Saturday, April 11, 2022 // (IG): BB //Weekly Sponsor: Philly Tech Club
‘Overpromised and underdelivered’: Why Amazon still hasn’t gotten its drone delivery program off the ground
FROM THE MEDIA: Jeff Bezos went on 60 Minutes in 2013 and pledged to fill the skies with a fleet of delivery drones that could zip parcels to customers’ homes in 30 minutes. Asked when this future would arrive, the Amazon.com Inc. founder said he expected drone deliveries to commence in the next five years or thereabouts. Almost a decade later, despite spending more than $2 billion and assembling a team of more than 1,000 people around the world, Amazon is a long way from launching a drone delivery service. A Bloomberg investigation based on internal documents, government reports and interviews with 13 current and former employees reveals a program beset by technical challenges, high turnover and safety concerns. A serious crash in June prompted federal regulators to question the drone’s airworthiness because multiple safety features failed and the machine careened out of control, causing a brush fire. While experimental aircraft are expected to crash during test flights, current and former employees say pressure to get the program back on track has prompted some managers to take unnecessary risks that have put personnel in harm’s way. “With rigorous testing like this, we expect these types of events to occur, and we apply the learnings from each flight towards improving safety,” Amazon spokesman Av Zammit said in an emailed statement. “No one has ever been injured or harmed as a result of these flights, and each test is done in compliance with all applicable regulations.”
READ THE STORY: fortune
EnBW, German Aerospace Center Exploring Use of Passenger Drones in Offshore Wind
FROM THE MEDIA: EnBW and German Aerospace Center (DLR) have launched a research project on the use of logistics and passenger drones to service offshore wind farms. In light of the many developments in urban air mobility aimed at expanding airborne transport systems, coupled with investments by logistics companies in drone technologies, it makes a lot of sense to look more closely at offshore wind farms as a potential application, according to EnBW. “As flight paths are almost exclusively over uninhabited areas, we anticipate fewer restrictions than for Urban Air Mobility”, said Dr. Michael Splett, Head of Offshore Operations at EnBW. As part of the three-year project, funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection, EnBW and DLR will also look into upgrading offshore wind farms for the use of transport drones to complement helicopter and ship deployments. “Among the issues to be clarified are how offshore wind farms need to be equipped to enable the use of drones, what a drone landing platform could look like, how a transport container needs to be designed and what communication interfaces could look like”, said Jonas Janke, responsible project manager and offshore specialist at EnBW.
READ THE STORY: Off Shorewind
Ukraine to Use Drones to Surveil Russia Through Donations from Come Back Alive Non-Profit
FROM THE MEDIA: DJI Mavic 2 Enterprise drone equipped with a thermal sensor, used by municipal police drone pilots for checking people's temperature, is pictured on April 9, 2020 in Treviolo, near Bergamo, Lombardy, during the country's lockdown aimed at stopping the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, caused by the novel coronavirus. Come Back Alive announced via its Facebook page that it received massive donations from its benefactors that aim to help and give the company aid for all its needs. One of the highlighted technology here is the 24 quadcopters that the non-profit organization received from the people that wanted to donate to them.
READ THE STORY: Tech Times
Gremsy Gimbals and Auterion Drones: Deeply Integrated Gimbal Solution Announced
FROM THE MEDIA: Leading drone camera stabilizer manufacturer Gremsy has announced the formation of a partnership with autonomous mobility platform Auterion. The partners have teamed up for the development of a deeply integrated gimbal solution for Auterion powered and MAVLink compatible drone platforms. Gremsy PE, a new introductory lineup, provides users with the ability to utilize open drone ecosystems with a range of camera payload options. Available in both the T3 PE and Pixy PE model, Gremsy PE comes custom-built on the company’s T3 and Pixy U line of gimbals. Compatible with a wide variety of specialized cameras, this new lineup design adheres to the Pixhawk Payload Bus and is fully standardized in mechanical and electrical connection. Gremsy PE also features a sliding dovetail quick release, streamlining system setup and configuration and enabling plug and play functionality with Auterion powered and other MAVlink based platforms, such as Cube and Pixhawk. Auterion and Gremsy’s partnership is a major step towards the integration of the Gremsy gimbal functionality into the Auterion Open Ecosystem via its incorporation with advanced aviation module Auterion Skynode, which enables the Auterion software platform using Pixhawk open standards. The integration of the PE gimbal with Auterion powered drones provides customers with access to the full feature set of Auterion’s Open Drone Ecosystem and Gremsy’s gimbal platforms in order to utilize payload and gimbal controls and settings, enabling an assortment of applications such as mapping and inspection. Gremsy PE is compatible with payload control of Sony A7RIV and Wiris series cameras, as well as a range of Auterion powered payloads. The PE gimbals also enable customers to develop gimbal control-related products or applications by MAVSDK, MAVLink Gimbal Protocol V2 and gSDK.
READ THE STORY: Drone Life
Royal Navy Tests Shore-to-Ship Heavy Cargo Drones
FROM THE MEDIA: The Royal Navy's experimental 700X Naval Air Squadron has completed testing of two heavy-lift cargo drones at RNAS Culdrose, and it is closing in on a shore-to-ship solution that could be deployed at scale. It is the second time the Malloy Aeronautics T-600 quadcopter and Windracers Autonomous Systems’ Ultra fixed-wing drone have been tested in Royal Navy trials, and the service says that they have proven their ability to carry heavy payloads over tactically-useful distances. The Heavy Lift Challenge is a multi-agency project that encourages private industry to adapt civilian systems to deliver supplies for Royal Navy and Royal Marines units, like humanitarian stores, first aid, ammunition and spare parts. Both Malloy and Windracers were given a $390,000 contract to develop their drones for the trials. The Ultra is an all-aluminum cargo drone originally developed for long-distance postal deliveries, serving "long-thin" routes to remote parts of the British Isles. It has been tested on commercial Royal Mail runs in the Orkney Islands and Scilly Isles, and during the pandemic, it was used to deliver COVID-19 medical supplies to remote communities. Malloy's T-600 is an upsized, uprated version of its cargo-delivery drones, which are in military and commercial service today.
READ THE STORY: Maritime Executive
Jharkhand Ropeway Accident: Where Are The Drone Delivery Startups Now?
FROM THE MEDIA: When the fight against Covid-19 was in full swing last year, we got to hear about several drone startups talking about bringing a revolution in delivering medicines, vaccines and groceries. Drone delivery startups made headlines claiming how they are the next big thing in India. Articles like Swiggy to lead the drone delivery revolution in India and how easily food delivery apps can ‘fly’ piping hot pasta to your balcony literally bombarded our social media timelines. But whenever there’s a crisis, where drone deliveries can actually make a difference, these startups are hardly in on the action. Consider the tragic ropeway accident in Jharkhand’s Deoghar district where two people are already dead and 48 others are stuck in around 12 cabins in the ropeway. The Indian Air Force (IAF) is in-charge of the rescue operation along with NDRF, commandos and experts. Just think of the plight of the victims trapped in ropeway cabins in the scorching heat of around 40-degrees.
READ THE STORY: News18
Erdoğan promised Serbia Turkish Bayraktar TB2 drones: Vucic
FROM THE MEDIA: Serbia has reiterated its intention to acquire Turkish combat drones as its president on Saturday vowed to further strengthen the country’s defenses, amid tensions in the Balkans and the Russian invasion of Ukraine. “We will strengthen our aviation. We will also increase the number of drones,” Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic told reporters after Serbian military forces completed their exercise named “Fire Shield 2022.” Vucic said that during their talks last week, he asked President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to supply Serbia with landmark unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) Bayraktar TB2s, which have provided successful results and made a meaningful impact in several regional conflicts. “Two days ago, at a meeting with the President of Turkey Erdoğan, I said that we want to buy Bayraktar from Turkey, and Erdoğan promised me that we can get them,” the president said. The battle-tested drones have already proven their capabilities in Libya, Syria and the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Turkey has also sold Kyiv several batches of Bayraktar TB2s.
READ THE STORY: Daily Sabah
Singapore Requires Tracking Devices on Drones – Straits Times
FROM THE MEDIA: Labor shortage is a growing concern with many farmers especially here in Iowa. As a way to help alleviate the stress that comes from not having enough workers, some have turned to technology. One piece of technology that is taking flight on and off the field is drones. Drones on the farm can be used in a number of ways, from spreading fertilizer to monitoring fields. Spencer Bulman of Waukon Feed Ranch Drone Services says in Northeast Iowa, drones can be especially beneficial because of the difficult terrain that farmers are dealing with. In certain situations, certain fields it might not make sense to pull in a big piece of equipment and treat it when they know the crop is so tall you might do a little more harm than good. So gives this gives the farmer the option to still get in there do some late-season applications and not hurt the crop. Bulman works with drones that help spray crops. To do this, he says they map the field, and then the drone will use those boundaries to pick a flight path. It'll go up it'll spray 20 feet at a time. The new one has an eight-gallon tank on it, so at a two-gallon rate, you're spraying about four acres per fill. It'll come back when it's empty, fill back … Usually, it takes about 30 seconds to a minute to fill back up and it's gone again. To operate these drones, Bulman says you need to have a Part 107 Drone Piolet License and a Commercial Crop-Dusting License. Then you need the proper credentials for the pesticide you are using. Now we also have imaging drones that can be used on the field, which is something Bulman is looking into using.
READ THE STORY: The Straits Times
Endeavour Energy showcases 5G drones for electricity grid repair
FROM THE MEDIA: Endeavour Energy, together with Optus, Amazon Web Services, and Unleash live, has deployed its first 5G and AI-enabled drones to improve restoration times for unplanned electricity outages, particularly during natural disasters such as storms, floods, and bushfires. As part of the first demonstration, Endeavour Energy flew the drones over physical electricity infrastructure located in Sydney's western suburb of St Mary’s. During the flyover, footage of damaged assets was streamed in real-time using 5G to Endeavour Energy's training ground in Hoxton Park. With the demonstration a success, according to Optus, Endeavour Energy will now deploy the solution across infrastructure assets in Penrith and Blacktown, which would remove the need to use a large fleet of vehicles, helicopters, and technicians to physically identify and carry out remediation. "We're thrilled to work with Optus, AWS, and Unleash live, with the support of the Australian government to expedite the use of 5G drone technology to make faster decisions and expedite critical maintenance to continue to keep the lights on for our customers," Endeavour Energy chief asset and operating officer Scott Ryan said.
READ THE STORY: Zdnet
Electronic warfare and drone swarms: Here’s the Army’s plan for EDGE 22
FROM THE MEDIA: The US Army will be “working heavily” with electronic warfare and experimenting with large drone swarms as part of an upcoming sensor-to-shooter experiment in the Utah desert, according to a senior Army aviation official. The US Army plans to include seven international allies for its second Experimental Demonstration Gateway Exercise that begins at the end of the month. “We’ll basically be scrimmaging with our partners and allies,” Maj. Gen. Walter Rugen, director of the Future Vertical Lift Cross-Functional Team, said during his presentation at the Army Aviation Association of America conference in Nashville, Tenn. EDGE is a risk reduction event ahead of Project Convergence, the Army’s annual experiment in Arizona, during which the service ties disparate sensors and shooters together to test capabilities vital for multi-domain operations and Joint All-Domain Command and Control Rugen said that EDGE 22 will focus on networks and interoperability as part of seven “key” exercise objectives. The exercise, Rugen said, will include two air assaults alongside allies. The Army plans to use electronic warfare, including electronic sensing and electronic attack, to enable the assault.
READ THE STORY: Breaking Defense
Items of interest
Innovations in Urban Planning (Video)
FROM THE MEDIA: Gerard Coutts & Associates (GCA) presented at the World of Drones & Robotics Congress 2020, the largest drone congress in the Asia Pacific region held in Brisbane, Australia. At GCA, we are continually improving our methods & techniques in how we design, communicate, & deliver urban planning & property development solutions through the utilization of modern drone technology & data. The integration of (animated) infographics, urban plans & 3D environments with aerial photography, video & survey-grade 3D maps, which end users can access online & interact with in real time, is a significant component in progressing to the next stage of an urban development project.
Drone survey for Urban Planning (Video)
FROM THE MEDIA: Specially equipped and modified drone is used for urban landscape survey this technique is useful for collecting date in congested urban areas where other techniques of survey is time consuming and short of desired accuracy.
About this Product
These open source products are reviewed from analysts at InfoDom Securities and provide possible context about current media trends in regard to the realm of cyber security. The stories selected cover a broad array of cyber threats and are intended to aid readers in framing key publicly discussed threats and overall situational awareness. InfoDom Securities does not specifically endorse any third-party claims made in their original material or related links on their sites, and the opinions expressed by third parties are theirs alone. Contact InfoDom Securities at dominanceinformation@gmail.com