Drones/Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV)

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Re: Drones/Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV)

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Drone rescue a world first

http://www.flightsafetyaustralia.com/20 ... rld-first/

A drone rescued two swimmers from a NSW beach yesterday in a mission believed to be the first of its type.

Lifeguards from Surf Life Saving NSW were at Lennox Head, on the state’s north coast, preparing for a drone training session about 11.30am yesterday when a call came through of two distressed swimmers in a three-metre swell.

The drone pilot was able to locate the swimmers within minutes of the initial alert. He dropped a rescue pod containing an automatically inflating flotation device to the swimmers, who were able to cling to it. They made their own way to shore where they were met by lifeguards. A camera in the drone filmed the rescue.

The Westpac Little Ripper Lifesaver drone was a modified DJI M600 electric six-rotor type with a maximum take-off weight of 15 kg, including a 7 kg payload, a top speed of 34 kt (64 km/h) and a take-off wind limit of 20 kt.

The M600 Pro is listed at $A7899 on the DJI website. The rescue pod it dropped also contained an electromagnetic shark repellent, whistle, and sea anchor.

Westpac Little Ripper chief executive Eddie Bennet said the rescue followed three years of intensive development.
‘(It) clearly illustrates the benefit of this cutting-edge technology in such a time-critical emergency situation. It works and Australia is leading the world in this technology’, Mr Bennet said.
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Re: Drones/Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV)

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A billion aircraft: the future of drones

http://www.flightsafetyaustralia.com/20 ... of-drones/

If US futurist Thomas Frey is right, in only 12 years drones will be as ubiquitous as cars. Frey says there will be 1 billion drones in use around the world by 2030. What exotic new roles will these combinations of computing, robotics and aerodynamics play in society? Here are a few exciting new ways drones are currently redefining aviation and its purpose.

Drones that follow your face

Facial recognition software is set to become a standard feature for drones. Chinese mass-market drone maker DJI has features such as Follow-Me, where the user can identify a target or object on the screen of the App being used to control the drone. Once locked in, the drone will track a target. As it moves, the drone will keep constant its distance and height in relation to the object, with its camera pointed in the correct direction and recording the whole time.

Drones with people in them

Flying taxis could soon be coming to a sky near you. Multiple companies from different countries are developing their versions of flying cars or ‘taxi drones’ based on multi-rotor aerial platforms. Most adopt the X-8 configuration, consisting of eight rotors mounted on four arms. Each arm has two engines placed directly upside down from under each other in various clockwise and anti-clockwise configurations that cancel out the need for the tail-rotor used by traditional helicopters. This design is used by many heavy lift drones currently in service commercially for payloads exceeding 10 kg. Take that platform, scale up the size, add a passenger cell, and you have a flying taxi.

Drones in the stratosphere

Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg has his own future drone concept in production. Aquila, a solar powered flying wing, successfully completed its first test flight on June 28, 2017. Flying for more than 90 minutes, it stayed aloft for more than three times longer than was originally planned.

Drones over construction sites

Skycatch, a Californian company, is one of the future tech start-ups using AI and drones for a new purpose. They are building drones that use machine learning to map construction sites, plan out the work, and guide autonomous construction vehicles around the site.

Popular drone uses we all know and love

Perhaps you marvelled recently at the opening ceremony for the Winter Olympics in South Korea when 1200 illuminated drones flew in a swarm, creating beautiful moving shapes and images against the night sky. Or perhaps you were nonplussed. But entertainment is just one of the possible uses for swarms of drones. If one drone is useful, how useful would ten or 100 be?

Drone delivery

Drones may even replace the motor scooter, electric bicycle, or most commonly, a worn out small hatchback, as the vehicle of choice for delivering fast food. Trials are underway around the world, including in the southern suburbs of Canberra, to see if it is possible, economical, and most importantly, acceptably safe to deliver small packages over short distances in this way.
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Re: Drones/Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV)

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Drones on the range in wild bird round-up

http://www.flightsafetyaustralia.com/20 ... -round-up/

Engineers at Caltech, the California Institute of Technology, have developed software they say enables drones to herd birds, potentially reducing the risk of birdstrike near airports.

Principal investigator on the drone herding project, Soon-Jo Chung, said he had been inspired by thinking about the celebrated water landing of US Air flight 1549, in 2009, when pilots Chesley Sullenberger and Jeffrey Skiles were forced to land in the Hudson River after striking a flock of geese shortly after take-off.

‘The passengers on flight 1549 were only saved because the pilots were so skilled,’ Professor Chung said. ‘It made me think that next time might not have such a happy ending. So, I started looking into ways to protect airspace from birds by leveraging my research areas in autonomy and robotics.’

The study was co-written with Aditya Paranjape, Kyunam Kim, and David Hyunchul Shim. In it the engineers present a novel herding technique, called the m-waypoint herding algorithm. ‘The robotic UAV interacts with the flock by positioning itself sequentially at a periodically refreshed set of m points. It relies on the inherent stability of the flocking dynamics to prevent fragmentation of the flock, and the m points are chosen to maximise the deflection of the flock’s flight path,’ they say.

Professor Chung said herding was difficult with piloted drones. ‘When herding birds away from an airspace, you have to be very careful in how you position your drone. If it’s too far away, it won’t move the flock. And if it gets too close, you risk scattering the flock and making it completely uncontrollable.’

He told Caltech news ‘Herding relies on the ability to manage a flock as a single, contained entity—keeping it together while shifting its direction of travel. Each bird in a flock reacts to changes in the behavior of the birds nearest to it. Effective herding requires an external threat—in this case, the drone—to position itself in such a way that it encourages birds along the edge of a flock to make course changes that then affect the birds nearest to them, who affect birds farther into the flock, and so on, until the entire flock changes course. The positioning has to be precise, however: if the external threat gets too zealous and rushes at the flock, the birds will panic and act individually, not collectively.’

Professor Chung initially looked at developing flapping wing drones to herd birds, and even developed a ‘bat-bot’ but found the task could be done just as effectively by a conventional quadcopter drone.
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Drones offer help to ageing farmers


https://www.bangkokpost.com/tech/world- ... recent_box

TOME, Japan: The next generation farmhand in Japan's ageing rural heartland may be a drone.

For several months, developers and farmers in northeast Japan have been testing a new drone that can hover above paddy fields and perform backbreaking tasks in a fraction of the time it takes for elderly farmers.

"This is unprecedented high technology," said Isamu Sakakibara, a 69-year-old rice farmer in the Tome area, a region that has supplied rice to Tokyo since the 17th century.
Developers of the new agricultural drone say it offers high-tech relief for rural communities facing a shortage of labour as young people leave for the cities.

"As we face a shortage of next-generation farmers, it's our mission to come up with new ideas to raise productivity and farmers' income through the introduction of cutting-edge technologies such as drones," said Sakakibara, who is also the head of JA Miyagi Tome, the local agricultural cooperative.

The drone can apply pesticides and fertiliser to a rice field in about 15 minutes -- a job that takes more than an hour by hand and requires farmers to lug around heavy tanks.
The Nile-T18 was developed by drone start-up Nileworks Inc and recently tested in collaboration with JA Miyagi Tome and trading house Sumitomo Corp.

Their aim is to ease the physical burden and improve productivity in rural areas battling decades of falling birth rates and migration to urban areas.
"In Tome, farmers are an average 67-68 years old and they may only have another four to five years of farming left,'' Sakakibara said. "It's a matter of whether the body breaks down first, or the tractor."

Compared to larger radio-controlled mini-helicopters that cost around 15 million yen ($135,758) with spray equipment, the drone is smaller and cheaper, with a pricetag of about four million yen.

Nileworks is negotiating with authorities to allow operators to fly its drone without a license. It can be controlled with an iPad and runs on mapping software that is simple to operate.

"Our ultimate goal is to lower rice farming costs to one-fourth of what it is now," Nileworks president Hiroshi Yanagishita told reporters.

The drone can quickly analyse a rice stalk and determine how much pesticide or fertiliser it needs, making it easier for farmers to judge their input needs and estimate the crop size.
Nileworks plans to start selling the drone next year, with an annual target of 100 units in year one and 4,000 in five years.

Other drone makers such as SkymatiX Inc, jointly owned by trading house Mitsubishi Corp and electronics maker Hitachi Ltd, are offering drone services on farms.

Shota Chiba, a 29-year-old farmer in Tome, said technology could modernise farming and lure young people back to the land.
"People still have a strong stereotypical image of farming as a dirty and hard-labour job, but it's no longer all true thanks to gradual mechanization," he said.
"New technology like diagnostic drones could help change this old image and attract more young people to farming, which I truly enjoy," Chiba added.
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Re: Drones/Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV)

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Some of this is Australian specific, so if you are going to get one be aware of the Thailand laws.
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What drone is right for you?

https://www.flightsafetyaustralia.com/2 ... t-for-you/

The past few years has seen dozens of new drones enter the marketplace. This influx has created an endless choice for consumers and makes it difficult to choose which drone to buy and enjoy. With so many drones made for specific purposes, you firstly need to know what type of drone activity you want to do. The two most popular activities are FPV racing or ‘First Person View’ racing and aerial photography.

Long article with photos...………………………………………….>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
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Drone delivers human kidney for transplant

https://www.flightsafetyaustralia.com/2 ... ransplant/

Last month a drone delivered a human kidney for transplant at the University of Maryland Medical Center.

The project, jointly developed by the university’s departments of medicine and engineering, incorporated several firsts. They included technology for maintaining and monitoring a viable human organ; a custom-built drone with eight rotors and multiple powertrains to ensure consistently reliable performance, even in the case of a possible component failure; the use of a wireless mesh network to control the aircraft, monitor its status, and provide communications for the ground crew at multiple locations; and aircraft operating systems that combined best practices from both UAS and organ transport standards. The project was developed under the oversight of the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

The 4.5 km flight took just under 10 minutes.

Baltimore police blocked road traffic briefly along the flight path, while the aircraft flew overhead on its automated course at a height of 400 feet. Pilots were in radio contact with each other and maintained a visual line of sight throughout the entire flight.

Project leader Dr Joseph Scalea said there were several unmet needs in organ transport. ‘For example, there is currently no way to track an organ’s location and health while in transit,’ he said. ‘Even in the modern era, human organs are unmonitored during flight. I found this to be unacceptable. Real-time organ monitoring is mission-critical to this experience.’

Dr Scalea, who performed the transplant operation, said there was a clear need for longer organ carrying drone flights to speed the transfer of the donated organs. ‘I did a transplant where the organ flew 1500 miles (2600 km) from Alabama on a commercial aircraft and it took 29 hours,’ he told The Baltimore Sun. ‘That’s ridiculous. It could have been here in six. And yet that’s accepted as how we do things.’
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Re: Drones/Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV)

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Local farmer's drone spraying service in high demand

https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/ge ... igh-demand

PHICHIT: A local farmer who began using a drone to spray his family's paddy fields a month ago is now providing the service for neighbours struggling with the problem of labour shortages and wages - and his new business continues to grow.

Metarawit Duangkul, who is in his 30s, is employed as a local government official, but his extended family are rice farmers and faced with a shortage of labour to help tend and harvest their crop.

His mother alone grows about 100 rai of paddy in Thap Khlo district.

So he sought a loan and bought a drone that could carry 10 litres of liquid per flight, as a possible means to solve the problem. The drone cost him 250,000 baht.

He also undertook training in the use of chemical sprays and then began using the drone to deliver fertilizers, pesticides and weedkillers to his family's fields. Each flight covered 3-4 rai.

His neighbours were impressed and quickly hired him to spray their fields. So it became a sideline job in the evenings and on holidays, Mr Metarawit said.

Word has spread, and other farmers in Phichit and nearby areas are now looking to obtain his services.

He charges 59 baht per rai undercutting other service providers who charge 65 baht a rai. His customers must provide him with the chemicals. "It takes only a few minutes to cover each rai of farmland," Mr Metarawit said.

"I also advise customers on organic farming and reduction of use of chemicals," he said.

Meanwhile, Mr Metarawit continues to work as secretary to an assistant governor of the province.

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Commercial drone flyers need to have licences from this year

https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/ge ... -this-year

Owners of commercial drones must apply for a licence and attend flight training before the end of this year, the Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand (CAAT) announced on Thursday.

CAAT director-general Chula Sukmanop yesterday said licensing of drone flyers was necessary to ensure public safety and security amid the growing number of drones, their advancing technology and their increasing use in commerce.

"Their highly advanced technology and affordability means drones today are widely used for recreational and commercial purposes, which poses risks to the safety of communities and commercial flights, as well as security and people's privacy. Therefore drone regulations need to be improved to meet international standards," he said.

Drone owners in Thailand are currently only required to register their devices with the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC).

About 10,000 drones are currently registered with the NBTC.

Mr Chula said under the new regulations, owners of drones used for commercial purposes will need to pass training and exams at an accredited institute to get a licence.

He said the CAAT will work with the Defence Technology Institute (DTI) to create a model academy for drone flyer training.

The new institution will offer high-standard flying courses to lay the foundations for the development and oversight of the drone industry and flying in Thailand, he added.

"The CAAT will soon hold a public hearing on the new rules and we expect them to be in force by the end of this year," he said.

Meanwhile, the CAAT also plans this year to allow medical transport helicopters to land at the site of accidents in a bid to improve the survival rate of heart-attack, stroke and accident victims.

"Currently, helicopters used in emergency medical services in Thailand can only land at heliports or approved sites. From March 1 this year, this restriction will be unlocked, allowing medical helicopters to rescue patients anywhere," he said.
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Re: Drones/Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV)

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Unlikely to see this happen here, at least not until the ***taters figure out how to make money out of it:
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Drones watch over beaches

https://www.flightsafetyaustralia.com/2 ... r-beaches/

If you’re at a popular beach this summer, you may see a drone flying overhead. And if you manage to spot the operator, you might be surprised to see them wearing the distinctive red-and-yellow outfit of a lifesaver.

The drones—also known as unmanned aerial vehicles—are being used for beach safety, coastal surveillance, search and rescue and sports videos.
A fleet of 51 drones was deployed to beaches around Australia last summer in a partnership between Surf Life Saving Australia and Westpac. Since then, the machines have quickly become an integral part of surf lifesaving operations.

Over its 112-year history, Surf Life Saving NSW has had a long association with aviation, operating both fixed wing and rotary aircraft. Unmanned aerial vehicles are now used extensively in surf lifesaving patrols, with the organisation operating 70 drones along the NSW coastline.

Paul Hardy, UAV Operations Coordinator and Chief Remote Pilot, says drones were initially introduced to complement the organisation’s other assets. ‘With the increase in technology, they’re becoming an essential part of our search and rescue services,’ he says.

The organisation’s drone pilots are a new breed of ‘dry’ lifesaver who need not have any swimming ability to go on patrol. The pilots come from diverse backgrounds and include Qantas A380 pilots and people with little or no aviation background.

Safety is paramount and all of the organisation’s operators must undergo a two-day training program in UAV operations and safety.

‘Beaches are an attractive place to fly drones and are used widely by the public to film activities like surfing and sailing and marine life like whales, dolphins and sharks. However, there are strict guidelines in place for the operation of UAVs near people and marine life,’ Hardy says.

‘We encourage all private UAV pilots to familiarise themselves with rules for flying drones at the beach before they launch one.’

When operating drones on busy beaches, the organisation works with the public to achieve the CASA requirements of keeping people 30 metres away from the machine.
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Re: Drones/Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV)

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I can see that to use a drone with a camera you need to register it at a local NBTC, insure it and get a license from CAAT. Has anyone in Hua HIn gone through this and is there a way to avoid having to go to Bangkok to sort this out. The most recent information I can see is about a year old and I can find nothing Hua HIn related in this regard.
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Insure + license = BHT. Always follow the money.
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I am not familiar with the acronyms being used although suspect the HT element could be Hard Time.
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Re: Drones/Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV)

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For the drone experts on the forum - I’m looking for a ‘budget’ drone for building surveillance primarily.
I was hoping not to spend more that 10,000thb. Will be buying in the U.K. so probably better value for money.
Quite overwhelming looking online for something suitable…
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Re: Drones/Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV)

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I'm sure you're aware of the stupid laws here. But just in case:

https://drone-laws.com/drone-laws-in-thailand/
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Re: Drones/Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV)

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Ginjaninja wrote: Sat Dec 04, 2021 9:09 pm For the drone experts on the forum - I’m looking for a ‘budget’ drone for building surveillance primarily.
I was hoping not to spend more that 10,000thb. Will be buying in the U.K. so probably better value for money.
Quite overwhelming looking online for something suitable…
Thanks,
GN.
Define surveillance; for security, to check roof / higher level areas for maintenance, as personal record of a house build.

10k is more than enough for a drone, for personal use. I wanting pro-ish video, the need to spend 2X that. I bought 2 recently, inexpensive for personal use and both around the 6 or 7k mark, with 2 battery for each drone.

If wanting better vid camera and some bells & whistles (obstacle avoidance) then one of the mini DJIs is probably good buy, though more than 10k budget.

Expect 15 minutes flight time, maybe near 25 minutes if prime conditions, no wind, and rare. Then a few hours to recharge batteries.

2 That I recently bought:
ZLL 906 Pro2 is quite nice for price, has a Sony camera sensor.
MJX BUGS 16 Pro is powerful for windy days, though camera isn't as good as the ZLL.
YouTube: Capt Drone for reviews of both.

Take a peek at this drone; C-Fly Faith 2. Unfamiliar with the brand, but has better specs than 2 I purchased & a Sony camera sensor. Came out after my purchases.

Reviews and Sony camera sensor hooked me on the ZLL.
MJX, already having 4 of their products & need for more power on windy days, hooked me on the Bugs 16.

If only for personal use, around your own property, and neighbors aren't A-holes, then I wouldn't (I didn't) bother with registering. I've registered 3 others in the past, and yet to 'need' that registration, but I don't operate around foreigners, as they seem to be the only ones offended by them. Use is extremely restricted under Thai law, though if not an A-hole, then not a problem. My experience anyway.
Last edited by KhunLA on Sun Dec 05, 2021 7:28 am, edited 1 time in total.
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