Robots Work For You

The drone industry is diverse, innovative and international. It has an enormous potential for growth with the associated possibility to create jobs. To ensure a safe, secure and environmentally friendly development, and to respect the citizens’ legitimate concerns for privacy and data protection, EASA has been tasked by the European Commission — following the Riga Conference and its associated Declaration — to develop a regulatory framework for drone operations as well as concrete proposals for the regulation of low-risk drone operations.

While drones are expected to become a hit commercially and eventually improve supply chain management practices, it is still too early to gauge the lasting impact drones will have.

The military has found a way to make the dawn of tiny, adorable drones as alarming as possible Defense Systems reports that U.S. Army tacticians were already worried about the rise of the hummingbird-sized quadcopter anyway, they're working towards hundreds of these little buggers working in swarms.

Today, the FAA announced the regulations that will allow routine use of small drones in America. The announcement was hastily arranged after Forbes revealed details about the regulations gleaned from an inadvertently published FAA document. Before becoming finalized, the rules must go through a comment period, during which the public will have an opportunity to [...]

Small drones are set to have a disrupting effect on a wide range of commercial activities. Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have rapidly entered the civilian market after having been widely developed for military operations. They already have a disrupting effect on a wide range of commercial activities and that’s just a beginning.

NFPA Journal explores how drones and robots are and could be used by emergency managers and first responders to help them do their jobs more efficiently, effectively and with more safety. That optimism is shared by many public safety agencies and first responders, who see vast potential for unmanned systems—land- and water-borne robots, and aerial drones—to save lives and make firefighters, police, and emergency medical technicians safer and more efficient. As the technology rapidly expands and federal restrictions on operating unmanned systems become more defined, public safety agencies are scrambling to figure out how they can unleash this vast potential in a safe and smart way.

The European Commission has today proposed to set tough new standards to regulate the operations of civil drones (or "remotely piloted aircraft sytems" – RPAS). The new standards will cover safety, security, privacy, data protection, insurance and liability. The aim is to allow European industry to become a global leader in the market for this emerging technology, while at the same time ensuring that all the necessary safeguards are in place.