drones

Drone used to drop contraband onto prison yard

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CollinsBay

By Ian MacAlpine, Kingston Whig-Standard

Contraband seized inside the medium-security unit at Collins Bay Institution earlier this month was dropped into the prison courtyard by a drone, the Whig-Standard has learned.

Correctional Service Canada sent out a media release on Aug. 7 saying that unauthorized items including a cellphone and 180 grams of tobacco were seized at the medium-security unit of Collins Bay Institution on Aug. 5.

Institutional value of the seizure was $13,500, according to the release.

A lockdown was ordered for an exceptional search of the institution, which lasted almost a week.

The Joint Forces Penitentiary Squad was investigating the incident, according to the release. But what wasn’t revealed was that the contraband was delivered via a drone, or an unmanned aerial vehicle.

According to sources inside the prison, the drop happened in the evening hours of Aug. 5 during a changeover of inmates in one of the prison yards.

Sources said that when the contraband was dropped, correctional officers got to it right away.

Sources also said some narcotics were included in the drop.

A search was ordered of the institution because correctional staff were concerned over the cellphone, which did not have a charger with it. Officials feared the charger was either already in the institution or another drone drop was being planned.

Sources said the phone charger, and an equal weight of tobacco and narcotics, were found in a prisoner’s cell on Aug. 11.

The Whig was also told that the prison yard is searched every morning by correctional staff to find any items that may have be thrown over the walls of the institution overnight.

On Thursday, CSC would not confirm or deny that the contraband came in via a drone drop when asked by the Whig.

“For safety and security reasons, CSC cannot disclose which technology and design features are in use at any specific facility.” wrote Jon Schofield, an assistant media adviser, communications and engagement sector of CSC, in an email to the Whig-Standard. “CSC regularly reviews the use of innovative security tools that enhance its capacity to limit security incidents and prevent security breaches,”

Drones are becoming a source of concern for correctional institutions as the only access to walled prison yards being from the sky above.

In late July, a drone dropped a package containing 144.5 grams of tobacco, 65.4 grams of marijuana and 6.6 grams of heroin into the prison yard at the Mansfield Correctional Institution in Ohio.

The drop caused a fight among 75 inmates over the contraband. Guards had to use pepper spray to quell the skirmish and inmates wern’t allowed back into their cells until they were strip searched.

Drones have also been a concern following incidents in the last two years at prisons in Quebec.

Correctional officials in Australia are asking for new laws to restrict the airspace over prisons, a law that already exists in Canada.

Derek Cooper, the director of photography for Kingston Aerials, said it would be very easy to make a drop over prison walls.

“Anyone who’s familiar with radio-controlled vehicles, cars, boats, whatever … applying that to drones is a fairly straightforward thing,” said Cooper, who’s one-year-old company provides aerial video and photography for a variety of businesses.

Kingston Aerials also uses its drones for sports photography, construction site planning, urban planning, natural resource management and surveying.

In May, the company partnered with Cataraqui Cemetery to map the 40-hectare site and its 15,000 graves.

Hobby drones are pretty easy to fly, he said.

“You don’t need any training.” he said. “How good you are at flying them is variable, but you can get up and fly these things pretty quickly.”

“Our pilots are different, they’ve gone through ground school for UAV training and they’ve got 400 to 500 hours of experience before they fly our big industrial drones.”

Cooper said drones can be operated from as far as two kilometres away, which would make it easy to drop contraband over the prison wall from a distance.

“They could have what’s called first-person view on the drone so they could actually see what the drone is seeing and that alleviates the problem of the drone flying into things from a distance when you can’t actually see the drone.

“You can pretty much fly anywhere you want.”

But according to Transport Canada, the operator of a drone over a prison is violating several laws, flying in restricted airspace and operating a drone without having the drone in sight.

“The pilot always has to have his eyes or her eyes on the vehicle,” said Cooper.

“If you break the rules, Transport Canada will fine you $5,000. If a corporation or business owns the drone and violates the rules gets fined $25,000.”

Another illegal activity is dropping contraband onto a prison yard.

Against the law, yes, but easy to do, said Cooper if the operator has a view from the drone on their controller.

“You could have a little hook on the drone and basically flick a switch on the radio control unit and it triggers the motor on board to open the hook and down it goes.”

Hobby drones are gaining popularity at a high rate, according to Cooper, who said about 200,000 units were sold per month worldwide in 2014, a number that could double this year.

“It’s something that’s out there, the technology is certainly there.”

Cooper said the technology can be used both within the law, or for sinister purposes.

“You can do what we’re doing, which is awesome applications in industrial settings, or you can break the law and those people are going to get caught.”

ian.macalpine@sunmedia.ca

http://www.thewhig.com/2015/08/20/drone-used-to-drop-contraband-onto-prison-yard

As use of drones takes off, so will risks, says Lloyd’s of London

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oldold3drquad

A sharp escalation in the use of drones will bring increasingly complex risks from cyberattack, reckless pilots and privacy issues, a new report from the Lloyd’s of London insurance market has warned. Spending on unmanned aerial vehicles is likely to double to more than $90bn by 2024, Lloyd’s predicted, but makers and users of the machines, as well as insurers, are relatively unprepared for the emerging consequences.

“Drone technology has significant potential, but is a particularly novel – and controversial – emerging technology. Insurance is expected to be a key component in the risk-management framework that will need to be developed for the systems to operate safely and with due regard to third-party interests,” it argues in the report “Drones take flight”.

“As the market for drones continues to expand, manufacturers can expect to face increasingly complex and high-value risk exposures. Protection of intellectual property and the management of product liability will also likely need to be considered in the scope of insurance cover.”

Drones have a controversial image because of their use by the military, but the technology is increasingly being expanded into a number of civil and commercial uses.

Put simply: drones sound like fun gizmos, until they’re falling on our heads or spying on us.

“This technology has immense power, but it has developed faster than regulations,” says Nick Beecroft, Lloyd’s of London’s manager of emerging risk and research. “Regulators and insurers don’t yet have comfort and clarity here. And no one wants a free-for-all.”

Beecroft says the explosion in drone is largely the result of huge drops in the cost of such tech. An app-controlled quad-copter capable of shooting 1080p video is $1,000, a fraction of what such machines cost even five years ago.

“The growth in maturity and affordability is incredible,” says Beecroft. “What’s needed is a sensible debate on the risk management of drones.”

Drones have quickly mushroomed from backyard hobbyist toys to powerful commercial tools. Unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) expenditures over the next 10 years are expected to total $91 billion, according to the Teal Group. But  the sector remains largely unregulated and potentially dangerous.

http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/aug/20/as-use-of-drones-takes-off-so-will-risks-says-lloyds-insurers

Generator failure caused drone crash in Africa, investigation finds

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Reaper

The failure of an on board electrical generator caused the crash of a drone in February during a mission over Africa, an Air Force investigation announced Wednesday.

The Air Force crew in charge of the aircraft intentionally crashed the MQ-9A Reaper over international waters after they were unable to fix the problem Feb. 4, according to the report by the Accident Investigation Board.

The $13.2 million aircraft was destroyed and the wreckage was not recovered, the service said.

The Reaper was assigned to the 33rd Expeditionary Special Operations Squadron, 435th Air Expeditionary Wing in Africa Command. It was flying an intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance mission when the problem occurred, according to Air Combat Command.

The Air Force has not disclosed where the drone was operating, and the accident report withheld the name of the installation the aircraft launched from.

Officials also did not indicate the drone’s mission, though AFRICOM leaders have been trying to increase surveillance of African extremist groups such as Boko Haram and other terrorist threats.

The crash report comes as the Pentagon is trying to ramp up the number of drone missions. On Monday, military leaders said they plan to expand drone sorties beyond the Air Force. In addition to the 60 air combat patrols the Air Force performs daily, the military hopes by 2019 to have between 10 and 20 daily drone flights conducted by the Army, 10 by U.S. Special Operations Command, and 10 by contractors.

The Reaper that crashed in February had been inspected just two days before the mission and was cleared for operation, the accident report said.

The drone took off without incident, but three hours into its flight, its starter-generator — which supplies most of the power to the drone — failed, the report said.

The piloting crew turned the aircraft around and directed it back toward the unspecified base, while shutting down noncritical systems in an effort to conserve power, the record shows.

However, while still 30 miles from the base, the pilot detected that the craft had only 24 volts of power left and was still losing energy.

“When battery voltage drops below 22V, the aircraft can become unstable and unreliable during flight,” the accident report said.

Lowering the aircraft’s landing gear would have used up additional power as well, investigators said.

Unable to guarantee control of the drone, military commanders directed the pilot to fly the Reaper out over international waters and crash it. However the aircraft didn’t have enough power left to even complete that, the report said. While descending, the drone’s power gave out completely, and the craft free-fell the rest of the way into the water.

Air Force officials said that “another ISR asset” observed the incident and confirmed that the drone impacted the water and was destroyed.

The drone operators were well rested and had been properly trained, the report said, adding that investigators did not believe that human error was a factor in the crash. The weather was also considered to be clear and is not believed to have been a factor in the crash.

Other than the aircraft itself, there was no damage involved in the incident, and no injuries.

http://www.airforcetimes.com/story/military/2015/08/19/generator-failure-caused-drone-crash-near-africa-investigation-finds/32010439/

Researchers want to make license plates for drones

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A drone flies over a ravine as the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office demonstrates a search and rescue operation, Friday, Aug. 14, 2015, in Dublin, Calif.
Image: AP Photo/Noah Berger
Headshot_2015_chrisperkins_1

By Chris Perkins
The rapid rise of amateur-piloted drones has created somewhat of a regulatory nightmare. Countless reports of pilots spotting drones near airports as well as the recent fracas over drones impeding firefighters are testament to that.

Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley are attempting to tackle this issue with license plates reports Technology Review.

Well, they’re not really license plates the way we know them.

The researchers call their invention LightCense and they use multicolored LED lights mounted to the underside of an Unmanned Arial Vehicle (UAV) that flash in a unique pattern. This pattern can be decoded by a smartphone app, specially designed cameras or memorized by a person, though that last one seems a little less likely.

Aislan Foina, director of the Cal Unmanned lab at UC Berkley, says LightCense was inspired by automotive license plates, despite the differences in how they work. He and his team consider drones as being more related to cars than aircraft, which makes sense given their small size and (relatively) large numbers.

 

Image: LightCense

As of right now, there are no definitive plans to bring this tech to market, but Foina would like to see it go commercial at some point.

 

UAV regulation has been a major issue with the proliferation of affordable consumer drones.

UAV regulation has been a major issue with the proliferation of affordable consumer drones. Pilots at JFK recently had three separate close calls with UAVs flying in no-fly-zones in just one weekend.Drones are also posing a large threat to firefighters in California. The state’s chief of the Department of Forestry and Fire said that UAVs cause “immediate danger” to firefighting pilots in a recent press conference, reports the Los Angeles Times.

Many places, notably airports, are marked as no-fly zones but it’s almost impossible for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to prevent drones from flying in these areas. Due to the large amount of UAVs flying at any given time, the regulation for drones would need to be automated, in contrast with the FAA’s human-operated Air Traffic Control.

A proposal from NASA and Verizon would require all drones to connect to the Internet, enabling the ability for “geofencing.” Amazon — which is trying to start up a drone delivery service — also released a similar plan that would require non-Internet connected drones to fly below 200 feet. The appeal of LightCense is that it could be retrofitted to drones that aren’t connected to the Internet.

Assuming the proposal goes forward, LightCense could be a good way to keep older drones in the sky.

Have something to add to this story? Share it in the comments.

 

http://mashable.com/2015/08/19/license-plates-for-drones/

Cops bust hobbyist flying drone near Manhattan Bridge

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DRONE ARREST

By Larry Celona

Cops busted a hobbyist flying a drone near the FDR Drive on Thursday and slapped him with a summons, police sources said.

Ramon Lopez, 28, of California was nabbed by authorities as he was flying a white drone on South Street near Jefferson Street in the shadow of the Manhattan Bridge, according to sources.

Lopez was hit with a summons for violating a law governing “aviation in and over” the city.

http://nypost.com/2015/08/20/cops-bust-hobbyist-flying-drone-near-manhattan-bridge/

Stores Must Stop Drone Sales at New Jersey Airport

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newark-airport

At least two stores inside Newark Liberty International Airport are selling drones despite federal rules prohibiting flying them near airports.

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey said it will demand the stores stop selling drones “immediately.”

“The Port Authority shares the aviation community’s safety concerns about the growing presence of drones around the region’s airports and is strongly opposed to the sale of drones at terminal shops,” Ron Marsico, a Port Authority spokesman, said in a statement.

Brookstone, on the secure side of Terminal C, and Hudson News, in Terminal A, sell remote-controlled flying objects, NJ.com reported (http://bit.ly/1JhYc8Q) Wednesday.

Commercial airline pilots at Newark Liberty have reported seeing drones recently, including four separate sightings on Aug. 9.

The Federal Aviation Administration said last week that drones had been spotted 650 times this year as of Aug. 9, compared with 238 sightings for all of 2014. The agency is now proposing to further restrict drone flying, including a 400-foot maximum altitude.

Laura Samuels, a spokeswoman for the Hudson Group, Hudson News’ parent company, said Tuesday the items were toys and did not threaten aviation. She said they would be removed from the Terminal A store.

“We’re not here to cause panic in the streets,” she said. “If it is uncomfortable for customers or the airport, we will do what we always do in that situation, and that’s remove them. And that’s what I’m going to recommend we do.”

It was unclear whether there were any limits on the sale of drones at an airport.

The FAA and Brookstone did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

———

Information from: NJ.com, http://www.nj.com

Downing drone at beach leads to jail

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phantomstatue

By Kristina Davis

ENCINITAS — A confrontation over a drone flying above beachgoers ended with damaged equipment, a man behind bars and lingering questions over the line between public air space and personal space.

Augustine Lehecka, a Carlsbad electronic engineer, said he was enjoying the ideal summer afternoon at Moonlight Beach in Encinitas with friends on Sunday. A rock ‘n’ roll band was on stage, the water was warm for bodysurfing and the beach was packed.

Then came an uninvited guest.

Lehecka, 53, said a sophisticated drone flew over his group of about 10 friends, which included two young children. He said it was flying dangerously low, its four blades whirring overhead like a lawn mower, and its mounted camera swiveling back and forth apparently aimed at the group.

“We had like a peeping Tom,” he recalled Wednesday. “I felt threatened.”

He said he motioned for the drone to leave them alone, but it didn’t appear to work. Concerned for the safety of the group, as well as their privacy, he decided to take further action.

He took off his shirt and tossed it at the drone.

“I’m a big guy and my T-shirt is huge. It cannot be tossed more than 6 feet,” he estimated of the height. The shirt wrapped around the propeller of the drone, causing it to drop to the sand.

Lehecka said he considered the situation resolved at that point.

About 10 minutes later, he was met by sheriff’s deputies. They arrested Lehecka on one count of felony vandalism and booked him into Vista jail.

He spent around eight hours behind bars before posting $10,000 bail, said Lehecka, who remained shaken by his experience days later.

Turns out, the operator works for a drone company. The pilot could not be reached for an interview and a company representative did not return a reporters’ phone call.

In an interview with NBC 7, the pilot, who asked to not be named, said he was flying at a safe distance above the crowd and not invading anyone’s privacy. He said the damage came to about $750.

The District Attorney’s Office on Tuesday declined to press charges against Lehecka in the incident, an office spokeswoman said Wednesday.

Lehecka said the use of drones in such public places is alarming, especially since many drones can be operated via the Internet, from the other side of the world.

“What if they fly into a crowd of people?” he asked. “Where’s the accountability?”

He said he and a friend were buzzed by a drone just the day before in the Del Mar area, sparking a conversation at the time about the legality and safety of such activity.

Government officials have been scrambling to respond to the growing popularity of drones now that they are so accessible to the general public. Commercial drone traffic is regulated by the Federal Aviation Administration.

Authorities are pushing for legislation to ban drone flights near active wildfires, a growing concern. And NASA is testing an air traffic control system for drones.

Hobbyist operators are encouraged to follow safety guidelines that include flying no higher than 400 feet, staying away from other aircraft and airports, and keeping the drone within sight.

http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/2015/aug/19/man-jailed-beach-drone-confrontation/

Drone racing like ‘a real-life video game’

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pauldowding

By: 

Forget package delivery. Drone owners have found a much more thrilling use for their radio-controlled flying machines: racing.

The hobby has soared in popularity over the last few months, with a rapid rise in the number of new tournaments across North America.

More than a hundred pilots converged in California last month for the United States’ first drone racing championship, and Canada is set to follow suit with a tourney in Collingwood on Friday.

Racing drones, unlike those flown by police, are small, weighing less than a kilogram, and can reach breakneck speeds — more than 100 km/h.

They’re controlled differently, too. Before a race starts, pilots don video goggles that let them see what the drone sees.

“The whole idea of putting on a set of goggles and flying this thing is like nothing else,” said Paul Dowling, the owner of Autobotix, a store that specializes in racing drones in Toronto.

“You are flying it. You will crash. You will feel like you crashed. It’s not uncommon to see someone flying and see them fall over when they crash.”

Jason Ambeault, project manager at a tech company, discovered drone racing after watching a YouTube video last December that showed a dozen UAVs whizzing through a forest in France. As an avid gamer, the feeling of immersion from a first-person perspective was a huge draw, he said.

“I’ve always been interested in remote-control cars and airplanes, from my great uncle years and years ago,” he said. “It’s like being in a real-life video game, basically.”

Now that he’s become an adept pilot, he hopes to win his first big race at the Collingwood Nationals. But he’ll face stiff competition with rivals from around the world, including the U.S and China.

Winning that race, he said, will require more than just a quick machine.

“It’s won in the corner,” he said. “If you can do efficient moves in the corners, then you’ll have a chance at winning. It’s about skills. The faster you are, the higher chance you have of crashing.”

In Toronto, rules surrounding the commercial use of drones remain murky. In April, Mayor John Tory’s executive committee unanimously approved a motion by Councillor James Pasternak asking city staff to report back on a “strategy governing the use of drones in the City of Toronto’s outdoor spaces.”

Drone flights are also regulated by Transport Canada.

But those restrictions have yet to dampen enthusiasm for the hobby.

“The market is growing exponentially worldwide by the day. It’s inconceivable the amount of growth in the past few months,” Dowling said. “People are starting to see that this is not a fad.”

http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2015/08/18/gamers-gear-up-for-drone-racing-weekend.html