sUAS News

This timely and important event, Drones in Agriculture, will look at how modern drone technology can be used to carry out a variety of tasks and improve economic outcomes for the man on the land. The wide range of UAV operations will be examined in detail. The conference will feature three highly credentialed presenters. Among […]

General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA‑ASI), a leading manufacturer of Remotely Piloted Aircraft (RPA) systems, radars, and electro-optic and related mission systems solutions, today announced the official launch of its Team Reaper® Australia solution to the Project Air 7003 requirement, together with Australian teammates Cobham, CAE Australia, Raytheon Australia, and Flight Data Systems. The Team […]

Eagle-Eye Drone Service has achieved success in identifying submerged cultural artefacts underwater using mapping software. This is huge for the SAR industry to help minimise time in man-hours spent looking for a submerged body and documenting shallow water accident crime scenes. One of the co-owners of Eagle Eye Drone Service is a member of the […]

Transpower today announced it will conduct New Zealand’s first ‘beyond line of sight’ flight using a Remotely Piloted Aircraft System (RPAS or drone). Transpower will be the only NZ organisation to have undertaken this type of flight. This week, a drone will be used to conduct aerial inspections of transmission lines and towers in the […]

We are looking for an experienced Web UI Engineer to join our team of 8 engineers at Hivemapper. We have a growing web application, a large part of which is our 3D map viewer, called Flight View. Beyond fluency in Javascript, CSS, and HTML, experience working on large web applications (as opposed to web pages) […]

Skylogic Research, LLC (http://www.droneanalyst.com/) today announced that Christopher Korody and Will Tompkinson will join the Drone Analyst® network of Contributor / Advisors. Each are specialized commercial unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) industry experts and allow Skylogic Research to scale its market analysis to meet the growing demand of industry insights. “We are very excited to have […]

In the Matrice 200, DJI has finally addressed their professional series of multirotors biggest issue. They can now look up. The reason all the world’s professional inspection companies until now used other aircraft. A pretty handy looking quad, if I could afford one, I would have one! I don’t think I will get that past […]

Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University recently hosted the 2016 U.S. Aviation Law Seminar at the Daytona Beach, Florida Campus. This short-course was part of the new Aviation Law Diploma, a collaborative program between Embry-Riddle and the International Air Transport Association (IATA) and featured leading authorities from academia and industry with subject matter expertise in airline passenger protection […]

Drone Mapping Service Providers Weigh in On Determining Price Points/ By all accounts, the commercial drone industry is booming. When Part 107 licensing became available in August of 2016, the FAA certified 12,000 remote pilots in the first three weeks alone. By the time the year came to a close, this number had reached 23,000, and […]

ScientificAerospace are proudly launching their Lynx FarScight at Avalon Airshow on the 3rd of March 2017. Lynx FarScight is ScientificAerospace’s next generation, long endurance, high precision surveying solution. Capable of flying missions in excess of 2.5 hours and performing direct georeferencing of the photo locations with centimetre accuracy, employing ScientificAerospace’s proprietary PPK GNSS correction software 4Precision. For […]

Unmanned Systems Canada is pleased to announce a milestone in Canadian aviation history, with the commencement on 24 February 2017 of regular Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) small Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) flights in civil airspace. Ventus Geospatial of Lethbridge/Calgary, Alberta is the first company to meet the stringent criteria required to fly a […]

AIS (Arctic Innovative Solutions) have now released a new drone app called LostMyDrone , where users can post theire lost drone in the app and hopfully by doing this it can be found at the earliest stage. Each year disappears drones around the world due to interference, pilot mistake or equipment failure. Many drones can […]

If you want an NDVI map while you’re still in the field, cut out a potentially long upload to the cloud and start processing directly in Pix4Dag desktop. Part 1: How quickly can you go from landing to processing? With a predicted population jump to 9 billion by 2050, and therefore a corresponding 70% increase in […]

Agriculture once seemed to be the most promising industry for drones to disrupt, but slow adoption has forced many drone companies to look elsewhere for faster returns. While drones have so far not made extensive headway onto farms, it is clear to me that they perfectly complement the precision agriculture technology that is steadily taking […]

We are taking the leap to move beyond pretty pictures to use drones as our workhorses for collecting real data and providing real information. We’d like to invite you to share your thoughts and experiences at the UAS4RS 2017 (Unmanned Aircraft Systems for Remote Sensing) Conference to be held at the Hobart Function and Convention […]

The Nevada Drone Industry set a new long-distance record for aerial package delivery flying a fixed-wing Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) under beyond line of sight conditions. The backdrop was an urban environment set among the scenic area of Walker Lake with the Nevada-headquartered Drone America flight team flying more than 39 miles to deliver a […]

Nevada’s unmanned cloud-seeding research team today realised another fundamental capability in its effort toward enhancing snowfall in mountainous regions of the West. Flown at Hawthorne Industrial Airport under Nevada UAS Test Sites Certificate of Authorization (COA) and led by the Desert Research Institute (DRI) flight operations node, the Drone America Savant unmanned aircraft reached an […]

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) today released an updated list of pilot, air traffic controller, law enforcement and citizen reports of potential drone sighting with unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) – more popularly called “drones”. The latest data cover February through September 2016. Reports of possible drone sightings to FAA air traffic facilities continued to increase during FY 2016. […]

Sensor and sensing solutions company, Terabee, has released a new video showing how their alternative to traditional rotating LiDAR scanners, the TeraRanger Tower, can be used to perform drone collision avoidance against a wall. Based on APM 3.5, they’ve written drivers allowing the TeraRanger Tower to feed data to the autopilots’ object avoidance code-base. Terabee […]

AirMap, the world’s leading airspace management platform for drones, and senseFly, the world’s first choice producer of mapping drones, today announced that they have partnered to deliver AirMap’s airspace services to senseFly’s eBee fixed wing drones and albris quadcopter. AirMap’s airspace platform services will be directly integrated into senseFly’s eMotion flight and data management software, […]

AirMap, the world’s leading airspace management platform for drones, today announced a $26 million Series B funding round led by Microsoft Ventures, with additional participation from Airbus Ventures, Qualcomm Ventures (the investment arm of Qualcomm Incorporated), Rakuten, Sony, Yuneec, and existing investors General Catalyst and Lux Capital. The new investment brings AirMap’s total funding to […]

UAVAir, the UK’s leading drone training academy is clarifying the importance of gaining a CAA (Civil Aviation Authority) approved drone licence, in light of recent calls for new suggestions of improving drone safety in British airspace. Although the current regulations in place prohibit pilots from flying in congested areas and near airports, drones operating in […]

The National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) has approved the Unmanned Safety Institute’s (USI) online “Small UAS Ground School” for participation in the NBAA Professional Development Program (PDP), effective January 12, 2017. The course meets PDP Objectives: Operations Ops7 and Ops9 and course participants will receive 6 points for CAM Application 4 points for CAM Recertification. […]

On Friday, February 24, Ventus Geospatial, a C-ASTRAL BRAMOR gEO, ppK and gAS operator, will be conducting the first Transport Canada (TC) approved UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) test flight beyond a pilot’s visual line of sight (BVLOS) in non-military airspace. This flight test will be conducted at the Foremost Centre for Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) […]

Enter the Drone Girls. A new breed and welcome force in the rapidly changing fashions of the Drone industry. The face of the Drone industry is changing. Girl power is taking an increasingly important role in the Drone industry. And not before time. It has long been proven that women have skill sets in engineering, […]

At Skyward, we make operations management software for companies that use drones, so business managers and drone operators often ask us questions regarding safety, workflow, best practices, and business efficiency. These are great questions that most businesses are focused on—and that our software specifically addresses. We also receive dozens of questions each week about something […]

The University of North Dakota (UND) has newly created the UND Institute for Unmanned and Autonomous Systems and is seeking a founding Executive Director for the Institute who will be an energetic leader and passionate proponent for Unmanned and Autonomous research, education and economic development. Why UND and North Dakota? Over the past decade, UND and […]

The one with, AtlantikSolar and their 81-hour solar assisted flight as told by Philipp Oettershagen. A truly amazing accomplishment achieved with relatively low-cost solar cells. We will certainly be getting him back to tell us more on Drone Stuff This Week. Rob Swynnerton from http://www.flyingwings.co.uk and his separate lift thrust (SLT) electric flying wing the […]

FREDERICK, MD – The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) announced a new line of membership options created for drone pilots, a key part of an ongoing effort to unite manned and unmanned pilots for the common purpose of safe integration of all users. Having long been recognized for leadership in aviation safety and advocacy, […]

Amazon wants to fly a giant blimp and let deliveries swarm from it. UPS is perhaps a little more practical. Make the drone a force multiplier by doing two deliveries done at once from the same van. Get it most of the way to its destination, set it free and do another from the truck […]

When I worked directly with the FAA as a customer, one thing I learned the hard way is that seemingly common sounding words or phrases have very specific (and sometimes loaded) meaning when spoken within the context of the FAA or aviation. I have a feeling that Performance Based Navigation (PBN) is probably one of […]

Pro S3 is pleased to announce the release of the Venture T lines of mutirotor UAVs. Venture T offers unique capabilities concentrated in a single package, designed specifically for UAV training schools. Mr. Daniele Camatti CEO of Pro S3 says “UAV training activities requires specific performance characteristics not usually available in a standard commercial drone […]

DJI, the prominent pioneer in state of the art unmanned aerial photography equipment, has its sagacious eyes set on the North American Market, aiming to rattle the entire drone business in 2017. San Francisco residents are going to embrace an extraordinary month of February: the very first DJI authorised store, Magic Sky, will go into […]

On Tuesday, February 14th, I gave a presentation on drone applications to a room full of First Responders as guests of the Consumnes River Fire Department. Most of the material presented was focused on SAR and firefighting, but we covered some other safety and law enforcement topics as well. Before we go any further, I […]

FreeBird One is a unique and high-performing commercial UAV that could make a solid addition to an existing product portfolio, or offer a company using or planning to deploy a fleet of drones a proprietary vehicle that could differentiate its drone capabilities. Structurally-enclosed SurroundFrame carbon fiber airframe (able to withstand in-air collisions) Weatherproof (rain, snow, extreme […]

Cyberhawk Innovations, leader in aerial inspection and survey using Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV), is offering to drone enthusiasts a rare opportunity to become part of one of the world’s fastest growing industries. Headquartered in Livingston, and with bases in Houston, the Middle East and Southeast Asia, Cyberhawk carried out the very first UAV inspection in […]

Stemme AG and S-PLANE Automation (Pty) Ltd today announced an agreement to integrate S-PLANE subsystems into the ECARYS ES15 aircraft to create an Optionally Piloted Vehicle (OPV). A comprehensive solution is offered, including the Ground Control Station, suitable for a variety of mission profiles. The OPV is a highly versatile vehicle, combining the benefits of […]

Glad that your teams are pumping out those drone delivery patents left right and centre. It will certainly be easier to stomp on any great ideas should anybody come out with anything close to what the dream factory bangs out. I was also very pleased to see that you picked up on my print your […]

Karma Vista Winery is utilising Great Lakes Drone Company to provide aerial data management and consultation for the 2017 growing season. Joe Herman, owner of Karma Vista Winery is excited about how this technology can redefine how they manage their fields this year. The data collected by regular drone overflights will provide them with real-time […]

Vigilant Aerospace has completed beyond line-of-sight flight testing of its new FlightHorizon collision avoidance system for drones at NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center in the Mojave desert. FlightHorizon is flight safety software that provides drone pilots with the ability to detect-and-avoid other aircraft. It is based on a NASA patent and prototype exclusively licensed by […]

A weighty and informative report from ORNL penned by Richard Lusk and William Monday. The report is crammed with information useful for any commercial UAS operator. It includes checklists as well. Always good to see other people’s thinking on that subject. The introduction is bang on as well, top notch, if you are a serious […]

The UAS (Unmanned Aerial Systems) industry includes a variety of aircraft and platforms necessary to accomplish a growing number of mission profiles and applications. There is a lot of interest in small (under 55 lbs.) platforms for commercial applications and for hobbyist, but there is also a growing demand for larger aircraft that carry larger […]

Crown Prince of Dubai, His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, honoured the winners of UAE Drones for Good Award and UAE AI/ Robotics Award for Good. Sheikh Hamdan was briefed on a number of hi-tech projects presented by the participating teams that offer applied innovative solutions in economy, humanitarian and scientific […]

Santa Fe– To protect facilities that are critical to the public’s welfare, it would be unlawful to fly an unmanned aircraft- commonly referred to as drones- within 500 feet of these installations. Drones would be banned from around facilities such as power plants, chemical storage facilities, and petroleum refineries under SB 348. The bill also […]

Intel may have used a Yuneec based platform, a company they have bought into, to drop a basketball for the Verizon Slam Dunk challenge. Yuneec seems to be the ugly step child of the Intel Drone group. We have not really heard much of the company recently. They were heralded as a DJI beater, that […]

Enough people must have saved enough money to buy big motors and batteries. Man carrying multirotors are popping up (see what I did there) everywhere. The Scorpion 3 has just been launched by Russian company Hoversurf. It looks um interesting in flight. Not sure I would want such a large prop near my legs. Sensibly the Hoversurf […]

Researchers at Utah State University last week unveiled their newest platform of unmanned aerial vehicles. The new ‘BluJay’ line of all-electric aircraft is used for research in agriculture and water resources engineering. “This aircraft represents the latest improvements in UAV technology,” said Dr. Mac McKee, director of the Utah Water Research Lab. “It can stay […]

In the modern age of solar 4.5 MW is not a big power plant, generally occupying less than 50 acres of land. But from the perspective of a field technician, size is all relative. A Needle in a Haystack “A plant that size has about 18,000 panels,” says Rick Lavezzo, the owner of ArrayCon, one […]

Land O’Lakes, Inc. is seeking proposed solutions that enable scalable, autonomous drone usage in precision agriculture (the “Solution(s)”). While drone technology is one of the hottest topics in the agriculture industry today, current solutions have not yet evolved to make drones a valuable or cost effective tool for farmers. Land O’Lakes, Inc., a farmer-owned cooperative, […]

Yesterday while scrolling through my Facebook feed I ran across this little gem of a post by Matt Gleason featuring a 3d printed micro quad, Mega Whoop, while there are sure to be others out there this is the first I’ve seen posted publicly in the 3d printed groups also now offered on thingiverse the […]