Drone swarms being tested at WSMR

(Photo: Drew Hamilton/Missile Ranger)

WHITE SANDS MISSILE RANGE — In this season’s Network Integration Evaluation at White Sands Missile Range and Fort Bliss, coordinated units of remotely operated and automated aircraft will be used to represent a possible threat on tomorrow’s battlefields.

Members of the Army offices are using off-the-shelf quad and octocopters and flying them in groups, part of a program to study possible use, effectiveness and countermeasures for the deployment of large numbers of synchronized drone aircraft.

While different countries building, deploying, and selling large airplane-sized drones for military purposes, small-scale drones are still gaining a foothold. The small-scale drone is expected to become more viable as a possible weapon, and it is that preparation for the future that is driving the swarming project.

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Debatable News

Debatable News: Mainstream to Tinfoil Hat and more

We focus on the more controversial news.  Almost all of the content is in the form of “reblogs” from other sources.  Just because we reblog it does NOT mean we endorse it, agree with it, or even thing it is legitimate.  We do NO fact checking, so you are “own your own” regarding the question of veracity.  What we do is echo out to our readers the most controversial, and sometimes “crazy,” news that we can find.  (Some of it is quite mainstream, and some of it is not.)

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FLARES – Flying Launch and Recovery System

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Autonomous Aircraft Will Monitor Railways

he first “commercial beyond visual line of sight operation with an unmanned aerial system (UAS)” has just taken place. The event marks a new series of efforts to enhance railway safety and infrastructure inspection.

Insitu and BNSF officials launch ScanEagle for the historic first flight.

Insitu, a provider of information for superior decision making, developed the unmanned aircraft that was launched from a tower site in New Mexico as part of the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA’s) Pathfinder program, an initiative to develop UAS regulations.

In its first day of operations, ScanEagle provided real-time video covering 64 miles of the 132-mile stretch of track BNSF has designated for the exercise. ScanEagle is capable of flying for up to 24 hours at speeds of up to 80 knots.

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The Craziest Drone Related Arrests

You may have seen in the news recently that drone users may have to start registering their aircrafts with the Federal Government. This includes the remote controlled, relatively small crafts for recreational use. The FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) said this about the issue: “Flying unmanned aircraft in violation of the Federal Aviation Regulations is illegal and can be dangerous,” FAA Administrator Michael Huerta said earlier this month. “We have the safest airspace in the world, and everyone who uses it must understand and observe our comprehensive set of rules and regulations.” The FAA proposed a 1.9 million dollar fine to an aerial photography firm that took pictures above New York and Chicago. With all the hoopla surrounding this, we decided to take a look at some of the weirdest, craziest, insert whatever adjective you want, arrests having to do with drones in recent history.

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Drone That Was Shot Down Invaded Man’s Privacy

by ANNA ATTKISSON

A judge has dismissed all charges against a Kentucky man who was cited for criminal mischief and wanton endangerment after he shot down a drone over his property. Witnesses said that the drone was seen below the tree line, which Judge Rebecca Ward ruled was in violation of William Merideth’s privacy.

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PhoneDrone turns your smartphone into a quadcopter

I’m an avid fan of both quadcopters and startup pitch TV show “Shark Tank,” so when the two came together last week, I was eager to see the outcome.

I never expected a feeding a frenzy. All five “sharks” took a stake in xCraft, a company with one drone in production, the X PlusOne, and another now on Kickstarter, the PhoneDrone Ethos.

If you’re curious about the latter, it’s exactly what it sounds like: a drone manned by your phone. It doesn’t use your phone as a controller, mind you, but rather sends your actual phone skyward, using its guts for aerial glory.

See, quadcopters require some sophisticated technology: GPS, gyroscopes, cameras and so on. This is all stuff that just so happens to be built into your phone. The PhoneDrone provides the mechanicals — the four propellers and a shell — while your…

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