The Drone Project

With billions at stake, states lobby for drone test sites

Roushan Islam — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 14:56:36 +0000

By Audrey Cheng, Alyssa Howard and Tom Meyer

The Federal Aviation Administration will pick six sites by the end of the year to test how best to integrate drones into the national airspace by 2015. Intended to create a procedure …

Uncertainties remain as FAA integrates drones into U.S. skies; number of drones may hit 30,000 by 2020

Roushan Islam — Tue, 19 Mar 2013 20:21:44 +0000

By Josh Solomon

WASHINGTON – Thousands of unmanned aircraft systems—commonly known as drones—could be buzzing around in U.S. airspace by 2015 because of a law passed last year, raising both safety and privacy concerns among some lawmakers and advocacy groups.…

Drones that can make decisions

NSZ Editor — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 12:46:48 +0000

By Catherine Reid and Summer Delaney

Carnegie Mellon University’s Robotics Institute is a pioneer in unmanned aerial aircraft research. This particular experiment, led by student Jonathan Butzke and Professor Maxim Likhachev, examines robotic decision making. The drone flown in the …

Citizens take drones to new heights

Roushan Islam — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 17:32:07 +0000

By Ashley Balcerzak

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From the Burrito Bomber to crop monitoring, a look at commercial drone use

Roushan Islam — Tue, 19 Mar 2013 18:29:26 +0000

World Wildlife Fund volunteers introduce drone technology to park rangers in Nepal. SOURCE: World Wildlife Fund

By Rachel Janik and Mitchell Armentrout

WASHINGTON – The next time you feel the urge for fresh Mexican food, just look up. A taco-toting …

Charlottesville initiates the drone conversation

Roushan Islam — Tue, 19 Mar 2013 15:52:23 +0000

By Gideon Resnick

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — Nestled in the Blue Ridge Mountains, Charlottesville is home to the University of Virginia with Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello nearby. Now it is also known as a “No Drone Zone” because of a City Council …

The Fourth Amendment perspective

Roushan Islam — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 20:49:01 +0000

By Fritz Burgher

Privacy law has evolved over the past century as technology has rapidly improved. To learn about key Supreme Court decisions and how they may relate to domestic surveillance via the use of drones, explore the timeline below. …

Police forces struggle to incorporate drones

Roushan Islam — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 20:39:12 +0000

By Ashley Balcerzak and Taylor Hiegel

WASHINGTON – Last year, Police Chief John Crane discovered the Gadsden Police Department has owned two unmanned aerial vehicles since 2010. They were never used.

The two UAV wasps aren’t really needed, Crane has …

‘Drones are going to turn people into chickens in cages. They’ll be watched all the time’

Roushan Islam — Tue, 19 Mar 2013 20:32:34 +0000

Reporter Gideon Resnik interviews Amie Stepanovich of the Electronic Privacy Information Center and John W. Whitehead, founder of The Rutherford Institute in Charlottesville, Virginia, about civil liberties issues related to drones. …

Looser FAA regulations to help drone expansion at universities

Roushan Islam — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 20:35:30 +0000

By Stephanie Yang

Jonathan Butzke, a Ph.D. student at The Robotics Institute at Carnegie Mellon, builds his own unmanned aerial vehicles, one of which he calls a hexacopter. (Stephanie Yang/Medill)

Drones have become increasingly common at U.S. universities for research …

Privacy advocates criticize border patrol drones in Senate immigration plan

Roushan Islam — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 20:37:38 +0000

By Cathaleen Chen and Kimberly Railey

WASHINGTON —The Senate immigration bill would create a a 24/7 surveillance system at U.S. borders that would rely significantly on increased use of drones.

Under the bill, no immigrant with provisional legal status could …

Privacy hawks complicate path for drones over U.S.

Roushan Islam — Sun, 17 Mar 2013 20:31:32 +0000

By Marshall Cohen

WASHINGTON — The rapidly expanding industry of domestic drones is effectively unregulated when it comes to privacy protections — but not for lack of trying.

Congress has passed few laws regulating drones, or unmanned aerial vehicles, but …