Multicopter News

The Largest Synchronized Quadrocopter Drone Swarm

Gizmodo describes the formation of 50 AscTec Hummingbird quadrocopters by Ars Electronica Futurelab and Ascending Technologies GmbH as “unnerving.” Read more

Miami MDPD Drones still grounded - getting rusty

Odds are you’ve seen the first two in Miami airspace. But so far, the only people to have spied the third in action are the folks in Miami-Dade Police Department training sessions.
Read more

Successful test of surveillance technology in Chilean football stadium

The Secure Stadium Program tried out a new and modern technology at Santa Laura Stadium last Saturday, during the soccer game on the eighth date of the Closing Tournament.  This is a modern helicopter measuring one meter in diameter Read more

Drones rocketing into new uses, raising questions of privacy, misuse

By Conor Shine Las Vegas Sun

They can fly, swim and even walk, carrying cameras or cargo long distances through often-treacherous terrain.

The military has researched and used unmanned vehicle systems, commonly known as drones, for 40 years in faraway war zones. The vehicles have begun crossing over more and more into the civilian and commercial realms, where proponents say the technology has the potential to save lives and keep workers out of harm’s way. Read more

Inches from victory, UAV team fails to snag prize

By: TJ Jerke, Grand Forks Herald

Last year, when Daniel Ellis’ team of university students tried to send their miniature unmanned aircraft through a simulated military bunker, they had communication problems and he said the machine never made it through the window.

At the same competition held at UND Thursday, the University of Michigan aircraft flew into the four-room bunker undetected and found a small flash drive it was programmed to retrieve.

Then the retrieval magnet got caught on a chair. Read more

Copter Drone for First Response Firefighters

W.S. Darley & Co. announces a new design of their Darley Stinger, weighing just less than 4.4 lbs. Darley continues to expand their line of firefighting equipment, where it has had a presence for over 100 years. In 2012, over 300 new products have been added to their online store, edarley.com.

The Darley Stinger is an unmanned aerial vehicle that can efficiently provide crucial information about an incident scene. In May of this year, the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) passed a law granting first responders clearance to operate an aerial drone under certain conditions.
Read more

AUVSI’s Unmanned Systems North America 2012

Unmanned systems and their supporters will be invading Las Vegas for AUVSI’s Unmanned Systems North America 2012! For four exciting days, the Mandalay Bay Convention Center will become the world’s largest robotics playground! 

6-9 August 2012
Mandalay Bay Convention Center
Las Vegas, NV, USA
Read more

Commercial Drone Business got disrupted by Open Source modell

By Dean Takahashi Venture Beat

The do-it-yourself (DIY), open-source drone movement is turning into a real business that could disrupt the commercial and military drone industry. It’s another case of how exploiting the curiosity of hackers can turn into a commercial opportunity.

That’s the view of Chris Anderson (pictured), the editor of Wired magazine and a drone hobbyist and businessman on the side. He spoke about this DIY trend and his own efforts to lead it in a talk at the Defcon hacker conference in Las Vegas today. Read more

Wasn't a Police Drone Patrolling Miami Beach

By Tim Elfrink
Blogs like Gizmodo erupted this weekend when a YouTube video surfaced showing a hovering, flashing drone flying above the crowds at last month’s Memorial Day weekend in South Beach. The video was all the more eyebrow-raising because the Miami-Dade Police Department actually has a drone and is one of only a few of forces in the nation with FAA clearance to fly a UAV.

Only one problem with all those stories, though: That wasn’t MDPD’s drone flying over South Beach.
Read more

How I Accidentally Kickstarted the Domestic Drone Boom

By Chris Anderson

At last year’s Paris Air Show, some of the hottest aircraft were the autonomous unmanned helicopters—a few of them small enough to carry in one hand—that would allow military buyers to put a camera in the sky anywhere, anytime. Manufactured by major defense contractors, and ranging in design from a single-bladed camcopter to four-bladed multicopters, these drones were being sold as the future of warfare at prices in the tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars. Read more