If there's a drone that can claim ownership of consumer airspace, it's DJI's Phantom. The company's white, 4K-camera-toting quadcopter is the Prius of the skies; hip, accessible, and ubiquitous. Automated flight features make it possible to fly places and get shots previous models could not. It's harder to crash into stuff, with is safer for you and for your wallet. Insanely fast sport mode is a ton of fun.

Wearing black headsets with tentacle-like sensors stretched over their foreheads, the competitors stare at cubes floating on computer screens as their small white drones prepare for takeoff. Some struggle to move even a few feet, while others zip confidently across the finish line. The competition -- billed as the world's first drone race involving a brain-controlled interface -- involved 16 pilots who used their willpower to drive drones through a 10-yard dash over an indoor basketball court at the University of Florida this past weekend. The Associated Press was there to record the event, which was sponsored with research funding from Intel Corp. Organizers want to make it an annual inter-collegiate spectacle, involving ever-more dynamic moves and challenges, and a trophy that puts the brain on a pedestal. "With events like this, we're popularizing the use of BCI instead of it being stuck in the research lab," said Chris Crawford, a Florida PhD student in human-centered computing. "BCI was a technology that was geared specifically for medical purposes, and in order to expand this to the general public, we actually have to embrace these consumer brand devices and push them to the limit."

Wearing black headsets with tentacle-like sensors stretched over their foreheads, the competitors stare at cubes floating on computer screens as their small white drones prepare for takeoff. Some struggle to move even a few feet, while others zip confidently across the finish line. The competition -- billed as the world's first drone race involving a brain-controlled interface -- involved 16 pilots who used their willpower to drive drones through a 10-yard dash over an indoor basketball court at the University of Florida this past weekend. The Associated Press was there to record the event, which was sponsored with research funding from Intel Corp. Organizers want to make it an annual inter-collegiate spectacle, involving ever-more dynamic moves and challenges, and a trophy that puts the brain on a pedestal. "With events like this, we're popularizing the use of BCI instead of it being stuck in the research lab," said Chris Crawford, a Florida PhD student in human-centered computing.

San Diego Brayan Valle was looking to buy some marijuana. When he reached out to a business associate of his uncle's, a drug connection, Valle became involved in a much more serious -- and novel -- offense. Rather than sell him the marijuana, the associate asked for Valle's help to smuggle drugs over the U.S.-Mexico border by drone. The case signals the first drone drug-smuggling seizure along the Southwest border. On Thursday, Valle, now 21, was sentenced to three years in prison for his role in operating the drone remote control and loading up 30 pounds of heroin dropped into a Calexico-area field on April 28.

The US Army and Marine Corps are set to test tanks with a new version of the iron dome' system developed by the Israeli government. The Trophy Active Protection System (APS) uses sensors to detect an anti tank missile is coming. It then fires small rounds to deflect them, and can also use jammers to mislead the enemy. The system is designed to create a protective field around tanks, shooting down incoming missiles before they detonate. The Trophy Active Protection System (APS) uses sensors to detect an anti tank missile is coming.

A new drone security startup claims it can disable or fly rogue drones that get too close to airports, military bases, stadiums or other other sensitive areas. SkySafe is one of several startups looking to stake a claim in the burgeoning drone enforcement industry. Headquartered in San Diego, SkySafe showed off its technology, but offered few details of how it was able to detect, hack into and control a drone in midair. It was speculated that SkySafe uses radio frequencies to take over the unmanned autonomous vehicles. "We fully take control of the drone from the operator, it sees us as the legitimate controller, and we can move it to a safe location and land it," said Grant Jordan, founder of SkySafe, in an interview with the Verge.

The other day, the National University of Science and Technology (MISiS) hosted a meeting on the development of robot technologies during the implementation of projects for the National Technology Initiative. Meeting participants watched a presentation of an international project to create an online site for testing unmanned equipment. Russia's KAMAZ Automotive Plant and IT solutions developer Cognitive Technologies have said they are ready to unveil the first Russian-made autonomous truck, an autopilot system that can detect road signs, lane markings and other vehicles. According to developers, the first autonomous commercial trucks could reach production by 2020. Some estimates show that the use of online testing sites will make it possible to save up to two billion rubles that would otherwise be spent on real-life tests and simulated real-life situations.

While the basics of simple unmanned flying machines are simple enough, if drones are going to revolutionize how people do anything, they'll need to do much more, within the basic confines of their design. So Local Motors, a Phoenix-based open-source manufacturing company, is partnering with Airbus to design a cargo drone for the future. Voting on the entrees will begin on June 5th. That's a lot of requirements, and there are more details at the contest page. I particularly like the tube at the center, which reminds me of pneumatic tube systems from banks.

Paris terror attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam has been charged over a deadly shootout with police days before the Brussels bombings. One Islamist suspect was killed and four police were wounded in a gun battle at an apartment in the Forest district of Brussels on March 15. The raid came three days before Abdeslam was arrested and a week before the Brussels attacks on 22 March. Abdeslam's lawyer Sven Mary told AFP: "He has been charged with attempted murder either alone or jointly." Abdeslam is due to be extradited to France in the coming days to face charges over last November's attacks in Paris.

China exported military drones worth hundreds of millions of dollars to over 10 countries, state-run media said Thursday. The Asian powerhouse also plans to sell unmanned aircraft capable of launching laser-guided bombs. Chinese drones "have bigger payloads, which means they can carry more weapons" than their rivals, Shi Wen, chief drone designer at the China Academy of Aerospace Aerodynamics, told the China Daily newspaper. Shi did not name the countries that bought the drones, the numbers of drones sold or the exact deal value, but said that the academy's most valuable sale was worth "hundreds of millions of U.S. dollars." The report added that the drones are named Cai Hong, which means rainbow.