Australia deploys shark-spotting drones to keep watch over beachgoers

The Little Ripper is a modified version of a military-grade Vapor 55 drone. 

With tens of thousands of miles of coastline and a recent spike in shark attacks, Australia is exploring some pretty imaginative approaches to ensuring the safety of its beachgoers. Magnetic barriers and shark-tracking phone apps are a few of the tech ideas that have been floated, and the state of New South Wales is now turning to drones to help do the job. It has launched a trial of unmanned shark-spotting aircraft, which will survey the coastline for predators lurking in shallow waters.

The Little Ripper is a modified version of a military-grade Vapor 55 drone that's been fitted with advanced camera and sensing technologies. The battery-powered, AU$250,000 (US$178,500) drone streams live footage back to the ground, and according to The Daily Telegraph can fly for 150 minutes at a time and up to 100 km (62 mi) away.

Chinese Drone Maker EHang Announces An Autonomous Flying Vehicle For People

Chinese drone maker EHang claims to be building the world’s first “Autonomous Aerial Vehicle” for transporting people.

Called the 184, it sort of looks like an overgrown quadcopter drone. The all-electric vehicle has four arms with a total of eight propellers at the end. The thing is almost five feet tall and weighs 440 pounds. It can hold only 220 pounds. The company claims the 184 is autonomous, so all the passenger has to do is enter in their destination in the smartphone app.

“Passengers don’t need to learn how to fly it, they don’t need get to a pilot’s license,” EHang cofounder Derrick Xiong said in an interview. ”They just need to press a button and then it vertically takes off, flies from point A to point B, and lands.”

EHang said the vehicle is primarily designed for traveling short-to-medium distances — around 10 miles — and will fly at around 60 miles per hour.