Showing posts with label Drone. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Drone. Show all posts

Drone tours Napa earthquake damage

The results of the Napa earthquake from a drone's point of view. Video screenshot by Bonnie Burton/CNET

We've seen breathtaking quadcopter footage of ice caves, an active volcano, and Niagara Falls -- but this footage of the damage done by the recent 6.0 Northern California earthquake shows a very different kind of tour.

Related stories Quadcopter captures footage of active volcano Take a breathtaking quadcopter journey through ice caves A quadcopter's view of Niagara Falls

The August 24 earthquake in wine country has been measured by social media and fitness bracelets, so why not a quadcopter drone equipped with a DJI Phantom 2 Vision

Google spreads its wings, moving into drone deliveries

Google's drone deliveries will for now focus on disaster relief. Google

Google is working on a delivery system called Project Wing that will use what it's calling "self-flying" drones to bring goods to people.

The search giant has been working on the service for two years, and it is the latest project announced by Google X, the division of the company that works on Google's most ambitious projects. Other X initiatives include self-driving cars and the connected headset Google Glass.

Google has been testing the vehicles in Queensland, Australia, and has already made deliveries to locals -- including shipments of candy bars, dog treats, cattle vaccines, water and radios. Similar to the company's self-driving car project, the drones will be able to fly a pre-programmed route at the push of a button. The company said that it will be a few more years before the system is ready for commercial use.

Google is not the only tech giant experimenting with drones. Facebook has been working with drones through an effort called Connectivity Lab, announced in March. In December, Amazon announced it is developing a drone system that will bring products to customers. But while Amazon's efforts seem to be more focused on consumers, Google's early development of the system has been around disaster relief. For example, one early mission for the project in 2012 was delivering defibrillators to heart attack victims.

"Even just a few of these, being able to shuttle nearly continuously could service a very large number of people in an emergency situation," Astro Teller, head of Google X, told the BBC.

Related Stories Amazon drones: Bold experiment or shrewd publicity stunt? Larry Page's stamp on Google: More than moon shots

Tomorrow Daily 038: HitchBOT crosses Canada, drone delivery logistics, and charging with noise

: HitchBOT crosses Canada, drone delivery logistics, and charging with noise Your browser does not support the audio element.

Here are some links and notes for all the things on the show today:

KU Leuven tests the logistics of drone delivery with "VertiKUL" UAVhitchBOT successfully crosses Canada without being dismantled by peopleQueen Mary University and Nokia partner to research creating power via soundNew Releases: Google Photosphere for iOS, ReddX for Xbox, and Sin City 2: A Dame to Kill ForUser feedback: Your #TDCourts tweets, and our Phonetographer of the Day

Of course, you can find us everywhere on social media. Like, follow, and heart us as you desire!

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Drone crashes while smuggling weed into maximum security prison

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The wreckage of a drone has been found outside of a maximum security prison in South Carolina, according to Reuters. It is believed to have been used in an attempt to smuggle phones, marijuana, and tobacco into the Lee Correctional Institution. The discovery precipitated an investigation that would later lead to the arrest of 28-year-old Brenton Lee Doyle and a search for a second suspect.

State Department of Corrections spokeswoman Stephanie Givens is cited as stating "officials believe it was the first time an unmanned aircraft had been used in an effort to breach prison walls in the state." While it might be a new incident for South Carolina, similar cases have cropped up across the world. Earlier this year, Australian authorities...

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