dronelife

Last week’s virtual FAA UAS Symposium, a joint event sponsored by AUVSI and the FAA, featured a wide range of speakers from the regulatory and drone communities. In “Perspectives from Capitol Hill”, Rep. Rick Larson, Chair of the House Aviation Sub Committee, explained how law makers approach the complex issues of drone integration into the […] The post FAA UAS Symposium: Rep. Rick Larson and “Perspectives from Capitol Hill” on Drone Integration appeared first on DRONELIFE. View the full article

At last week’s UAS Symposium, FAA Administrator Steve Dickson delivered a keynote address outlining the progress that the FAA has made in delivering drone rules: Ops Over People, Ops Over Moving Vehicles, Remote ID. Dickson also had very good news about the next big step in drone regulation, announcing a new ARC for BVLOS flight. […] The post FAA Admin Steve Dickson Announces New ARC for BVLOS Flight appeared first on DRONELIFE. View the full article

Visions of autonomous, passenger drones flitting across futuristic cityscapes are still riding a fine line between reality and sci-fi. However, with companies such as EHang and Sikorsky leading the charge, that future may be closer than we think; but the first, aerial baby steps towards a real-world, air taxi service will likely take the form […] The post Joby Aviation Inks Major Deal to Snag Parking Spots for Urban Air Taxis appeared first on DRONELIFE. View the full article

The new Measure and Parrot integration: Ground Control with ANAFI drone platforms enables a simplified end-to-end solution, which the companies say will help enterprise drone fleets scale rapidly. Measure has seen some big changes: the company was recently acquired by AgEagle™ Aerial Systems Inc. (NYSE American: UAVS) (“AgEagle” or the “Company”), and Measure’s Brandon Declet Torres […] The post Measure and Parrot Integration: Measure Ground Control and Parrot ANAFI Drones appeared first on DRONELIFE. View the full article

Zenith AeroTech has flown it’s heavy lift tethered drone, the Quad 8 multi-rotor, for more than 108 hours of continuous flight. Zenith AeroTech is a leading developer of heavy-lift tethered aerial vehicles, known as TAVs. Tethered drones are ideal for persistent surveillance applications, where both flight endurance and the ability to hover in one place are […] The post Heavy Lift Tethered Drone Flies for a Week: Zenith AeroTech Celebrates 108 Hours of Uninterrupted Flight appeared first on DRONELIFE. View the full article

USA based LightWare LiDAR has announced the world’s smallest, lightest microLiDAR: the new SF45. Lightware says that the SF45 microLiDAR could provide drones with the “eyes” they need to see obstacles and navigate safely beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS.) LightWare LiDAR “is taking autonomous machines to a whole new level by making them as invincible […] The post The World’s Smallest microLiDAR Could Give Drones the Eyes They Need to See Obstacles appeared first on DRONELIFE. View the full article

Urban Air Mobility in Latin America is taking off – and with it comes the opportunity to revolutionize transportation and leapfrog traditional cost per mile transportation infrastructure. By: Dawn Zoldi When most people talk about Urban Air Mobility (AAM), they focus on the aircraft. At last count, the Vertical Flight Society’s electric vertical take off […] The post Urban Air Mobility in Latin America: a Mobility Revolution appeared first on DRONELIFE. View the full article

NUAIR and New York UAS Test Site are demonstrating a path for safe drone operations over people: the newest collaboration with Workhorse and Aerial Vehicle Safety Solutions (AVSS) is the 5th drone parachute validation for NUAIR, enabling scalable and economically viable advanced unmanned aircraft operations. FAA regulations for drone operations over people call for operators to […] The post NUAIR Leads the Way for Safe Drone Operations Over People: Workhorse and AVSS Collaboration appeared first on DRONELIFE. View the full article

New BVLOS rules, autonomous flights at scale among industry’s biggest challenges, says new AgEagle CEO and industry veteran Brandon Torres Declet in this DRONELIFE exclusive interview. By Jim Magill Members from all segments of the drone industry should work together in concert with regulators to help craft rules to usher in the next phase of […] The post AgEagle CEO on the Biggest Challenges for the Drone Industry Right Now appeared first on DRONELIFE. View the full article

EHang 216 AAV Conducted Trial Flights in Japan EHang Holdings Limited (Nasdaq: EH) (“EHang” or the “Company”) has announced that the EHang 216, the company’s flagship model, has been tested successfully in Japan. The successful unmanned and autonomous trial served to “showcase safe, autonomous, eco-friendly urban air mobility (“UAM”) solutions,” says an EHang press release. The test […] The post EHang Takes Flight in Japan: Passenger Drones, Flying Cars by 2023 [VIDEO] appeared first on DRONELIFE. View the full article

Australian drone regulations are developing rapidly, as a newly published policy statement on emerging aviation technologies outlines. For more on international drone regulations, see our recent updates on regulations in Canada and Latin America. Drones Looking Up, Down Under! By: Dawn M.K. Zoldi Hot off the presses, on May 6, 2021, Australia’s’ Department of Infrastructure, […] The post Australian Drone Regulations: Things are Looking Up Down Under appeared first on DRONELIFE. View the full article

A new partnership between Autel Robotics and Skyebrowse introduces videogrammetry for thermal mapping: helping first responders perform night-time accident reconstruction, pre-plan for wildfires, and perform swat scouts. The following is a guest post by Gulraiz Khalid, Marketing Director at SkyeBrowse. DRONELIFE neither accepts nor makes payment for guest posts. In early 2020, SkyeBrowse introduced 3D […] The post Videogrammetry for Thermal Mapping: Game Changing Technology for First Responders appeared first on DRONELIFE. View the full article

As summer heats up, experts are expecting another scorching forest-fire season—especially with the added uncertainty fanned by climate change. However, Toledo University is finding new ways to predict forest fires using drone technology. Partnering with European drone LiDAR solution provider Routescene, the university assessed a forest-fire site in the Spanish province of Albacete to study the […] The post Spanish Researchers Deploy Drones to Improve Wildfire Prediction appeared first on DRONELIFE. View the full article

Open source drones are a “key winner” as the drone industry faces global tensions and a “surge of new manufacturers,” DroneAnalyst David Benowitz writes. Well before Part 107 enabled the commercial drone industry in the U.S., open source drones were a significant part of the market. Now, Benowitz says, open source platforms are being boosted […] The post DroneAnalyst: The Rise of Open Source Drones appeared first on DRONELIFE. View the full article

This article published in collaboration with JUIDA, the Japan UAS Industrial Development Association. Urban Air Mobility in Japan is ready to take off. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism in Japan has announced the formation of the “Next Generation Aviation Mobility Planning Office” to handle regulation and issues surrounding aviation mobility. The Ministry […] The post Urban Air Mobility in Japan: Next Gen Aviation Mobility Planning Offices will Support AAV, UAM appeared first on DRONELIFE. View the full article

Airspace awareness and UTM platform provider Kittyhawk changes its name to Aloft Technologies, Inc. Kittyhawk began in 2014 to enable the burgeoning drone market: it seemed appropriate to the founders to pay homage to the origin of manned aviation as they embarked on a project tackling the next frontier of flight. Now, the company has […] The post Kittyhawk Changes Its Name but Not Its Mission: Introducing Aloft Technologies Inc. appeared first on DRONELIFE. View the full article

DJI Government Edition drones were cleared for use by a US Department of Defense audit, which stated that “The DJI Government Edition versions that were tested, show no malicious code or intent and are recommended for use by government entities and forces working with US services.” The report from the Pentagon examined the DJI Government […] The post DJI Drones Cleared by Department of Defense Audit appeared first on DRONELIFE. View the full article

Photogrammetry solution provider Pix4D is celebrating their 10 year anniversary with a new logo – and by paying homage to the original partners and developers behind the platform. Pix4D was started by a group of researchers from the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), a research institute and university in Lausanne, Switzerland. The company “emerged […] The post Pix 4D Celebrates 10 Year Anniversary: Paying Homage to its History appeared first on DRONELIFE. View the full article

Randall Warnas, most recently head of Global Industrial sUAS at thermal sensor leader FLIR, has been named CEO at Autel Robotics, global drone manufacturer. The drone industry influencer spoke with DRONELIFE about drone technology, platform security, and building a career in the industry. “Visionary” is a word sometimes overplayed in the drone industry: but for […] The post Randall Warnas Named CEO at Autel Robotics: What’s Next for Global Drone Manufacturer appeared first on DRONELIFE. View the full article

Florida-based Censys Technologies manufactures made in the U.S. fixed wing drones – designed to push drone capabilities beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS). DRONELIFE speaks with co-founder Trevor Perrott on BVLOS flight, manufacturing in the U.S., and what surprises him about the commercial drone industry. Censys was founded in 2017 by a group of aerospace […] The post Censys: Made in the U.S. Fixed Wing Drones for BVLOS Flight appeared first on DRONELIFE. View the full article

The new HEISHA DNEST for Autel EVO and DJI Mavic is a drone-in-the-box charging system that allows users to work with their choice of commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) drone. (See video intro below.) HEISHA’s DNEST provides weather protection, charging, and more to make commercial solutions into automated drone in the box solutions. The lates version of […] The post HEISHA DNEST for Autel EVO and DJI Mavic: the Drone-in-a-Box Charging System for COTS Drones appeared first on DRONELIFE. View the full article

The Verge Aero drone show for Armed Forces Day in the U.S. showed that drone shows – and Verge Aero’s flight planning software – have reached incredible new levels of precision and complexity. Drone shows have progressed from being an unusual fireworks alternative to being a must-have display in their own right, an art form […] The post Verge Aero Drone Show for Armed Forces Day: 180 Drones, Precision-Animated 3D Shapes appeared first on DRONELIFE. View the full article

Communications giant Verizon is a global presence in communications: and in the drone industry, Verizon Skyward is a leading drone management platform. 5G, drone inspections, and drone communications make Verizon an important player in the drone industry. For one department in the company, however, drones are being used as a critical tool for emergency response. Within […] The post On the Frontline with Verizon’s Crisis Response Team: Drones, Phones, and Communications Wherever and Whenever They’re Needed appeared first on DRONELIFE. View the full article

With mining, energy, agriculture, and more target verticals represented, Latin America offers a wealth of opportunity for the commercial drone industry. Drone regulations in Latin America are developing rapidly – but a lot of work remains, says ADP Co-Founder Daniel Conde. Taking Latin American Drones Higher! By: Dawn M.K. Zoldi Daniel Conde, Co-Founder de la […] The post Drone Regulations in Latin America: Different Rules, Common Threads appeared first on DRONELIFE. View the full article

The growth of the drone industry can be difficult to measure: companies in hardware, sensors, accessories, security, and software development all play a part in creating the drone industry ecosystem. The drone delivery sector is no different – recent research predicts that drone delivery will grow at a 53% CAGR over the near future, but […] The post The Drone Delivery Ecosystem is Growing: ANRA Introduces SmartSkies™ DELIVERY Software Solution [VIDEO] appeared first on DRONELIFE. View the full article