Ireland is expected to hear debate later this year on proposed legislation that would allow the nation’s police force, An Garda Síochána, expanded use of drones for surveillance and other missions that critics claim pose data use and personal privacy risks.
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Ukraine is upping its efforts to beat back Russia’s invasion by using both military-grade and consumer UAVs with a slick new post on social media designed to inspire worldwide backers to donate generously and often to the nation’s Army of Drones campaign.
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A $13,000 DJI M300 RTK drone was fired upon multiples time by a vacationer last week while the aircraft was inspecting critical infrastructure in the Netherlands. UAS service provider Zero Gravity Drone, which was conducting the inspection, says it has filed a complaint with the local police.
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Defense and security group AeroVironment has landed another military agency contract with an $8 million US Army deal to supply and test a JUMP 20 medium-range UAV for the first increment of the Future Tactical Uncrewed Aircraft System (FTUAS) program.
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The creator and technical team behind the upcoming Airspeeder eVTOL racing league, Alauda Aeronautics, has successfully completed 250 test flights as it moves closer to one day transporting pilots inside the vessels in worldwide grand prix’. To celebrate, the company has shared extensive video footage of its progress over the course of the last two years. You can view it below.
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Australian drone startup AirSeed Technologies, which has embarked on a groundbreaking climate change initiative to plant 100 million trees by 2024, has found a new partner to improve its seed pod delivery system.
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DJI’s annual commercial drone conference, AirWorks 2022, is taking place at the Mirage Hotel in Las Vegas from October 10-12. The tech giant is especially thrilled about the prospect of getting the drone industry together this time because it’s been two years since the flagship event was conducted in person.
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Australia’s iconic Sydney Harbour Bridge is now being maintained with the help of Skydio inspection drones equipped with artificial intelligence.
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So, tech giant DJI might be going back to the basics with the next iteration of its action camera. Leaks suggest that DJI Action 3 will be released in September with an appearance identical to the original Osmo Action. In the meantime, DJI has lowered the price on all the special Action 2 bundles, including the Power Biking Combo, Dual-Screen Diving Combo, and the FPV Combo.
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So close, but in the end, no superlative cigar. After 64 straight days of solar-powered flight, the US Army’s Airbus-built Zephyr UAV reportedly plunged from the skies over Arizona, just hours shy of breaking the all-time record for continuous navigation by an aircraft.
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A research unit of Virginia Tech specialized in UAV traffic management (UTM) is leading a second phase of trials under Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) aegis aiming to advance work establishing effective, safe, and reliable systems for orchestrating flights of numerous drones sharing the same airspace.
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Law enforcement officials in Texas have arrested 42 people in an alleged criminal ring that used a drone to smuggle drugs into state prisons, including an inmate who now risks a life sentence for his role in the plot.
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Several retailers are now discounting DJI’s new OM 5 Smartphone Gimbal Stabilizer. Now dropping down to $129 shipped direct from DJI, as well as Adorama and Amazon, today’s offer takes $30 off the usual $159 price tag. This is only the second discount since launching earlier in the year, and matches the all-time low from June. Delivering the brand’s latest take on stabilized smartphone footage, the new DJI OM 5 works out of the box with iPhones and Android handsets of all sizes. Its 3-axis gimbal is backed with ActiveTrack 4.0 for following subjects alongside other ways to improve your shots on top of a magnetic mount to easily lock your smartphone in place. Though the biggest improvement this time around is an integrated selfie stick and tripod that makes for an even more capable iPhoneography upgrade. Get a closer look in our launch coverage and then head below for more.
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Military-grade drone company Teal Drones says it has partnered with defense tech specialist Reveal Technology on mapping software that automatically combines imagery from multiple drones to produce high-fidelity 3D maps.
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Drone reality capture platform SkyeBrowse has finally released an Android app to support DJI and Autel platforms. The one-click 3D modeling app supports as many as 20 drones.
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Defense aeronautics and robotics specialist AeroVironment has acquired Planck Aerosystems, maker of navigation technologies for autonomous drones.
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Talk about short flights. Just four months after launching its small, palm-launched selfie drone called Pixie,Snapchat mothership Snap Inc. is halting development of the product according to reports.
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A new DJI product launch event is coming up quickly, in one week, to be exact. This one is called “Born to Fly” and will take place on August 25 at 9:00 a.m. EDT.
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Dronesuperstore (a DJI Authorized seller) via eBay is now offering the DJI Mini 2 Drone with two extra batteries for $399 shipped in certified refurbished condition. Normally you’d pay $529 for this bundle, with today’s offer marking the lowest we’ve seen in over a month. This is a grand total of $130 in savings and also comes within $24 of the 2022 low. If you don’t need the added batteries, just the drone is down at $379, though doesn’t deliver quite as notable of a value at only $70 off.
DJI Mini 2 arrives as a solid mix between being an ultra-lightweight quadcopter and having notable features to back it up. Weighing in at 249 grams, it still manages to deliver a 3-axis gimbal backed by 4K/30FPS footage and a 31-minute runtime per each of the three included batteries. Includes the full 2-year warranty and you can read more about the eBay refurbished experience right here. Head below for more.
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Rebounding off its participation in the August 3 White House summit on advanced air mobility (AAM), sector lobbying organization Commercial Drone Alliance has gone on the offensive with praise of the Biden administration’s initiative in support of next-generation aerial activities, but with criticism of regulatory constrictions it says stifles increased UAV services in the US.
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DJI has released a new firmware update for the Mini 3 Pro. The beginner-friendly drone has received some major stabilizations with this update, along with gaining compatibility with the RC Pro controller.
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Tech giant DJI says it has become the first drone manufacturer in the world to receive the Class C1 type certificate under the new European drone regulation. DJI has been granted this certificate for the Mavic 3 drone series.
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A pair of men has been arrested and held by police in Georgia on charges they flew contraband – including 280 grams of meth and other drugs – into a state prison with a drone.
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In their continued defense against Russia’s invasion, Ukraine’s technophile officials are turning two beloved geek archetypes – crypto currency fans and hackers – to reinforce the nation’s impressive deployment of military, adapted consumer, and specialized DIY drones for emergency, medical, humanitarian, surveillance, and even attack purposes.
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