The highly geeked out unit of the U.S. Department of Defense has issued a $10 million contract to develop its long contemplated Persistent Optical Wireless Energy Relay system (POWER), which will likely use drones as airborne platforms to conduct electric refueling for other vehicles – or for re-juicing their own batteries.
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Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have developed new low-noise propellers that can make current multirotor drones much less of an acoustic annoyance.
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A custom-modified Ford Ranger is now available in the UK as the most advanced vehicle to support public safety drone operations. Among other things, the rugged 4×4 hosts a bespoke ready-to-fly drone mechanism and a built-in DJI drone detection unit.
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No matter how advanced its landing system is, most consumer drones today require a flat landing site to touch down safely. Small drones, in particular, are not capable of landing in complex situations, such as on steep roofs, in wind gusts, or at high-impact velocities. But now, researchers have taught a DJI F450 drone to land in some of the most difficult scenarios.
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An Arizona-based startup has invented technology that will allow drones to carry advertising billboards in the sky even in blowing wind.
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Edinburgh company Flowcopter is trying to bridge a major problem in deploying UAV on extended offshore missions: Smaller craft have neither the heft nor battery life to handle the exacting conditions, while gas-powered engines aren’t well-suited to quick adjustments rotor flight requires. Its solution is a long-distance, heavy-lift drone equipped with hydraulic motors that effectively regulate spin rates.
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Movie fans have been wowed by images of the Green Goblin cruising the skies on a drone-esque hoverboard. But engineer, inventor, and fearless flight enthusiast Hunter Kowald has made that Marvel-ous ability a reality with his SkySurfer craft, thanks to a never-say-can’t determination to reach his goal that Insta360 features in a new video.
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A new commercial drone, dubbed “Sea-Air Integrated Drone”, can both fly in the air and perform operations underwater. The breakthrough innovation was recently showcased at a marine amusement park in Japan.
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The painfully extended arm and forcibly pleased expressions seemed bad enough before selfie-sticks replaced those as the sine quo non of unabashed self-obsession. Now even those are set to be dethroned as the narcissist’s must-have gadget is a tiny, camera-equipped drone that pops from a smartphone to take aerial me-me-me photos.
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