sUAS News

New Rules Balance Safety With Benefits Of Drone Technology DJI, the world’s leader in civilian drones and aerial imaging technology, welcomes the Department for Transport’s amendment to the Air Navigation Order announced Wednesday as a measured approach ensuring that Britain remains open to safe and responsible use of drones. “The Department for Transport’s updates to the regulatory […]

Story by 1st Lt. Kareem Abiose CAMP MARECHAL DE LATTRE DE TASSIGNY, Kosovo – Sgt. Jason R. Hewitt conducted Raven Initial Qualification Training May 24 with Soldiers in Alpha Troop to increase the squadron’s ability to conduct aerial reconnaissance. The RQ-11 Raven is a hand-launched unmanned aerial vehicle used for aerial observation at line-of-sight ranges up […]

DataWing Global, an aerial data collection company that works with independent drone pilots to help homeowners and insurance companies cover claims, estimates that drone technology could save insurance companies up to 40% during the upcoming storm season. Storm season is fast approaching and costs insurance companies billions of dollars every year. In fact, last year’s […]

Drones impressed thousands of people watching live streams on Facebook and Google last night. Helicopters were not audibly present on the live streams and it’s unlikely due to the conditions that a helicopter would have been deployed. At least 2 people would have died if not for drones that were operated by UH and civil […]

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), a member of the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee, released the following statement on Friday after securing increased transparency and critical protections against the government purchase of foreign-made unmanned aerial systems, or drones. Despite evidence from the U.S. Department of Defense and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement that Chinese-made drones […]

On May 19th Drone America, supported by the Nevada Institute of Autonomous Systems (NIAS) participated in a Bi-State, Multi-Agency Fire Evacuation Drill that was conducted at the north end of Lake Tahoe on the Nevada and California Border. This Bi-State exercise involved more than seventeen separate first responder agencies and helped further Drone Americas mission […]

Just in from an NQE posting on social media, so not confirmed. Tomorrow morning (30th May 2018) an amendment to the Air Navigation Order 2016 will be laid in Parliament. Following the government’s consultation last year, this will put into law the requirements for: 1. Operators of drones above 250g to be registered 2. Pilots […]

Drone Delivery Canada ‘DDC’ (TSX.V:FLT OTC:TAKOF) and Toyota Tsusho Canada Inc. ‘TTCI’ are pleased to announce they have signed an agreement to collaborate on a drone delivery logistics platform. “This agreement with TTCI is expected to open international markets for us as a company,” commented Tony Di Benedetto, CEO of Drone Delivery Canada. “Working alongside a global industrial leader […]

Flock, a London-based startup pioneering the use of real-time data in insurance, has raised a £2.25M Seed funding round from a range of global investors. Flock’s round was led by Anthemis, a VC focused on Fintech and Insurtech investments. Other investors included Silicon Valley’s Plug and Play, Seed and Speed, and London VC Downing Ventures […]

UAVOS INC. has successfully flown a model of their proposed solar-powered aircraft. They say that the placement of engines makes it possible to take off without the use of towing equipment and start carts. It’s hand launched, just like the Zephyr. UAVOS Inc, is a Mountain View-based company specialized in unmanned solutions, is introducing a new […]

High Eye successfully completed test flights on seagoing vessels in April this year. The HEF 32, a VTOL RPAS with an endurance of 4+ hours with a payload of 2 kg (max 5 kg) made between 40 and 50 takeoffs and landings on a small seagoing vessel to test the UAV for commercial and military […]

BOISE, Idaho – As part of a broader strategy to aggressively combat wildfires, the U.S. Department of the Interior has awarded a Call When Needed contract to four U.S. companies for small-unmanned aircraft systems services. The contract, which is Interior’s first of its kind, will allow the agency to obtain fully contractor-operated and maintained small drones […]

FARO® (NASDAQ: FARO), the world’s most trusted source for 3D measurement and imaging solutions for factory metrology and construction BIM, announces the availability of the FARO® As-Built™ software platform (https://www.faro.com/faro-asbuilt/) that enables efficient and cost effective transfer of 3D reality capture into Autodesk®design tools to create ready to use CAD and Building Information Modeling (BIM) deliverables. As-Built is specifically […]

Submit your tender(s) BEFORE 20 JUNE 2018 1:00 PM VLT to provide the logistical services to deliver vaccines via drones for the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Vanuatu. The Republic of Vanuatu is a Y-shaped archipelago consisting of 83 relatively small islands of volcanic origin that run 1600 kilometres north to south. 65 islands in […]

Hannah from NATS the UK’s Air Service Navigation Provider (ASNP) sat down with Mark Watson, Head of UTM service integration and asked him about his position on the Global UTM Association (GUTMA) board. NATS is the UK’s provider of air traffic control services. Each year NATS handle 2.4 million flights and 250 million passengers in […]

Klau Geomatics, industry leader in Post Processed Kinematic (PPK) direct georeferencing technology, announced today their new No-Base-Station high accuracy georeferencing solution for UAVs. This revolutionary new solution is the result of close collaboration between Klau Geomatics and Hexagon’s Geosystems Division, enabling users to conduct Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) surveying projects without running a local GPS […]

Something for the weekend sir, an interesting report – GAO sUAS Report -from the United States Government Accountability Office. Well worth sitting down with a beer and considering. What GAO Found The Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) information on the extent of unsafe use of small unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) in the national airspace system is limited. Although […]

Piaggio Aerospace, a leading Italian aircraft manufacturer active in the business aviation and defense and security sectors, today announced the successful accomplishment of the first flight test program, with its remotely piloted P.1HH HammerHead aircraft, aimed at experimenting the satellite control of a MALE (Medium Altitude Long Endurance) system, designed for long endurance flights at medium altitudes. […]

Inertial Labs, Inc., a developer and supplier of high-performance Inertial Sensors & Systems, has released an affordable, multi GNSS constellation, 1 cm RTK accuracy dual-antenna GPS-Aided Inertial Navigation System (INS). The “INS-DL” and the OEM version “INS-DL-OEM” are multi-constellation (GPS, GLONASS, GALILEO, Beidou) GPS-Aided INS that achieve 1 cm Position and 0.05° Heading, Pitch & Roll accuracy. These […]

New Zealand’s drone services market is taking off but safety is a major concern according to a new state of the industry report released today by Airways. Based on a national survey of drone operators, the report provides an in-depth look at how drones are being used both recreationally and commercially in New Zealand, the […]

CybAeros solution based on APID One and M.O.C. (Mobile Combined Hangar and Management Center) is the only helicopter system in the procurement and thus differs from other candidates offering RPAS based solutions based on fixed wing. The offer value is in the order of 30 MSEK and the coast guard plans to receive deliveries in […]

Launch comes on the heels of the United Kingdom’s air traffic services provider, NATS, joining Aireon as investors MCLEAN, Va. – May 22, 2018 – Aireon announced today the sixth successful launch and deployment of its space-based Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) payloads, hosted by the Iridium® NEXT satellite constellation. At 12:47:58 PM PDT (19:47:58 UTC), a flight-proven […]

Houston, Texas, May 22, 2018 – Energy Drone Coalition Summit & Expo, the biggest event exclusively focused on the business and technology of UAVs/Robotics (aerial, ground/surface & subsea) in energy operations, is pleased to announce the newest members of the distinguished industry advisory board, Matt Dunlevy, President & CEO of SkySkopes, and Eileen Lockhart, Unmanned Aircraft […]

Bohemia, New York USA (May 22, 2018) – Titan Elite, Inc., the distributor of Zubax Robotics products, announces the availability of the revolutionary Myxa ESC product line. The Zubax Myxa product line should be recognized as the biggest advance in unmanned vehicle efficiency gain since the mass adoption of lithium batteries. The unmanned vehicle space, […]

Live 2D and 3D aerial drone imagery accessible within PlanGrid dramatically improves communication by providing an accurate view of worksites CHICAGO, MAY 22, 2018 — Uplift Data Partners, the leading data capture pilot platform for enterprise businesses, today announced it has integrated with PlanGrid, the leader in construction productivity software. Uplift’s 2D and 3D aerial […]

The first company to be granted certification by an aviation authority to fly drones without a human pilot, is facilitating surveying and mapping for the largest port project in Israel TEL AVIV, ISRAEL – May 22, 2018 – Airobotics, the Israeli startup that built the world’s first fully automated drone, announced today its partnership with […]

It’s the applications for drones that get the most attention: flashy acrobatics at sporting events, emergency rescues, a heralded revolution in the delivery of consumer products. But as drone flights from the entertaining to the lifesaving, and all the more quotidian ones in between, become more common, the systems coordinating those missions behind the scenes […]

AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ: AVAV), a global leader in unmanned aircraft systems for both military and commercial applications, today announced the receipt of contract awards in April 2018 from the United States Army for procurement of the company’s Switchblade® Lethal Miniature Aerial Missile System (LMAMS) and Contractor Logistics Support (CLS) that bring the total value of Switchblade awards to $111,054,202 since […]

A landmark new project is paving the way for utility companies to use drones to inspect their network infrastructure for the first time. The large-scale project is working across electricity and gas networks and is coordinated by international innovation scout the Energy Innovation Centre (EIC). The three-year programme is being led by Wales & West […]

QuestUAV Ltd was commissioned to undertake an orthographic survey for the Port of Sunderland in the UK. The 150-hectare survey used one of QuestUAV’s Datahawk PPK fixed-wing drones, equipped with a Sony RX100 RGB camera capable of a 3cm resolution at 400ft. The survey took one day to complete, including travel induction, risk assessment and […]

Percepto, developers of on-site autonomous drone systems, today announced that Enel, a multinational power company and a leading integrated player in the global, power, gas and renewables markets, has completed deployment of Percepto’s Sparrow drone system for use at its Torrevaldaliga Nord power plant in Italy. The multipurpose drone platform will support operation and maintenance activities […]

InfraDrone LLC announced today the release of their new App, available on both Android and iPhone App stores and via the web. The App allows pilots to: Register for potential paid drone pilot jobs Register with no cost or obligation Receive notice of paid drone jobs available in their area Respond with price quotes View […]

With ten years of continuous UAS development flight test experience, highly qualified flight test professionals, and all the required permissions and insurances to operate prototype UAS greater than 20Kg already in place, Callen-Lenz are facilitating the rapid flight test of customer UAS in the UK. The test centre in Wiltshire in the south of the UK […]

In the UK there were recent press headlines suggesting there has been upwards of a 30% increase in drone complaints to the police, this was prompted by Freedom Of Information (FOI) requests that were compiled into a blog by a Dr Alan McKenna. As part of the blog, there was a negative and irrelevant commentary on drones, […]

Fruity Chutes, a manufacturer of recovery systems for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), has announced that Corporate Service Supply & Manufacturing (CSSM) of Ronkonkoma, NY, is now an authorized reseller of Fruity Chutes UAV Recovery systems. The agreement with Fruity Chutes will allow CSSM to sell the Fruity Chutes systems directly to its customers as well […]

Oliver Nicholls, 19, of Sydney, Australia, was awarded first place for designing and building a prototype of an autonomous robotic window cleaner for commercial buildings at this year’s Intel International Science and Engineering Fair, a program of Society for Science & the Public and the world’s largest international pre-college science competition. The competition featured nearly […]

ClearSky Consulting and Unmanned Advisory Net (UANet) announce a strategic and operational partnership to provide high-quality consulting services to the unmanned aviation industry. Craig Lippett, Managing Director of ClearSky, said ‘a link up between ClearSky and UANet is a natural fit with our respective multi-disciplinary skillsets complementing each other very well. With a similar level […]

Workhorse Group Inc. (NASDAQ: WKHS), an American technology company focused on providing sustainable and cost-effective solutions to the commercial electric transportation sector, today announced that the HorseFly truck-launched Autonomous Drone Package Delivery System is now making real-life package deliveries to homes in the Cincinnati area in a pilot program with the City of Loveland and the FAA. Consumers in […]

NATS, the UK’s leading air traffic control provider, and Sky-Futures, a world leader in commercial drone-based inspection services and training, have unveiled a ground-breaking new combined training course for commercial pilots at a launch event featuring hi-tech drone search-and-rescue and inspection demonstrations at an emergency services training facility in Gloucestershire. The demonstrations, which saw state-of-the-art […]

Aurora’s Autonomous Aerial Cargo Utility System (AACUS) achieved a major milestone last week when it successfully delivered cargo to US Marines in the Integrated Training Exercise at the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms in California. AACUS completed its first closed loop mission from takeoff to landing for its intended purpose: actual cargo […]

Crown Castle works around the country to build and maintain the infrastructure behind the world’s most revolutionary technologies. Crown Castle owns, operates and leases more than 40,000 cell towers and over 60,000 route miles of fiber supporting small cells and fiber solutions across every major US market. This nationwide portfolio of communications infrastructure connects cities […]

Assessing what GDPR means for commercial drone hardware and software vendors, service providers, and enterprise users. By Colin Snow and Charlotte Ziems Have you noticed an increase in the number of emails lately that say “we have updated our privacy policies and terms of service”? It’s not just the big players like Amazon, Apple, Google, […]

The UK air traffic management service provider, NATS, has announced it has invested in Aireon, the company pioneering a space-based air traffic surveillance service set to revolutionise the aviation industry. Through a network of 66 low earth orbiting Iridium® NEXT satellites, AireonSM will monitor the location of Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) equipped aircraft flying anywhere […]

As career opportunities in the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) field evolve, universities around the globe are offering varied degrees related to UAV engineering, operation, and maintenance. Designing, operating and maintaining UAV systems requires knowledge in a number of different fields including mechanical, aerospace, and computer engineering. ComQuest Ventures LLC is working with a number of […]

Telenor, Andøya Space Center and Robot Aviation are joining forces to develop and test Norwegian unmanned aerial systems in order to improve preparedness in Svalbard. Commercial shipping, tourism and cruise ship traffic to Svalbard and the surrounding marine areas have all grown dramatically in recent years, and this growth is set to continue. Norwegian technology […]

FORT COLLINS, Colorado, USA – Remote GeoSystems, Inc. is pleased to announce the release and availability of the brand-new Video GeoTagger™ FREE & PRO – revolutionary new tools allowing anyone to easily geotag and geospatially play back video – by simply clicking on a map. Video GeoTagger is the first application from Remote Geosystem designed […]

RALEIGH – Drones are an increasingly integral part of all emergency response operations, so the N.C. Department of Transportation is working to make sure North Carolina’s drone operators are prepared when disaster strikes. NCDOT’s Division of Aviation Office UAS (Unmanned Aircraft Systems, or ‘drones’) Program Office, in partnership with N.C. Emergency Management, is working with […]

MUNCIE—The Academy of Model Aeronautics (AMA) is now accepting résumés for the position of executive director. The executive director will lead the drive to increase the visibility of AMA, improve member awareness, and grow the brand of the world’s largest model aviation organization. The AMA represents nearly 200,000 members across the country. In addition to […]

“We are integrating new technologies to expand our capabilities and operate more efficiently,” said Cris Eugster, Chief Operating Officer at CPS Energy. “Performing inspections with the use of drones helps maintain the safety of our employees and leads to faster inspections of our overhead infrastructure. This proactive effort helps us identify potential issues and mitigate future […]

Join GUTMA in Madrid to discuss and shape the future of UAS Traffic Management. The two-day conference brings together air navigation service providers, drone manufacturers, infrastructure operators, UTM service providers, as well as leading regulators and researchers. The event is open to all and is a unique opportunity to meet a lot of GUTMA full members. […]