Coming in all shapes and sizes, from tiny quad-copters to gargantuan solar-powered fixed-wing designs, drones are set to transform our lives in myriad ways. Having already made a huge impact in the military, numerous companies and research teams are exploring the commercial and civilian applications of unmanned aircraft – from autonomous sky-faring taxis to swarms of battlefield-ready flying robots.
DJI has moved to allay some of the privacy concerns surrounding drones, introducing a new feature dubbed AeroScope, which broadcasts information such as serial numbers and altitude to help authorities monitor the whereabouts of individual aircraft.
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Drones may prove particularly important when it comes to providing urgent medical attention. Startup Flirtey is working on a system where defibrillators are carried by drone directly to the site of a cardiac arrest, where every passing minute can lower the chances of survival.
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Last year Alphabet began bringing Chipotle burritos to students of Virginia Tech. Now the tech giant will start using experimental aircraft to drop off tightly wrapped tubes of rice 'n' beans to folk in rural Australia, as it looks to step up its drone delivery game.
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If you were a whale, chances are you wouldn't like someone following along above you in a motorboat. That's traditionally how researchers ascertain what types of bacteria are present in a whale's exhaled breath, though. Now, scientists have utilized a less intrusive method – they've used a drone.
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DJI is again looking to break new ground with a new high-flying professional-grade shooter. The Zenmuse X7 interchangeable lens camera is aimed squarely at the pros, and puts the Super 35 digital film format onto a drone for the first time.
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Yamaha announced today that it will show a multi-rotor YMR-01 drone at tomorrow's Next Generation Agriculture Expo in Tokyo. The YMR-01 is one of many new agricultural drones to be launched at the expo, but it is a landmark in that it is the first multicopter to be shown by Yamaha.
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Delivery drones won't be limited to travelling over certain types of terrain, so why should they only deliver to street addresses? That's the thinking behind DelivAir. It would see clients getting parcels delivered directly to themselves in person, wherever they happened to be.
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The capabilities of expensive drones are obvious: the DJI Mavic fits in a small bag, takes incredible footage and can be flown by anyone. But not everyone needs massive range and pro video. For some people, being able to fly indoors is all that's required. That's where the Moment Drone comes in.
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There are already drones that take off and land vertically, but switch to faster, more efficient fixed-wing flight once airborne. Working with students from Britain's Cranfield University, BAE Systems engineers have taken that idea and put a whole new spin on it – quite literally.
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Around 4,500 miles (8,300 km) separate the Pacific coasts of Japan and Silicon Valley, a distance far beyond the reach of current non-military drones. But a new event called the Pacific Drone Challenge has thrown down the gauntlet to those in the business of driving the technology forward.
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