#microdrones

Racing Drones for Geriatrics 

Micro drones can fly but not very far so why not race them?

This is a neat idea from Tiny Whoop, a DIY kit for drone enthusiast who are too afraid to go outdoors.

 Tiny Whoop Drone Vid in Hong Kong

Sometimes it is better to fly your drone indoors. No GPS signal needed and if it crashes, flyaways will be a thing of the past.

Britain to Send ‘Game-Changing’ Microdrones to Ukraine for Spy Missions

EXPRESS  |  By Ema Crabtree  |  8/25/2022

8/25/2022 — The six-inch Black Hornet drones were first used by British forces during the invasion of Afghanistan. The drones originally come from Norway and are part of the new £54 million aid package from Britain and Norway to Ukraine. The two western allies to Ukraine will send 850 Black Hornet’s to Kyiv which will be capable of flying close to Russian soldiers undetected and entering buildings. 

The micro drones have nearly silent rotors meaning they can fly undetected. - © Getty Images

The major said: “Previously we would have sent soldiers forward to see if there were any enemy fighters hiding inside a set of buildings. Now we are deploying Black Hornet to look inside compounds and to clear a route through enemy-held spaces.”  The military tech costing £10,000 per drone has a flight time of up to 25 minutes and flies on autopilot using GPS. The drones are equipped with a rechargeable battery, a handheld controller and a camera which can live-stream video and images to the 7-inch LCD screen which comes with the drone. 

On Wednesday Boris Johnson announced the £54 million aid package to send to Ukraine. - © Getty Images

The equipment was asked for by Ukraine and Boris Johnson announced on Wednesday that the drones would be part of a new military aid package which Norway will contribute to.  The drones costing £8.5 million will not only give Ukraine further spying capabilities, it will also enable them to complete damage assessment.  According to a researcher at the German Aerospace Centre the drones are “the very best on the market” and their use in Ukraine will be “game changing”.

Chargeable batteried Black Hornet has also night vision and filming capabilities - © Getty Images

Norway’s defence minister Bjørn Arild Gram spoke about the Norwegian-developed drones and said: “The drone is used for reconnaissance and target identification. “It is easy to operate, robust, difficult to detect and particularly well suited for combat in urban areas.” He added: “The donation entails a new direction for how Western countries support their fight. Until now we and our allies have mostly donated from our own stocks.”

French forces get new batch of micro-drones for recon missions

PARIS – The DGA French military procurement agency has ordered 300 micro-drones from Parrot for reconnaissance and intelligence missions by the conventional and special forces. First deliveries of the 150 systems ordered this week, each comprising two drones, will begin in June. But the five-year contract with the French company, a European leader in the drone industry, covers several hundred…

Drones that save lives: when technology helps in emergency

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