GoKawiil
Tech News
Researchers at ETH Zürich have built a quadcopter called FlexiQuad that replaces a rigid frame with a flexible ring-shaped fuselage. The design lets the drone bounce off obstacles like tree trunks, squeeze through narrow gaps, and continue flying instead of crashing to the ground.
Ukrainian startup CODE380 has built a pocket-sized receiver called the D·Vision SDR that intercepts unencrypted live video feeds from many Russian reconnaissance and attack drones, letting Ukrainian operators see what the drone's camera sees. At about 10 ounces, it is reported to be less than half the weight of competing Ukrainian detection devices, and it can also pick up the newer radio frequencies used by Russia's Molniya drones since June.
San Bernardino County Fire Protection District has contracted Seneca Systems to supply a fleet of five autonomous drones, a mobile operations base, and autonomy software that lets one pilot oversee the whole team. The drones can jointly deliver more than 500 gallons of firefighting foam and are built to operate at night and in hard-to-reach terrain. The system is expected to be operational before the 2027 wildfire season.
US Coast Guard-contracted Saildrone autonomous vessels, equipped with 360-degree cameras, have begun patrolling the Great Lakes border between the US and Canada since May, funded by $15.5 million from Trump's 'One Big, Beautiful Bill Act.' Sarnia Mayor Mike Bradley says he spotted one on the St Clair River and was never notified by US authorities, and is unsure whether Canada's federal government was informed or consented.
Purdue computer science professor Aniket Bera's IDEAS Lab posted a video showing a quadcopter autonomously following a person through dense woods using only onboard computing, without GPS, maps, or cloud processing. The drone uses an occlusion-prediction method to estimate the target's path when trees block its view, and relies on open-source navigation tools including SUPER and FAST-LIO, originally developed by the University of Hong Kong's MaRS Lab, despite Bera's claim his team built the system from scratch.
Amazon Prime Air is expanding its drone delivery operations to nearly 500 US cities and towns and has launched service near Darlington in England, while smaller drone delivery operators are also spreading across US cities for food and treats. Residents near these operations are reporting that drone noise, though often quieter than traffic overall, stands out sharply because of its pitch and low-altitude, direct-overhead flight paths.
Greenpeace activists disrupted Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang's keynote at GTC Berlin, standing on chairs with a banner reading 'Nvidia, clean up your dirty business!' and shouting questions about Nvidia chips allegedly found in Russian drones and missiles, plus broader environmental concerns. Security removed the protesters as Huang told them 'It's okay, go easy' and 'I'll talk to you later.' The confrontation follows reports that Nvidia Jetson Orin chips have turned up in Russia's S-71 'Monochrome' weapon and other autonomous drones.
A team led by MIT's Raphael Zufferey tested a bird-like robot in a water tank and Lake Geneva, finding that medium-sized flexible wings, bird-like flapping frequencies, and a steep 70-degree pitch let it transition smoothly from swimming to flight. Unlike real diving birds, the robot achieved takeoff without needing feet to paddle.
Ukraine's 92nd separate assault brigade used a Heavy Shot AYUDAG 6 hexacopter drone, supplied free by manufacturer Gurzuf Defence, to evacuate a wounded soldier suspended in a harness from a battlefield position where Russian drones and mines made ground rescue too risky. The soldier, from the 30th separate mechanized brigade, had spent nearly 500 days at the position before the flight, which took about 1 hour 14 minutes, according to Gurzuf Defence and The Kyiv Independent. Ukraine's Army published video of the evacuation on October 19.
Ukraine's 92nd Separate Assault Brigade used a modified Heavy Shot bomber drone to evacuate a wounded infantryman, callsign 'Kostya', from an exposed position on the Kharkiv front. The soldier, who was stranded amid mined terrain and enemy kamikaze drones, strapped himself to the aircraft's underbelly and was flown 18km to safety while escorted by a protective fleet of smaller drones and net-armed quadcopters.
Swiss weather tech company Meteomatics says its drones can gather atmospheric data more quickly and accurately than traditional weather balloons. Unlike balloons, which launch at fixed times and are discarded after a single use, the company's drones can be deployed on demand to track developing weather conditions like storms.
Local authorities in Milpitas, California have ordered operators of the 342-acre Newby Island landfill to deploy drones and install monitors to track chemicals causing persistent bad smells, and to automate collection of landfill gases. Residents, including engineer Chia-Ling Kong who has campaigned against the odours, say smells have lasted hours daily despite recent improvements. The landfill's operators say they are committed to safe operation and protecting air quality.