Haye Kesteloo

Different news sources have reported that South Korea is planning to create an army of armed drones to defend itself against a possible attack from its neighbor North Korea. The South Korean news agency Yonhap reported, “Next year we will launch a combat unit with unmanned aircraft, which will serve to change the rules of the game in the wars,” citing a South Korean military official who requested anonymity.

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Good morning! What happened yesterday in the drone industry?

We rounded up our latest drone stories below.

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During the 2017 Miami’s Art Basel, BMW used 300 drones or unmanned vehicles to showcase their latest project: “Franchise Freedom”, produced in collaboration with Studio Drift. The drones flew outside the Faena hotel complex in Miami Beach, choreographed and were meant to resemble a flock of birds. Lonneke Gordijn and Ralph Nauta from Studio Drift programmed the drones to mimic a swarm of starlings. The drones were outfitted with lights to make them visible at night and create the dramatic visual experience as shown in the videos below.

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From DJI’ Thanksgiving or Black Friday offering, we go right into DJI Winter Holiday offering for the upcoming Christmas and/or Holiday Season. The Chinese drone manufacturer is offering up to 30% discounts on select products as well as a Double DJI Credit. Instead of the normal 1% of the total value, DJI will now give you 2% DJI Credit for any order placed during the Winter Holiday Sale.

Again, DJI has some really good offers, including $100 off the DJI Spark, although our team from 9to5Toys also has a better deal on the Spark at $289, $150 off the DJI Mavic Pro Fly More Combo, $50 off the Mavic Pro Alpine White Combo, free intelligent flight battery with Phantom 4 Advanced & Pro, $50 off DJI Goggles, $100 off Osmo Mobile & $90 off Osmo+.

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Parrot just announced new specials for the upcoming Holiday shopping season.

Most offers come in the form of a discount but this year Parrot also decided to give $50 off of the first 50 orders over $400 with the code: PARROT50400US

Some of the best drone discounts, are on the Parrot Bepop 2 Power Adventurer, Parrot Bebop 2 Power – Pack FPV, Parrot Mambo Mission and Parrot Mambo FPV drones. You will find these and other offers from Parrot here.

Outside of Parrot’s own offering, our team from 9to5Toys has a Parrot Bebop 2 Drone Fly Longer Pack w/ FPV gear + 3 batteries available for: $550 (Reg. $800)

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A Japanese research has developed a rescue drone that detects people who are trapped under the rubble after natural disasters such as earthquakes. The team claims this is world’s first drone that has this ability. It uses a special microphone to detect distress calls from survivors.
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Good morning!

What happened over the weekend? We rounded up our latest drone stories below.

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Shortly after taking off from the Glasgow Airport in Scotland, the pilot of the Bombardier Dash 8 airplane, noticed a small flying object moving towards his plane. As the pilot was gaining altitude, the pilot reported that there was no time to avoid it. The incident report says that there was a ‘high’ risk of a collision between the drone and the airplane. According to a report from the Airpox board, the drone was only one hundred feet away from the airplane vertically and 45 feet away horizontally. The near-miss in Glasgow is the latest addition to our drone incident series.

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“For the first time ever, we’re going to use our drones,”

said Chief Ralph Terrazas of the Los Angeles Fire Department at a news conference on Thursday as blasting winds turned the Californian landscape into burning hellscape. As of Friday afternoon, more than 500 structures have been destroyed and 200,000 people have been displaced by the raging fires.

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MIT’s AeroAstro labs is working on a special rocket drone that can fly up to Mach 0.8 (614 mph) and it is called the Firefly. The zeppelin-shaped mini-rocket is designed to be launched from a fighter jet to collect data or distract enemy weapons systems.

The Firefly is designed in response to a challenge presented by the U.S. Air Force. The assignment was as follows: develop an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) no more than 2.5 inches wide and 17 inches long that can be launched mid-air from a fighter jet and that can fly at Mach 0.8 for 2 to 5 minutes. MIT had been successful in the past designing the Peredix swarming drones so they were up for the challenge.

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“The Big Ugly” is the Winner of the “News & Documentary” Award on the Los Angeles Drone Film Festival 2017 edition.

In February this dramatic drone video footage of a massive wave at Nazaré, Portugal was captured by Daniel Neves and Pedro Miranda of Maquina Voadora and has been viewed more than 20 million times, making it the most famous footage of big wave surfing atNazaré.

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Bell Helicopter showcases a delivery drone that one day may well bring you your Amazon orders. The Fort Worth-based aviation company is aggressively moving into the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) space and introduced this week the all-electric APT, short for Automatic Pod Transport. A drone that could be used for military purposes or retailers like Amazon.

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The “Go home”, “T-Frend” drone flies along office buildings late at night in Tokyo, Japan, blasting “Auld Lang Syne”, a Scottish tune typically played in a store right before closing. The drone is the government latest effort to reduce the notoriously long working hours that Japanese workers put in.

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Good morning! This is the first post of our new series, called DroneRise.

Every weekday morning at 6am sharp we will post a short re-cap of yesterday’s drone news. We will also include a video that shows the amazing footage that a drone and a capable drone pilot (and video editor) can produce.

This way you can sit back, enjoy your coffee and get up to speed on the latest in the drone world. Enjoy!

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Have a look at this video of a man dancing on top of a harvester while the dark sky lights up behind him with lightning strikes. It is quite an amazing scene. The video is shot with a drone and the higher vantage point adds drama and enables you to see things you may otherwise miss. Kind of like this guy in the ocean. The drone video was recorded in the town of Toowoomba, Queensland, which is close to Brisbane on the east coast of Australia.

In the video, the drone slowly circles the harvester and you get a good view of the dark and ominous looking scene. The frequent lightning strikes in the beginning of the clip help set the mood for what only can be described as the world’s most dramatic harvest dance ever.

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The Dutch police started using eagles to intercept drones back in 2016. What initially seemed to be a very successful approach to defense against suspicious unmanned aerial vehicles has now been halted. No longer will eagles be used by law enforcement to take drones out of the skies in the Netherlands.

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Drone taxi EHang 184 was introduced at the World Internet Conference in Wuzhen, Zhejiang Province in China on December 4, 2017. The drone taxi has automatic navigation and can take off and land vertically. No runway needed.

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China accuses India of invading Chinese airspace with a drone days before the Chinese minister Wang Yi is supposed to visit New Delhi. India’s Ministry of Defense said on Thursday that it had lost control over the drone and that Indian border security personnel alerted their Chinese counterparts immediately.

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What you need to know before you buy a drone.

So you are thinking of buying a drone for yourself, a friend or a family member this Christmas? Well, you are not alone. Recent numbers from the U.K. suggest that over one million drones may be sold in England this Holiday season, almost doubling the number of unmanned aerial vehicles in that country.

So, where to start? Right here. DroneDJ has put together a comprehensive list of things to keep in mind when buying a drone. This will help you make the right purchase so that the person receiving the drone will get the right drone for him or her and will get the most enjoyment out of it.

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You are an avid drone flier and you have booked a trip to Spain. Can you bring your drone along? Are you allowed to fly your drone in Spain? What about any insurance requirements and permits? What are the drone regulations in Spain? Do you know?

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Drinking and drone flying at the same time could become illegal in the Garden State as lawmakers are moving ahead with legislation. The new law cleared an Assembly committee on Monday and is now up to a vote in the Senate tomorrow.

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