The unmanned aerial vehicle was sent to deliver a small package to a neighboring village in a ceremony meant to showcase a new way to deliver mail in the sparsely populated Buryatia region located more than 4,400 km east of Moscow.

Video footage from the scene showed the drone lifting off from a miniature launch pad bearing Russian Post’s blue and white logo, buzzing through the air for several seconds before losing height and crashing into a three-storey residential building in front of a small crowd of spectators who were heard uttering expletives.

No one was harmed in the incident, which left debris from the drone in pieces on the ground.

Russian Post was quick to distance itself from the drone crash, saying it was present at the launch merely as a guest. It said the drone was made by a company called Rudron/Expeditor 3M, which had organized the testing. The company could not immediately be reached for comment.

Russia’s postal service had announced plans in 2016 to start using drones for parcel deliveries across the vast country.

Alexei Tsydenov, the head of the Buryatia region present at the crash site, said that the more than 100 Wi-Fi connections in the area could have disrupted the drone’s flight.

“We won’t stop with this, we will keep trying,” he said, adding that the device cost some $20,000. “Those who don’t risk don’t get a result.”

Logistics companies and retailers worldwide are starting to try out drones to reach remote customers or those paying a premium for speed.

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Source: Reuters

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Kevin Finisterre claims that he accessed confidential customer data after finding a private key publicly posted on code-sharing site Github.

He approached the firm, which offers a “bug bounty” reward of up to $30,000 (£23,000) for security weaknesses discovered in its systems.

DJI said the server access was “unauthorised”.

The data Mr Finisterre was able to see included “unencrypted flight logs, passports, drivers licences and identification cards”, he said.

Despite initially offering him the money, in a statement DJI has now accused Mr Finisterre of refusing to agree to the terms of its bug bounty programme “which are designed to protect confidential data and allow time for analysis and resolution of a vulnerability before it is publicly disclosed”.

It added: “DJI takes data security extremely seriously, and will continue to improve its products thanks to researchers who responsibly discover and disclose issues that may affect the security of DJI user data and DJI’s products.”

It added that it would continue to pay bug bounties in exchange for reports.

Mr Finisterre, an independent security researcher, said DJI tried to make him sign a non-disclosure agreement.

He also published an email from DJI telling him that security issues with servers were included in the bug bounty programme.

‘Freedom of speech’

He said it was almost a month after he sent his report before the full terms were shared with him, and that he believed they “posed a direct conflict of interest to many things including my freedom of speech”.

One of the clauses stated that he could not publicly disclose his research without written consent from DJI, according to emails from the firm he has published in his report.

Typically, security researchers will share their findings with a company, give the firm a time frame in which to fix identified bugs, and then publish their work.

The bug bounty scheme is offered by many large tech firms as an incentive for people to share security weaknesses rather than exploit them.

Cyber-security expert Prof Alan Woodward from Surrey University said DJI’s actions were “outrageous”.

“Cyber-security is one of those areas where there is no government organisation or central body or standards agency holding these people to account. It’s ethical hackers and security researchers,” he said.

“The public has a right to know when there’s a security problem.”

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Source: BBC

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Speaking to Citi News’ Kojo Agyeman, the Lands and Natural Resources Minister, John Peter Amewu said this is part of a grand strategy to effectively clamp down on illegal miners.

[contextly_sidebar id=”zT3D8AMLJCUOgOqUBKAgfWK8rBpM2CuV”]“We are in the process of the acquisition of the drones which is costing almost about 3 million dollars. And we have done some exploration activities in some areas that we’ve earmarked such facilities for them,” Mr. Amewu said.

He added that, the introduction of the drones will help beef up the efforts of Operation Vanguard [a military task-force against illegal mining] in its fight against the menace.

The Lands Minister also assured that, Ghanaian small scale miners whose works have been affected due to government’s war on galamsey, will be allowed back to their sites soon, but in a more regulated manner.

“I’ve had several discussions and engagements with the executives [of the small scale miners]; letting them understand that small scale mining is a preserve of Ghanaians. They would definitely come back and mine under the directive of the President, Nana Akufo-Addo, and so they should exercise patience. We are putting in measures to ensure that when they come back, they will not come back in the old form,” he added.

Earth moving machines to be tracked  

Mr. Amewu made the promise of introducing drones in galamsey prone areas to check such activities some five months ago.

He also hinted of a plan to fix tracking device on earth moving equipment in the country.

This according to him, was because about 40 to 60 percent of the earth moving equipment brought into Ghana for construction purposes, are not found on the roads, according to research findings available to him.

“They are in the deep forest excavating into our water bodies. We are going to put tracking devices on them to see how we will identify these people at a particular spot.”

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By: Godwin Akweiteh Allotey/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @AlloteyGodwin

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The algorithms used are a “dense surface reconstruction” data-set designed to teach drones to understand their environment. Using a single camera and an inertial sensor the drones are able to take off, navigate, and create accurate 3D images.

This technology allows drones to operate without people, the ability to build 3D maps in realtime will aid navigation and allow the robot to plot courses through cities, forests, and even over water. It’s almost certain that the future of search and rescue involves autonomous drones.

In a Reuters report Professor Chli says, “drones can really offer a unique platform that moves very agile and very fast in the environment. It really moves in 3D so it can really fly up and quickly gather the overview of, for example, a disaster area.”

The researchers also showed off the algorithms’ ability to direct devices, allowing one to find a group of people who were eagerly awaiting lunch – and deliver them a pizza.

The next time you see a quadcopter in the sky, don’t be so sure there’s a person somewhere controlling it.

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Source: Thenextweb

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CLUE, offers an infrastructure inspection service for civil infrastructure including bridges and highway using modern technology and software.

At a meeting with management of the Ghana Highways Authority, the Chief Operating Officer for CLUE, Inc, Kazuki Natsume said “the nature of the roads in Africa can be improved. I have lived in several African countries and Ghana is actually the first country I have proposed this project to. We want to collaborate with the Authority to enhance their daily formalities using drones for their survey and designing work and also inspection of infrastructure and road maintenance.”

Mr. Natsume added that, the technology will also provide software to effectively serve the needs of the Authority in terms of data collection.

“We are first looking at data management. We have noticed that the organization is using paper for data collection, but we will provide them with modern technology and services. We are not just going to fly drones, we will come up with software that will help in the design of roads and also detect the very little defect.”

Every year, the GHA embarks on a monitoring and evaluation program to look out for defects such as potholes and cracks among others on the roads in the country, using a manual system approximately over a 13, 360km walk throughout the country.

In response to the proposal, the Maintenance Manager for the GHA, Mr. Osae Boateng, lauded the project and said “it is a viable project, but we have specific needs so we will keep in talks to find out whether their technology will solve those needs. Our concern now is whether they will be able to take the particular data that we take because we use a manual system and walk on the road every year so this is new and we will have to consider a lot of factors before we accept it.”

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By: Farida Shaibu/citifmomline.com/Ghana

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On four days this month – 14, 17, 18 and 21 – drones were blamed for stranding thousands of passengers at Chengdu Shuangliu International.

Chinese reports said they caused 60 flight interruptions on 21 April alone.

One expert said it showed how difficult it is to combat unsafe drone flights.

Initially, it was reported that a reward of 10,000 yuan (£1,124) had been offered by the local public security bureau for information about unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) flown near to the transport hub.

However, DJI is now proposing a much bigger bounty.

In a press release in Chinese, the firm said that flying drones so close to an airport was a serious threat to public safety – and also damaged the UAV industry’s image.

Members of the public have until 31 December to make a report to local authorities.

‘Extraordinary measures’
The bounty was a sign that the firm was taking the potential impact on its reputation seriously, suggested Prof David Dunn at the University of Birmingham.

“Clearly they’re concerned about their brand image, given how much they dominate the drone market,” he told the BBC.

Prof Dunn pointed out that using on-board software to restrict where drones can fly – known as geofencing, which DJI uses in its drones – was not always successful.

“There seems to be an inability to deal with the potential drone threat to air traffic – other than through extraordinary measures like this reward,” he said.

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Source: BBC

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Illegal mining, known in local parlance as “galamsey” has polluted almost all the water bodies in the country. This has resulted in the drying up of these water bodies, making it virtually impossible for the Ghana Water Company Limited to get water for treatment and supply to the people.

[contextly_sidebar id=”S1oQBbE90tH8aViDOXOzNjHuvmFDuZX9″]Mr. John Peter Amewu, who disclosed this during a visit to the AngloGold Ashanti Mine (AGA) at Obuasi last Friday said the government was talking to the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA) to plant trackers into earth moving equipment, which are used to pollute water bodies in Ghana by illegal miners, who are operating deep inside our forests.

Minister Amewu noted that about 40 to 60 percent of the earth moving equipment brought into Ghana for construction purposes are not found on the roads, according to research findings available to him.

He revealed: “They are in the deep forest excavating into our water bodies. We are going to put tracking devices on them to see how we will identify these people at a particular spot.”

He continued that talks are being held to engage drone companies to address the pollution of water bodies.

“Very soon, we will; take one river and do a demonstration along that river body to see how we can take these people out. We will fly drones along them as a monitoring device with police posted calling them, like the marine police, to monitor it.”

The visibly worried minister stressed: “Mining in the river bodies cannot continue; it is criminal, cruel and wicked.”

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Source: The Chronicle

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UPS conducted the test on Monday in Tampa, Florida with Workhorse Group an Ohio-based battery-electric truck and drone developer. Workhorse built the drone and the electric UPS package car used in the test.

“This test is different than anything we’ve done with drones so far. It has implications for future deliveries, especially in rural locations where our package cars often have to travel miles to make a single delivery,” said Mark Wallace, UPS senior vice president of global engineering and sustainability. “Imagine a triangular delivery route where the stops are miles apart by road. Sending a drone from a package car to make just one of those deliveries can reduce costly miles driven. This is a big step toward bolstering efficiency in our network and reducing our emissions at the same time.”

With ORION, UPS’s On-Road Integrated Optimization Navigation routing software, a reduction of just one mile per driver per day over one year can save UPS up to $50 million. UPS has about 102,000 delivery drivers on the road each day. Rural delivery routes are the most expensive to serve due to the time and vehicle expenses required to complete each delivery. In this test, the drone made one delivery while the driver continued down the road to make another. This is a possible role UPS envisions for drones in the future.

“Drivers are the face of our company, and that won’t change,” Wallace said. “What’s exciting is the potential for drones to aid drivers at various points along their routes, helping them save time and deliver on increasing customer service needs that stem from the growth of e-commerce.”

“This is an exciting development for UPS and the logistics industry,” said Wayne Pi, Managing Director of UPS Taiwan.

“In Taiwan, high-tech is a huge part of our economy and we look forward to seeing the results of extended testing and its potential real-life application to achieve greater operational efficiency and more flexible delivery options for our customers.”

The drone used in Monday’s test was the Workhorse HorseFly UAV Delivery system.

It is a high-efficiency, octocopter delivery drone that is fully integrated with Workhorse’s line of electric/hybrid delivery trucks.

The drone docks on the roof of the delivery truck.

A cage suspended beneath the drone, extends through a hatch into the truck. A UPS driver inside loads a package into the cage and presses a button on a touch screen, sending the drone on a preset autonomous route to an address.

The battery-powered HorseFly drone recharges while it’s docked. It has a 30-minute flight time and can carry a package weighing up to 10 pounds.

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Source: Chinapost.com

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Its College of Engineering (CoE) has developed a home-made drone, which could be deployed to pick weather data, monitor farming activities and environmental degradation.

The device could also serve other vital purposes – for security and atmospheric research.

It was developed by a team of research scientists and engineers of the college and seen as a giant step forward by the country’s foremost science and technology institution to lead cutting-edge research to solve Ghana’s industrial and technological challenges.

Professor Mark Adom-Asamoah, Provost of the College, told the Ghana News Agency (GNA), in Kumasi, that successful tests of the unmanned flying aircraft had been run.

The device had so far been used to monitor the concentration of e-waste at the Agbogbloshie Market in Accra.

Interest in drone technology, innovations and scientific developments had heightened for some time now, bringing a thrilling wave of novel uses for the device from saving lives to protecting the ecology.

Price Waterhouse Coopers (PwC) estimates that the global market for commercial application of drone technology is expected to balloon to as much as £127 billion by year 2020, up from the current £2 billion.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) reportedly, is working to develop a drone for monitoring dangerous weather – hurricane and severe storm sentinel, a device capable of studying the storm from above, closer than any piloted aircraft could safely attempt.

Prof. Adom-Asamoah indicated that research scientists of the college, were determined to come out with appropriate technology to speed up the development of the country.

It had in recent times, pioneered research into the development of open space fire detector – the first of its kind globally, ‘SMART’ door, portable biogas system, solar-powered traffic lights to clean energy technology.

The Provost called for the government to give priority to investing in drone technology.

Drones are becoming the eyes and ears of scientists – used for surveying the ground for archeological sites, signs of illegal hunting and crop damage.

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Source: GNA

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