Communications Technology

The Pentagon’s research arm has backed the development of the Nano Hummingbird, an experimental miniature drone that could one day do reconnaissance by landing on a window ledge.

The pocket-size drone, developed by AeroVironment as a mini-spy plane capable of manoeuvering on the battlefield and in urban areas, flaps tiny robotic wings.

The battery-powered drone was built over five years for the Pentagon’s research arm as part of a series of experiments in nanotechnology.

The little flying machine is built to look like a bird for potential use in spy missions.

Equipped with a camera, the drone can fly at speeds of up to 17km/h, AeroVironment said. It can hover and fly sideways, backwards and forwards, as well as go clockwise and counterclockwise, by remote control for about eight minutes.

The quick flight meets the goals set forth by the government to build a flying “hummingbird-like” aircraft.

It also demonstrates the promise of fielding mini-spy planes.

Industry insiders see the technology eventually being capable of flying through open windows or sitting on power lines, capturing audio and video while enemies would be none the wiser.

The Hummingbird would be a major departure from existing drones that closely resemble traditional aircraft.

The next step is likely to be further refinement of the technology, officials said, before decisions are made about whether the drones would be mass-produced and deployed.

“The miniaturisation of drones is where it really gets interesting,” said defence expert Peter W. Singer, author of Wired for War, a book about robotic warfare.

“You can use these things anywhere, put them any place, and the target will never even know they’re being watched.”

The mini-drone weighs 19 grams, or less than an AA battery. The Hummingbird’s innards are made up of motors, communications systems and a video camera. It is slightly larger than the average hummingbird.

The success of the program “paves the way for a new generation of aircraft with the agility and appearance of small birds”, Todd Hylton, Hummingbird program manager for the Pentagon’s research arm, said in a statement.

In all, the Pentagon has awarded about $4 million to AeroVironment since 2006 to develop the technology and the drone itself.

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Google released a new online tool yesterday that shows where the internet giant’s services and products such as YouTube are being blocked around the world.

“We believe that this kind of transparency can be a deterrent to censorship,” David Drummond, Google’s chief legal officer, said.

“When Google’s services are blocked or filtered, we can’t serve our users effectively,” Drummond said in a blog post. “That’s why we act every day to maximise free expression and access to information.”

He said the new tool, which is called Transparency Report and located at google.com/transparencyreport, will “allow people to see where governments are demanding that we remove content and where Google services are being blocked.”

Drummond said it will help show whether traffic disruptions in services and products such as Google Search, Google Earth, Google Maps, Google News and YouTube “are related to mechanical outages or are government-induced.”

“By showing outages, the traffic graphs visualise disruptions in the free flow of information, whether it’s a government blocking information or a cable being cut,” he said.

The Transparency Report shows that YouTube has been blocked in Iran, for example, since June 12, 2009 following the country’s disputed presidential election.

Google already maintains such a tool for its services and products in China, which has blocked YouTube since March 2009 and criticised the Mountain View, California-based company over its refusal to censor web search results.

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Google says that its plans to expand beyond search and move into the $800 million display advertising market are paying off, as most top advertisers run banner ads and videos across its network of affiliated websites.

Nine months after declaring its intention to move beyond search, Google says 40 per cent of the ads it serves up on Australian websites, including on its own YouTube, are display ads.

But, as Google begins its first big campaign to push its products to marketers, media buyers acknowledge the growth is there, though it is off a very small base.

Shailesh Rao, the Google managing director, Japan and Asia Pacific media and platforms, said: “We are seeing a really positive response from the advertising community and we are pleased with the way things are going after just three quarters.”

Mr Rao says that 17 of the top 20 Australian advertisers have bought display ads across its network; these are the websites that already allow contextual text ads to appear on pages.

Google is encouraging advertisers to replace text ads with banners, expandable ad units and video ads, and pay a premium for doing so. The revenue from those ads is split between Google and the website’s publisher, which allocates a portion of its inventory to the program.

“We are trying to match the message to the audience to ensure that it is more efficient for the advertiser and more relevant to the audience,” said Mr Rao, who would not disclose how much revenue they are receiving from its display program.

Mr Rao also said that YouTube’s home page had been sold out throughout August and that it was seeing similar levels of demand in September. A buy-out of YouTube’s home page can cost advertisers up to $15,000 a day, say media buyers. Earlier this year Cadbury paid to have the first-ever round YouTube video to promote its roll pack of Dairy Milk. Other advertisers include Gillette, McDonald’s and Mitsubishi.

Media buyers say that rather than appear on larger web destinations most of Google’s display ads are appearing on smaller websites.

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