aerial

Fancy yourself as James Bond and want to do some high-tech spying? Now you can with this palm-size flying robot.

TechJect's Robot Dragonfly may not be ready just yet, but you can back this project at Indiegogo for just $99 to get your very own micro UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle). If you're willing to chuck in another $20, you'll be able to get a noiseless version.

The basic model weighs in at just less than an ounce and can hover or flit around like a bird with its two pairs of wings. TechJect also intends to sell different types of wings that will change how the unit performs. … Read more

If you're looking for a bit of an escape on a Friday afternoon, you can probably get away with it thanks to some more updates to Google Maps and Earth.

Google announced today that it's rolling out an "extensive refresh" for its high-resolution aerial and satellite images, which are viewable on both Google Maps and Google Earth.

The aerial collection will be updated in more than 20 locations across the United States and Europe while satellite imagery is being boosted in over 60 regions worldwide.

Furthermore, the image collection is going to include new 45 degree … Read more

We've written here a number of times about U.S. Air Force aircraft designed way back in the middle of the 20th century -- the B-52 bomber, the U-2 spy plane, the C-130 all-purpose airlift aircraft -- that are still pulling duty in this second decade of the 21st century.

But of course, the Pentagon does buy its share of new designs to keep pace with changing times and the demands of modern war-fighting. (Consider the saga of the multibajillion-dollar F-35 joint strike fighter.)

One of those newer-fangled aircraft destined to join the inventory in the not-too-distant future is … Read more

Trying to find new markets for its high-end photo gear, Phase One today announced camera systems for aerial photography and for reproducing artwork.

Both cameras use the company's big, expensive, medium-format image sensors, but the camera bodies are modified compared to what it sells to its more typical customers, photographers taking fashion and product photos. For one thing, they're made with rugged aluminum bodies to better withstand industrial conditions; for another, they drop the reflex mirror and viewfinder of ordinary cameras.

The iXR is geared for reproducing artwork or machine-vision needs; it can be controlled via live view … Read more

Fancy having your own self-guided flying camera mount? One that could get your Canon dSLR soaring over your house and neighborhood for only $2,500?

Kickstarter fans would, so much so that they ponied up triple the $25,000 funding goal for the Eye3 hexacopter, powered by the open-source APM2 autopilot platform.

After all, flying drones, military and civilian, can record stunning footage for a lot less than the price of a helicopter camera crew.

But Kickstarter has poked its finger in the Eye3, pulling the plug on funding. … Read more

Fighting zombies on the ground is a sucker bet. I mean, they always outnumber you, and there's never enough ammo.

Plus, it's a level playing field, and that's the last thing you want when faced with relentless hordes of flesh-eaters. (Yes, I've thought this through.)

In Zombie Gunship, you take the high road--literally. You're the gunner for an AC-130 ground-attack aircraft. As the heavily armed weapon of undead destruction circles a bunker, you have to--make that get to--gun down the zombies before they reach the entrance.

Of course, humans are trying to get there, too, as it's the only safe place. So you can't just lay down fire willy-nilly; you must aim for the zombies and avoid hitting the humans.… Read more

Almost from the very beginning seven decades ago, flying wings have been something of a specialty for the aircraft company founded by Jack Northrop.

The 1940s saw the XB-35 experimental aircraft. The late 1980s brought the B-2 bomber.

Now Northrop Grumman is pushing ahead with the X-47B UCAS (for unmanned combat air system), a prototype going through its fledgling stage en route to the goal of demonstrating in 2013 that an unmanned, tailless, strike fighter-size aircraft can land on and take off from an aircraft carrier.

Earlier this month, the X-47B made just the second and third flights (from dry … Read more

The phrase "fill 'er up" is being redefined for the age of robotic aircraft.

Northrop Grumman said yesterday that in a flight test earlier this year, it took a big step closer to an eventual autonomous aerial refueling between unmanned aerial vehicles as part of the $33 million DARPA KQ-X program.

In the "risk reduction flight test," which took place January 21, a Global Hawk UAV from NASA played the role of the aerial tanker, and Northrop Grumman's Proteus test aircraft--a manned UAV surrogate, we should point out--was the one in search of the refueling … Read more

The decade-long war is over: EADS North America has conceded defeat to Boeing in the campaign to capture a multibillion-dollar deal to build a new aerial tanker for the U.S. Air Force.

Last week, the Pentagon announced that it had selected Boeing to build the next-generation KC-46A tanker in a long-term arrangement that could eventually be worth $30 billion. For starters, the Chicago-based aerospace titan is getting $3.5 billion to build the first four of a projected 179 of the new tankers. It has to deliver 18 by 2017.

"Boeing was a clear winner," Deputy Defense … Read more