To many, drones still seem like mildly annoying toys, but the truth is that they have the potential to be a lot more. This was proven by Everdrone, a Swedish company that develops drone-related tech with a strong focus on making autonomous drones useful within the emergency response and healthcare fields. In December 2021, an Everdrone device became the first drone ever to be partially responsible for saving a dying man's life.
Skydio is already well-known for the autonomous capabilities of its drone range. Looking to build on this legacy, the company has introduced the Skydio 2+ that offers improved battery life, enhanced range and a new KeyFrame feature that brings cinema-like continuous shots within easy reach. Where the superseded Skydio 2 model offered around 22 minutes of flight time, the new Skydio 2+ offers 20 percent more battery life making it good for about 27 minutes of use per charge. This is courtesy of a new battery (also sold separately for $115) that is also backwards compatible which is good news for owners of the previous model.
Drones offer a very unique perspective for shooting photographs and capturing video footage that stands out. Flying drones requires a certain set of skills you must master as a beginner. Therefore, getting a drone that can fly straight out of the box without hassles is important. It’s not advisable to invest in a professional-level drone when you’re only starting out, since flying them can be confusing for first-time users and, if not handled properly, they can leave you hurt or can end up trapped in a tree line.
It's common for researchers around the world to conduct investigations into creating better drone aircraft. It's also common for researchers to conduct investigations into building better humanoid robots. What's not common is research that focuses on combining those technologies to create a humanoid robot, like iRonCub, that flies.
Engineers at Stanford University have been working on a robot that is part quadrotor flying drone and part peregrine falcon. The upper half of the robot looks like a common quadrotor drone designed to fly through the air. The lower half of the drone has a pair of clawed feet - significantly different from anything we've seen in the past.
It's not really that unusual for some mobile apps to stop working on newer phones, especially if the app hasn't been updated in years. It's a completely different situation, however, if the app in question comes from a large and popular brand that does support the latest smartphones. That's the rather puzzling and infuriating situation that new Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro owners have suddenly found themselves in after discovering that they can no longer fly their DJI drones. The company's response, however, added insult to injury.
The DJI Mavic 3 is the new master of the consumer drone universe, right out the gate. This is largely because DJI effectively has the entire consumer drone market cornered, with only Autel and Skydio anywhere near the larger company's market share. With the DJI Mavic 3, the company continues to deliver industrial design that proves they deserve said top spot not just because they've already sold a lot of drones, but because they make the best drones in the world.
The DJI Mavic 3 was revealed on November 4, 2021 intended as a top-tier consumer drone. This device is not meant as a starter drone, of that you can be sure. With a starting price of approximately $2200 USD, you'll do well to make certain that you've first tried drones with fewer AAA features and far smaller price tags.
Some of the most popular drones on the market designed for aerial photography come from DJI. On November 5, DJI will launch a new pair of premium drones that feature Hasselblad-developed camera equipment on board. Ahead of the official launch, there are images and details of the DJI Mavic 3 and Mavic 3 Cine compact drones.
Alphabet's Wing has teamed up with Walgreens to bring drone-based goods delivery to the Dallas-Fort Worth area. The new offering will involve a small drone fleet that'll be established in the store's parking lot, enabling its customers to place an order online, which is then packed into a small container, attached to a drone, and sent to the customer's location.
The US Air Force has awarded Exosonic a contract to develop a supersonic combat drone concept. The demonstrator vehicle will be used to demonstrate the technologies behind the quiet supersonic concept and to train pilots. The project will, among other things, help the USAF train its fighter pilots for potential future encounters with "near-peer adversaries."
With drones increasingly utilized as common warfare and surveillance technologies, a number of government contractors and agencies have funded projects that look into new ways to knock the aerial vehicles out of the sky. The latest among them is BAE Systems, which has tested a modified rocket featuring a laser guidance system to shoot down drones without the cost of existing missile options.