon was pushing back Wednesday afternoon on a USA Today report about the government's domestic drone program, with defense officials asserting the few non-military missions flown over U.S. territory were done to aid first responders.

A defense official, who had knowledge of drone use inside the U.S. and spoke to Fox News, detailed several missions: Helping first responders extinguish forest fires in California in 2013; assisting in two search-and-rescue missions in California in 2015; helping stop recent flooding in Mississippi and South Carolina.
-------------------------------------------------------

article/video (http://www.military.com/daily-news/2016/03/10/pentagon-flew-drones-over-us-aid-first-responders-official-says.html)

[indago]

Journalist Joan Lowy wrote for The Associated Press 3 April 2016:
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
A government-sponsored committee is recommending standards that could clear the way for commercial drone flights over populated areas and help speed the introduction of package delivery drones and other uses not yet possible... The Federal Aviation Administration currently prohibits most commercial drone flights over populated areas, especially crowds. That ban frustrates a host of industries that want to take advantage of the technology.

"Every TV station in the country wants one, but they can't be limited to flying in the middle of nowhere because there's no news in the middle of nowhere"...

...Drone makers would have to certify that if the drone hit someone, there would be no more than a 1 percent chance that the maximum force of the impact would cause a serious injury.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

article (http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_SMALL_DRONES_FLIGHTS_OVER_PEOPLE?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2016-04-03-15-44-21)

[Voted4Reagan]

I thought the author of AP IS a drone?

:dunno:

Corporate Drone.... very good Gunny!!

[indago]

Journalist Julie Watson wrote for The Associated Press 3 May 2016:
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Pentagon on Monday showed off the world's largest unmanned surface vessel, a self-driving 132-foot ship able to travel up to 10,000 nautical miles on its own to hunt for stealthy submarines and underwater mines. ..."Sea Hunter" relies on radar, sonar, cameras and a global positioning system. Unmanned ships will supplement missions to help keep service members out of harm's way, Adams said.

Besides military leaders, the commercial shipping industry will be watching the ship's performance during the trial period. Maritime companies from Europe to Asia have been looking into developing fleets of unmanned ships to cut down on operating costs and get through areas plagued by pirates.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

article (http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_UNMANNED_SHIP?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2016-05-03-03-53-13)

[indago]

Journalist Ryan Nakashima wrote for The New York Times 4 May 2016:
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Welcome to drone racing, a would-be sport in which men, and a few women, fly remote-controlled drones against competitors at up to 80 miles per hour along looping courses with hairpin curves and drops. Many races take place in open fields, but here, racers and spectators have gathered in an abandoned, rubble-strewn mall set up with course-marking gates across two floors.

Fans sit on bleachers behind protective mesh, passing around antenna-equipped goggles to see the pilot's view. Big-screen TVs show off unique camera angles while glowing copters whizz by, emitting the high-pitched hum of weed whackers on steroids.

Racing is a labor of love for many pilots. Many are born tinkerers, and spend hours customizing their drones with new parts or building them from scratch. Some say they've spent more than $10,000 on frames, motors, batteries, propellers and camera mounts.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

article (http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_DRONE_RACING?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2016-05-04-03-50-31)

[aboutime]

Does the AP pay you for REPEATING-CUTTING-PASTING their stories indago????

[Bilgerat]

All this talk about drones and we haven't seen ONE picture of Gabby

Just sayin :laugh2:

[aboutime]

All this talk about drones and we haven't seen ONE picture of Gabby

Just sayin :laugh2:



Bilgerat...... I found one......
http://icansayit.com/images/troll.jpg


She reminds me of Hillary.

[indago]

Ben Popper wrote for The Verge 4 May 2016:
---------------------------------------------------------------
Ehang says it has signed a deal to build 1,000 autonomous rotorcraft that would deliver transplant organs across a network of hospitals and medical facilities. The client is Lung Biotechnology — a subsidiary of United Theraputics, a multi-billion dollar biopharmaceutical firm — which says it "plans to station the MOTH rotorcrafts outside of its organ manufacturing facilities, and use preprogrammed flight plans to hospitals and re-charging pads within the MOTH radius so that the manufactured organs can be delivered within their post-production window of viability."

...The possibilities for drones to speed the delivery of critical medicine and supplies has attracted a lot of attention in the last few years. A test flight to a medical clinic in West Virginia marked the first FAA-approved instance of drone delivery in the US, and Airbus has partnered with LocalMotors to crowdsource the design of a next generation medical drone. Matternet, another drone delivery startup, has been airdropping medicine and supplies for a few years.
---------------------------------------------------------------

article (http://www.theverge.com/2016/5/4/11582910/ehang-lung-biotechnology-drone-deliver-organs)

[indago]

Journalist Dave Kolpack wrote for The Associated Press 20 May 2016:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A high-flying drone that will be used to test precision agriculture methods made its inaugural flight Friday in North Dakota... ...The Hermes 450, which is 20 feet long with a 35-foot wing span, is expected to take pictures as high as 8,000 feet. It will cover an area about 4 miles wide by 40 miles long.

..."This is new technology. As we know, farmers are innovators, so this is right up their alley," Scheve said. "This will give them a real-time aerial view how their fields are progressing and will give them an opportunity to make those management calls in a timelier manner."
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

article (http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_DRONE_TEST?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2016-05-20-19-16-25)

[indago]

Journalist David Koenig wrote for The Associated Press 21 May 2016:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A panel of privacy experts and technology companies organized by the Obama administration has issued guidelines for using drones without being overly intrusive. ...News organizations are exempt from the guidelines on free-press grounds.

Supporters say drones could provide huge benefits, from inspecting power lines to delivering medicine to remote areas. Google Inc. and Amazon.com Inc. want to use them for deliveries. However, their small size and ability to go just about anywhere — while carrying cameras and sensors — have raised privacy concerns.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

article (http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_DRONES_USER_GUIDELINES?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2016-05-21-02-49-17)

[Elessar]

Indago, just a suggestion, but it would be much more interesting if you posted something original, instead of straight up article after article. Or at least post your substantial opinion on what you are copying & pasting? Or maybe that's just me...

I could not agree more!

[Elessar]

Domestic Drones = Skeet Shooting.

Did anyone know the FAA has a lot to say about these contraptions?
They are restricted from airports and flight paths for one.

[indago]

Domestic Drones = Skeet Shooting.

Did anyone know the FAA has a lot to say about these contraptions?
They are restricted from airports and flight paths for one.

It was noted, in the article: "The Federal Aviation Administration is close to issuing final rules regarding drones, but those regulations are expected to stick to safety issues, not privacy. Airline pilots have reported seeing drones flying dangerously close to their planes."

[indago]

Domestic Drones = Skeet Shooting.

Did anyone know the FAA has a lot to say about these contraptions?
They are restricted from airports and flight paths for one.

This is one of the reasons airlines don't want drones anywhere near their planes:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XuQUuE0DdfA

[aboutime]

I could not agree more!


Elessar. That kind of request from indago is useless. I tried to convince indago, several times in fact, to ONCE, AND FOR ALL, start posting some Original comments instead of CUTTING & PASTING as if indago was somehow getting by the AP paid to broadcast....what all of us can find for ourselves.

Misery, and Loneliness LOVE COMPANY....so that's how indago handles the Misery, and Loneliness.:laugh: