sUAS News

The one in which, the very talented Tom Stanton tells us about his 3D printed flying wing. The files for which are available online so you can build your own. Loretta and Jonathan talk about the recently passed Orlando ordinance. Gene speaks of a successful SAR operation at night in which they found a person […]

Further innovation from UK company Drones Direct, the Umbrella Drone lets you get the shot when the weather turns against you. Last year they famously bought a gold edition Phantom 4 to market. For the droner who has everything. The British weather is predictably unpredictable – rain one minute, sunshine the next! It seems that every […]

When I was 17, my dad gave me a 1932 pinball machine. For the longest time, I didn’t know anything about its background, but recently, I became curious and began to research. What I discovered fascinated me. I was surprised to discover how closely my pinball machine’s history relates to the work that I do […]

Today the United Nations Commission on Science and Technology for Development (CSTD) will hold an expert panel meeting on the role of science, technology, and innovation in ensuring food security by 2030. Pix4D’s agricultural business manager Jorge Fernandez will present on drone mapping solutions for precision agriculture, and their potential impact on food security. “The […]

Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Deep Learning recent advances redefine the existing High-Performance Compute (HPC) baseline. The new compute requirement is now termed Accelerated High-Performance Compute and measured by the metric known as Floating Point Operations per Second (FLOPS wiki). To keep up with the latest generation of applications under development and being deployed already, companies will have no choice but to expand their computing […]

Rotron Power Ltd, a leading manufacturer of advanced rotary-powered propulsion systems for Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) applications, is celebrating having completed more than 500 hours of simulated flight time on its RT600 rotary engine, marking the latest significant milestone in its engine development programme. The RT600 is shaping a new generation of tier 2 class […]

If your platform can fly for more than four hours you might want to be getting your sales team onto this. The Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP) in Victoria Australia have released the request for tender below. A perfect fit for many civilian platforms that will come in much cheaper than ex-military […]

A drone released from a high-altitude balloon carried a payload to evaluate how the equipment could help the FAA detect and track commercial spacecraft entering the National Air Space, NAS, as it descends from space. Near Space Corporation, NSC, in Tillamook, Oregon, conducted the flight test on Oct. 3 under the first FAA Unmanned Aircraft […]

I could have tried harder to fit more abbreviations into that title. Made in South Korea under an MOU from Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) by the South Korean composite manufacturer, Hankuk Carbon (HC), the Panther FE is a fuel cell equipped tri-copter separate lift thrust vehicle. I believe I am right in saying the only tri-copter SLT on […]

UAS Colorado is pleased to announce the completion of an innovative mapping project using unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) within the Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve in south-central Colorado. This project was a collaborative effort facilitated by UAS Colorado that also included Black Swift Technologies (BST), the National Park Service (NPS), and Wohnrade Civil […]

The Association of Certified UAV Operators (ACUO) is calling for the Federal Government to launch a program to design, develop and implement a continent-wide unmanned traffic management (UTM) system as the only viable means of achieving the safe integration of remotely piloted aircraft systems (RPAS) – called drones by the general public – into national […]

Indigogo funded on the 1st of December 2014 Canadian Plexidrone from DreamQii is late, very late! They raised $2,269,158 USD, or 1002% of what they were after during the campaign. The first iteration of Plexidrone was supposed to hit the streets, Spring of 2015. The design has been radically changed from what was offered in the […]

From January 17th to 20th, 2017, the 47th Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum took place in Davos, Switzerland. To protect against drones, forces responsible for security put their trust in a drone defense system from the market leader, Dedrone. The company, which is headquartered in San Francisco, CA, thus made an important contribution […]

Graffiti painting drones are not a new thing. The maker of the first graffiti drone, Leif Johnson has created another KATSU “Icarus Two”. This one can write letters that have been entered on a keyboard. It, “holds”, a spray paint can in an articulated arm. It is not a particularly elegant solution, the DJI Phantom simply […]

Christmas day 2017 saw peak drone loss spread across the world as presents were unwrapped, charged and lost. It was interesting to watch it unfold on Google Trends. A friend told me today that there was a pre-existing website on which lost and found drones were posted! I must admit I had never heard of it. […]

Virginia Tech is creating a business engagement centre as part of a major push to expand and integrate its partnerships with leading companies. A national search is underway for an executive director to head the centre. The executive director will build a team of business development directors who can serve as primary points of contact […]

Southeast Michigan Ski resort Pine Knob has put down on paper what it expects of drone users this winter. Not the first ski mountain to lay down the law. Out of safety concerns for guests, employees, and resort property, as well as concerns for individual privacy, Pine Knob Ski Resort, Inc. prohibits the operation or […]

The International Drone Racing Association (IDRA) will launch the first primary UAV Aircraft Liability Insurance policy to cover drone pilots worldwide. Included with the rollout of IDRA’s membership service, each IDRA member will be insured, with a US$1,000,000 UAV Liability coverage limit including operations for Recreational Use, UAS training for competitions, and Racing/Competitions around the […]

ECAMSECURE, a leading security and remote management technology solutions company, is proud to announce the addition of drones to an already extensive menu of integrated video surveillance and monitoring options. Ecamsecure has been a leader in security and remote management technology for over 17 years, compliments of the company’s history and commitment to safety, integrity, […]

“The Manta Ray” Is a Hybrid powered Tri-copter/glider/ UAV/Drone: The Manta Ray, like its namesake, can move swiftly from vertical takeoff , hover to smooth transition into forward flight, the Manta Rays unique design allows its wing morphing into a powered glider type UAV/drone giving the aircraft greater flexibility and distances. From a stand still take off to high-speed flight, the Manta Ray combines the perks […]

5D Robotics is a small company that has been doing R&D projects for the past several years while developing our core capabilities. We write software for mobile robots and create solutions for companies in need of automation. 5D has developed some amazing technology and we are ready to start deploying robots in the real world. […]

A pleasant thing to wake up to on a Saturday morning, Anuj Agarwal of Feedspot emailed to inform me that a panel of judges had selected sUAS News as their number one drone website. Thanks very much Feedspot, it’s been nine years in the making. Anything that has been around since before the DJI Phantom almost […]

Syracuse – GENIUS NY, a business accelerator program at CenterState CEO’s Tech Garden, today introduced six finalist teams that have been selected to compete for the competition’s $2.75 million in prizes. The companies, which are developing innovations in the unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) and the internet of things (IoT) sectors, were selected from a pool […]

Coptrz, the world’s first and only company offering continuous personal development to drone pilots, has been awarded the Civil Aviation Authority’s (CAA) National Qualified Entity (NQE) status. This entitles the company to deliver CAA-approved training to potential drone pilots, including both a theory and a practical test. Only drone pilots with a CAA-certified qualification may […]

Blue Bear are seeking a junior or senior software engineer to support a mixture of both R&D activities, product development and IT support & improvement activities within a leading autonomy and unmanned systems company. Blue Bear continuously innovate within core areas such as UAV autopilots, mission systems, ground control stations, and all supporting systems and […]

A boost for the drone industry in India, Piyush Goyal, Minister of State with Independent Charge for Power, Coal, New and Renewable Energy and Mines has asked that all state governments and the public sector mining units “explore the usage and deployment of drone technology” in their respective organisations.” This comes after TATA Steel recently […]

5D Robotics Unmanned Systems Project Engineer takes R&D concepts from prototype to design implementation, test, and flight operations. You will be responsible for the rapid design, prototyping, implementation, test, and deployment support. This position also requires deep understanding of sUAS platforms, technologies, and roadmaps for the industry. Requirements: B.S. Engineering Degree with minimum 3-5 years […]

There are so many things that happened during the last 12 months it would be almost impossible to hit it all. Twenty Sixteen might very well be remembered as the year the wheels came off the drone cart. So let’s hit the highpoint of history. Number one, DJI’s Frank Wang, from the new Silicon Valley […]

IL—Northwestern University Center for Public Safety is offering three new courses on the use of small unmanned aircraft systems (sUAS), better known as drones, for traffic crash investigation and reconstruction. Small unmanned aircraft systems can play an important role in in the investigation of traffic crashes. Using a drone, investigators can obtain a comprehensive view […]

MultiGP is proud to announce that Hobbico, one of the nation’s leading hobby companies, will be holding the Hobbico Vusion Race at the Sebring U.S. Sport Aviation Expo in Sebring, Florida, January 25th – 28th. This event features a $5,000 prize purse, sponsored by Hobbico, that will put the top drone racers against each other […]

The Silicon Valley Drone Show (Small Unmanned Systems Business Exposition) May 4th & 5th / Field Day 6th, is happy to announce guest speaker Rhianna Lakin will be speaking on the use of drones and social media to report on live news events and engage massive global audiences. Rhianna most recently covered the events at […]

Iris Automation, a recent graduate of the Y­Combinator startup accelerator program, today announced that it has raised $1.5 million USD to commercialize a Sense & Avoid system that will unlock the industrial drone industry by allowing the drones to finally fly autonomously. The system provides real­time situational awareness using computer vision and deep learning, allowing […]

senseFly, the world’s first choice producer of professional mapping drones, will host a free educational webinar focusing on the different applications of drones in agriculture at 10:00 EST/16:00 CET on Tuesday, January 24. During this event, experienced operators from two of the ag market’s agronomy leaders—AIRINOV (France) and Deveron UAS (Canada)—will discuss their companies’ drone […]

The construction industry has proved ripe for disruption by drone technology. The reasons for this can be difficult to pick apart. An important factor is that the business of construction—both commercial and residential—is highly complex and involves many skilled workers involved at different phases. Each of these phases can be broken down further into niche […]

Students from Canadian Universities are flocking in impressive numbers to the 2017 Unmanned Systems Canada Student UAS Competition. A total of 16 teams from New Brunswick to BC have registered for the event. First time competitors from Calgary and Windsor, will add excitement and new input to this 9 th annual challenge. The use of […]

The Phantom 4 is no more, the shortest lifespan to date for a DJI product, born March 2016 terminated January 2017. Just ten months. DJI sent these letters to dealers recently: Hi Dealers This is an update as of this morning on DJI Products. DJI Mavic Pro and Mavic Pro Combo Although production is releasing […]

Unmanned Experts have been awarded the highest level of SGS Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS) Safety & Compliance Verification, passing the most comprehensive audit of safety systems and operational safety practices within the drone industry. The SGS RPAS standards are now being widely accepted by the booming commercial drone industry. With SGS having extended its […]

Aeronautics Group, a leading UAS manufacturer, will present its wide range of comprehensive defense solutions and UAS platforms at Aero India. Aeronautics line of UAS’s includes MALE UAS – the Dominator XR , Tactical UAS – the Aerostar, and state-of-the-art unmanned mini UAS’s – the Orbiter family. The orbiter family includes Orbiter 4 multi-mission STUAS, […]

DragonPlate, known for high quality, ready to purchase carbon fibre components has just released UAV quadcopter frame kits. These kits provide the basic structure necessary for anyone interested in building their own carbon fibre multi-rotor. In addition to the assembly templates and instructions, full CAD models are available for download for each kit. This allows […]

Sky-Futures Training Academy (SFTA) will be running a series of webinars on the new UK Basic Drone Certification course (delivered under Sky-Futures Civil Aviation Authority Full NQE status). Our CRTO, Nick Rogers, and Training & Operational Standards Manager, Frankie Suarez, will lead the webinar and give you a comprehensive guide to this new SFTA course. […]

SkyPan International is pleased to announce that it has reached agreement with the United States Federal Aviation Administration to settle the civil penalty action initiated by the FAA in 2015 related to its unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) operations in New York City and Chicago during 2012-2014. While neither admitting nor contesting the allegations that these […]

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Aviation Administration today announced a comprehensive settlement agreement with SkyPan International, Inc., of Chicago. The agreement resolves enforcement cases that alleged the company operated unmanned aircraft (UAS) in congested airspace over New York City and Chicago, and violated airspace regulations and aircraft operating rules. Under the terms of the agreement, […]

Measure, the nation’s leading Drone as a Service® operator, announced today that it has raised $15 million in Series B financing with LionTree Advisors acting as the financial advisor. Measure and its national network of licensed pilots provide turnkey solutions to acquire, process, and deliver actionable aerial data to enterprise customers. Since Measure’s last investment round in September of […]

On the latest instalment of the sUAS News podcast, we take a look at potential inroads to the new political landscape coming to Washington D.C. with guests Jeffery Anders and Rob Thompson. http://www.blogtalkradio.com/suasnews/2017/01/04/winds-of-change Without a doubt, the U.S. faces a totally different mindset and way of doing business. President-elect Trump has made his pick for […]

After a series of successful test flights, Danish drone operator Heliscope and inspection software developer Scopito are close to becoming the first to obtain the coveted permanent BVLOS license from the Danish Transport Agency. A Danish project with BVLOS test flights is nearing its completion – and the results are highly promising. So promising, in […]

I had a very interesting run through of Expanse, industrial inspection software for the drone age. Sky-Futures head of product Colin Hickey spoke very slowly to me so that I could understand. Colin has over 13 years of product experience in the Oil and Gas industry where he specialised in software product design and delivery […]

An expensive mistake reported by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau. An obvious stand out is the poor range of the command and control (C2) link. For an expensive commercial system, 165m is not far. The RPA was part of a six-month trial for search and rescue group Westpac. That trial had started in February of […]

On 14 January Gary noticed that DJI had removed the Phantom 3 Advanced, Pro and 4K variants of the Phantom range from their online store. When visiting the info pages for these variants, a notification pops up showing the Mavic and displaying the following message: “Please note that the Phantom 3 Advanced/Professional/4K is no longer […]

SimActive Inc., a world-leading developer of photogrammetry software, is pleased to announce that Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) has chosen Correlator3D™ for its unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) research. “We assessed photogrammetry solutions to assist our study of river shore line erosion, mangrove habitats and geospatial applications,” said Associate Professor Sr. Dr Anuar Ahmad, Postgraduate Manager, Faculty […]

Released into the wild, what the NTSB believed happened. An in-flight breakup due to the platform being operated outside of weather limits. It was a test flight so incidents and accidents are to be expected really and of course the beauty of unmanned systems is that nobody was hurt. A very impressive machine from Facebook […]