Drone News Roundup: Drones Deliver a Powerful Public Health Message, Anduril Takes Anti-Drone Tech to the Bank, and More!

The global importance of UAV’s continues this week, as several stories have emerged which highlight the myriad ways drones are impacting workflows. From a unique way of delivering a public health message to a high tech perimeter defense system, drones are improving processes and clearing the way for a more autonomous and safe future.

Now onto the links!

South Korean Drone Show Encourages Mask Wearing

Image credit CNN

The South Korean Ministry of Land Infrastructure and Transport launched an impromptu drone light show July 4th. Capping off a social media campaign to thank frontline workers and encourage COVID-safe behavior, the 10-minute show used 300 synchronized drones to highlight some of the ways South Koreans can help stop the spread of the virus.

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Anti-Drone Tech Firm Raises $200m

Image credit Anduril

Anti-drone technology firm, Anduril, has raised another $200m in a Series C round of funding led by Andreesen-Horowitz. This round brings their total valuation to $1.9b, largely based on advancements in the company’s groundbreaking perimeter defense solutions and a growing client list including the US government. From the article:

The company is developing a suite of perimeter defence technologies that are intended to automatically work together to combat a variety of intruders, including people, vehicles and UAVs. The system relies on computer vision and machine learning to identify objects.

The central nervous system of the technology is the start-up’s Lattice AI, a computer network that combines and analyses data collected from sensors such as cameras fixed on ground stations and surveillance UAVs. The artificially intelligent software automatically coordinates a response to trespassers.

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Drone Captures Video of Beluga Whale Off Coast of San Diego

Image credit Gone Whale Watching San Diego

For the first time ever, a Beluga Whale was spotted off the coast of San Diego, California. The video was posted by travel group Gone Whale Watching San Diego, and was quickly picked up by local and national news outlets. This is a very rare sighting, since Beluga Whales usually don’t swim this far south, and often swim in groups.

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Switzerland and US Reach Safety Standards Deal

Image credit UAV Coach

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the Swiss government have just announced that they’ve reached a deal on blending their safety standards for drones in international airspace. From the press release:

UAS activities are now accepted worldwide as a vital sector of aviation. This U.S./Swiss agreement continues the move forward of the safe, efficient, and internationally harmonized integration of these vehicles into the world’s airspace.

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Australia Deploys Autonomous Boats for Coastline Patrols

Image credit OCIUS

When it comes to researching and deploying autonomous vehicles, Australia is largely leading the pack. With miles of coastline to patrol, the government of New South Wales is turning to solar-powered autonomous boats that can be remotely-piloted (yes, yes, we know, they’re not UAV’s). As the CEO of OCIUS puts it:

The idea was to create an ocean drone that could do the mundane or dangerous jobs currently carried out by by defence force personnel. Those jobs put people, our men and women in uniform in harm’s way.

A robot that is persistent and unmanned and does not need fuel or get bored, is ideally suited to do that dull and dangerous work.

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