Tag: Drones

Posted on

Autonomously Attacking Drones

On October 17, 2023, Forbes magazine’s senior contributor David Hambling reported a significant advance in Ukraine’s autonomous warfare capacities. Ukrainian developers confirmed their drones, namely Saker Scout, were autonomously striking Russian forces, marking the first acknowledged use of such technology. These drones can identify and target up to 64 types of Russian military objects, remaining operational even in areas of radio jamming. Developed and put into service by Saker, a company initially established for AI applications in small businesses, these quadcopters can carry three kilos of bombs to a 12-kilometre range. Saker’s machine learning-based system is continually evolving and operational updates cater to the detection of new, specific objects or vehicles. Complemented with visual navigation using ground landmarks, the drones can function even without GPS. While the talk of banning ‘killer robot’ type technology continues, there is yet no international agreement. Paul Scharre, Director of Studies at the Centre for a New American Security, aptly said, “The pace of technology far outstrips the pace of diplomacy.” (Forbes, 17 October 2023)

Posted on

No More Drone Transports over Lake Zurich?

Swiss Post and PostBus are pioneers in the operation of robotic vehicles, robots, and drones. Swiss Post now reports the withdrawal from an project in which drones were used to transport laboratory samples: “Swiss Post drones have flown across various Swiss cities as a service for hospitals since 2017. After five years of pioneering work, the company has now decided to hand over its drone project to the Californian drone systems developer Matternet. Although the autonomous drones have attracted global interest, the current regulatory environment for unmanned aerial vehicles in Switzerland means Swiss Post is unable to use the drones widely enough or operate them at a profit. With its new strategy, the company is focusing on logistics solutions in its core business and on continuing to finance the public service for Switzerland using its own resources. This strategic decision is a logical step as part of its strategy.” (Media release Swiss Post, June 1, 2022) There were repeated problems within the project. For example, a drone once crashed into Lake Zurich. Nevertheless, the approach was generally considered innovative. It will be interesting to see whether the drone transports will be resumed one day.

Posted on

Billions of Trees, Planted by Drones

Flash Forest, a Canadian start-up, plans to plant 40,000 trees in the north of Toronto within a few days. It uses drones, i.e. technology that also plays a role in detecting and fighting forest fires. By 2028, it aims to have planted a full 1 billion trees. “The company, like a handful of other startups that are also using tree-planting drones, believes that technology can help the world reach ambitious goals to restore forests to stem biodiversity loss and fight climate change. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change says that it’s necessary to plant 1 billion hectares of trees – a forest roughly the size of the entire United States – to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.” (Fast Company, 15 May 2020) It is without doubt a good idea to use drones for planting. But you have to remember that unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) of this type have a bad energy balance. Above all, however, birds and other creatures must not be frightened away and must not be hurt (see, e.g., this article). In this context, insights from animal-machine interaction and machine ethics can be used.