Relatives and tribal elders in southeastern Afghanistan are demanding an investigation into the killing of 17 people by US drones this week, claiming the air strikes hit civilians - not members of armed groups. US army officials said on Thursday two air strikes in Paktika province, near the Pakistani border, had only targeted fighters, without any evidence of civilian casualties. Afghan officials confirmed to Al Jazeera that 17 people had been killed in Wednesday's strikes in Gomal district, but added they all had links to the Taliban. Yet, local leaders and relatives insisted on Saturday all of those killed were innocent civilians. "We demand an investigation into the brutal killings of these innocent people," Nimatullah Baburi, a deputy of the Paktika provincial council, told Al Jazeera.

The survey, released by smart-cities research and advocacy organization Smart Government, underscores the opposition by some cities and local government groups to a provision in the Federal Aviation Administration Reauthorization Act that would make the FAA the sole regulator over drones, the group said. The provision would prohibit state and local governments from passing their own drone regulations and restrictions. Some local governments want the authority to pass their own restrictions covering where drones can be used. The survey comes out the same week that a federal advisory committee has proposed rules that would expand the uses of small commercial drones. In the Smart Government survey, 68 percent of those polled agreed that state and local governments should make drone rules because the federal government does not know the particular concerns of their community well enough.

Video Friday is your weekly selection of awesome robotics videos, collected by your fluid-filled Automaton bloggers. We'll also be posting a weekly calendar of upcoming robotics events for the next few months; here's what we have so far (send us your events!): Let us know if you have suggestions for next week, and enjoy today's videos. MIT has developed a 3D printer that can mix solids and liquids. With "printable hydraulics," an inkjet printer deposits individual droplets of material that are each 20 to 30 microns in diameter, or less than half the width of a human hair.

A senior Egyptian al-Qaida figure fighting in Syria was killed in a U.S. drone strike this week, the latest to be killed in such attacks in Syria, a Syrian opposition monitoring group and relatives said Friday. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Rifai Ahmad Taha was killed in a strike Tuesday in the northwestern Idlib province. Before joining al-Qaida, Taha was a top figure in Egypt's notorious militant group Gamaa Islamiya, which massacred 58 foreign tourists in the ancient Egyptian city of Luxor in 1997. He was also allied with Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan. The Observatory's chief Rami Abdurrahman said several al-Qaida members, including Taha, were killed in Tuesday's strike.

Drone deployment has become associated with rice growth research in the Philippines, as well as for spotting illegal fishpond-building, and for the early detection of approaching typhoons. The importance of drones has been accepted by Filipinos cognizant of neighboring countries investing millions of dollars on unmanned aerial vehicles (U.A.V.) for …

If you're the kind of person who really likes chatting with the mail carrier, Dispatch won't be your favorite startup. That's because the four-person South San Francisco company is working on technology that could replace postal workers, Instacart couriers, UPS and FedEx drivers, or anyone else who gets paid to bring you stuff. Instead, you might be dealing with a 3-foot-tall, 150-pound, battery-powered roving robot that looks like a little dumpster on wheels. Called Carry, the device uses artificial intelligence, five cameras and a laser to navigate on sidewalks around pedestrians, flaming hoverboards and any other obstacles to get packages to your door. The only places you'll find Carry today are on two California college campuses, where it's still being tested.

They're even better than the actual expendable sonar systems, because they're not constrained by battery life: the drone's rotors are covered in solar cells and can generate power after a little time under the sun. In addition, it can hunt for subs in flocks in case the Navy wants to scour a big area more quickly. Jones told the publication that as a sonobuoy replacement, the drone "[will] be on the water 23 hours a day, and flying maybe one hour a day." It was designed as a "launch and forget" system with a water-tight enclosure, though, so we're guessing it's tough enough to endure the ocean's harsh conditions. Speaking of drones that can take off from water, researchers from the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory created a similar machine called CRACUNS.

Larger or riskier drones that could cause serious injury -- as determined by yet-to-be-implemented crash tests -- up to 55 pounds could not be flown over crowds, and would have more limitations. Finally, the fourth group of drones that also pose a potentially serious risk but are intended to be used over crowds would have the most rules, with documented plans for risk mitigation, higher operator qualifications, and possibly coordination with the FAA or local law enforcement. Most of the committee members felt like a requirement for in-person testing would be ignored, suggesting online testing with no background checks for operators of the smallest drones. DJI VP Brendan Schulman called the recommendation a "progressive approach," that balanced the benefits of drones and public safety. His company was one of 27 groups (like 3DRobotics, GoPro, Google X, Intel and AT&T) that participated in the Micro Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Aviation Rulemaking Committee, and the FAA will use its information to develop new rules.

Spectacular drone footage has emerged showing a huge pod of dolphins swimming off the shores of a popular beach. Steve Maxwell captured the pod of about 40 dolphins cruising between Avalon Beach and Whale Beach in Sydney's north. The licensed drone pilot stumbled upon the majestic scenes while photographing surfers in the area, reports Daily Telegraph. Photographer Steve Maxwell captured the pod of about 40 dolphins cruising between Avalon Beach and Whale Beach in Sydney's north Mr Maxwell quickly decided to focus on capturing the marine mammals, who can be seen frolicking together in a large pack. 'Every available chance I get, I send the drone up over them,' Mr Maxwell said.

In the deserts of eastern California, that blank stretch of sand striped with asphalt between Needles and Barstow, there are emergency telephones spaced out for people in need. The desert is hot and sparse, and sometimes cars breakdown, and people need to call for help as soon as they can. It's a bleak place to lose a tire, and an even worse one to lose a tire and urgently need some antiseptic and a bandage. A new patent awarded to Google yesterday could someday bring a robotic savior to these exact situations: a medical emergency call box, which summons a drone carrying the needed supplies to the person in need. Users would press a button for their specific medical emergency, and it would deploy a drone to the scene.