Drones will soon dominate the skies... like it or not they're not going anywhere.
So how could we leverage the tech down under?
Japanese farmers use them for crop dusting. (So could we)
US use them to bomb poor people with turbans, and surveil it's citizens.
Do you have a drone? I have a quad, without a GPS module... but the battery only lasts 8mins, and any wind makes it crash land.
Who makes drones in Oz?
What drone platform do you think would work well for cattle herding?
Ideally we would have 1 platform with various modules for military, police, farm and surveying.
Yamaha make a completely autonomous crop duster... I've seen on the TV.
An engineering student at Murdoch Uni - WA developed a remote control plane to take off, fly around kingspark and take phots by GPS coordinates and land.
This was done in his spare time with common electronic components so we can only imagine, given the right resources and funding, what Australians could do with drone technology.
don't forget surf life saving!
www.sunshinecoastdaily.com.au/news/robot-spy-planes-to-aid-coast-lifesavers-camera/1277006/
And I think the Melbourne police were evaluating them
Are drones those things that look like doonas , that fly around beaches remotely controlled by old dudes?
[}:)]
Naahh. I think they are in bee hives and do unspeakable things to the queen bee when she's not looking. 
FS, the Yamaha isn't totally autonomous.
I has to be launched and landed by remote.
Not cheap either. $1oo,ooo for the unit and another$1oo,ooo for the surveying equipment I saw being applied, to monitor erosion/changes to the coastline.
Very impressive stuff.
Where I live we are besieged with tourist helicopters buzzing about annoyingly, I would like to get a drone or a small replica RC helicopter and buzz the homes of the people who own the helicopter tour companies. See how they like it.
