sUAS News

Walkera, maker of high-performance drones, announced the international release of their new drone model, AiBao. It is available for purchase online at www.ucdrone.com, for the price of $469. AiBao includes a 4K HD camera with recording capability and is the first drone in the UAV market that features mixed reality gaming, supported by Walkera technology. […]

Another thing I didn’t see coming, DJI must believe FPV racing will be a thing. Yes, they recently opened a track but now the hardware starts to land. Nearly all of an FPV racers advantage comes from the propulsion system and that’s what DJI just released. If it’s any quicker than other setups I couldn’t say. What […]

On October 13-14, the 2nd Annual Cape May NJ UAS Conference, will feature the top federal legislative and regulatory officials, industry and academic experts, as well as the many busi- ness applications and opportunities for this emerging technology in a comprehensive two day conference agenda. The Cape May UAS Conference, which will take place at […]

Our friend Werner from SF Drone school has had a chance to fly the new Karma from GoPro. Here are his first impressions. Perhaps the first review from folks that have a bit of stick rather than keyboard time. All eyes now on tomorrows DJI Mavic launch. Pros : Flies very stable Easy to fly slow […]

Drones are one of the most controversial technologies in disaster response operations. To find out what exactly humanitarian aid workers think about the use of these unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), the Swiss Foundation for Mine Action (FSD) with funding from EU Humanitarian Aid has now published a survey. In total, close to 200 disaster responders working […]

RT LTA Systems Ltd., a world-class designer, developer, and manufacturer of the Skystar™ family of aerostats for use in intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance, and communications applications, will display the Skystar 180 aerostat at Seecat, the Special Equipment Exhibition & Conference for Anti-Terrorism in Tokyo, Japan. The Skystar 180 is a small sized, mobile aerostat designed for tactical […]

Skysense was awarded the prize in the “business” section of the NASA WorldWind Europa Challenge 2016, offering an innovative Open Source remote control of drones, with multiple commercial applications. Skysense Planner is web-based, runs in the cloud and allows you manage remote fleets of drones. Advanced features include Ardupilot and DJI support, ADS-B aircraft tracking, geofence […]

The Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI) Cascade Chapter will host the Future Robotics Forum at OMSI in Portland October 19-21, including an evening benefit for STEM education grants throughout the Pacific Northwest. The Future Robotics Forum will host business leaders and inspiring speakers of over two dozen companies and organizations driving the future […]

Flybrix Kits come complete with all the components you need to make and fly rebuildable, crash-friendly quadcopters, hexacopters and octocopters from one kit. Flybrix is designed for anyone who is interested in building and flying their own creations. There’s nothing like the thrill of seeing what you made, take to the skies. The included Flybrix Flight Control App for […]

Americans are increasingly familiar with drones, also known as Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS). These devices have become one of consumers’ most popular technology purchases; some estimate nearly one million new drones will be purchased in 2016. Many consumer drones are controlled by tablet or smartphone, and feature high-definition cameras, GPS, and the ability to fly […]

Speaking before an audience of aviation and military experts assembled at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., Bell Helicopter, a Textron Inc. (NYSE: TXT) company, today unveiled the Bell V-247 Vigilant tiltrotor. To download renderings of the Bell V-247 Vigilant tiltrotor, please follow this link. The Bell V-247 tiltrotor is an unmanned aerial system […]

New trade fair and conference in Nuremberg Exhibition Center Premiere: 2 – 3 March 2017 Partner UAV DACH e.V. The U.T.SEC, Unmanned Technologies & Security – Expo & Conference, which is to be held at the Nuremberg Exhibition Centre on 2 – 3 March 2017, is the first trade fair devoted to every aspect […]

The record breaking Orion from Aurora Flight Sciences is slated to take flight again. Its been in storage after the USAF said they didn’t need it. Orion first flew in 2013 and set a record for duration of flight. The record was awarded based on the aircraft’s 80-hour, 2-minute and 52-second flight that took place December […]

A key partnership will soon take off at The University of Queensland, as Boeing Research and Technology Australia establishes a presence at the UQ St Lucia campus, in an Asia-Pacific first. Boeing Chairman, President and CEO Mr Dennis Muilenburg announced the partnership at the McDonnell Academy Symposium in Brisbane tonight (22 September). It involves about […]

Airware, the commercial drone solutions provider working with some of the largest Fortune 500 companies in the U.S., announced the acquisition of Redbird, a France-based pioneer in drone data analytics for mining, quarrying, and construction industries. Redbird brings sophisticated geospatial analytics to the Airware Aerial Information Platform, providing customers with the combined power of Redbird’s […]

UAVtechnics released a combination DJI Inspire drone with dual thermal FLIR and daylight camera. With this combination it is possible to have thermal imaging as well as regular stills and video without swapping gimbal or camera, both sensors are in the same gimbal housing and can rotate 360° without any obstructions as the FLIR drone […]

InVisage Technologies Inc., the pioneering developer of QuantumFilm™ camera sensors, today launched its Spark Micro-LiDAR (SML20) module. The previously announced Spark4K 13-megapixel, 1.1-micron NIR sensor enables the SML20 module to sense structured light patterns with high acuity at a range of 20 meters, even in direct sunlight. This means drones can now self-navigate at a […]

Operating in remote areas can present challenges in communications. In areas with weak or non-existing communication networks, large changes in elevation or obstacles, one must look for other purposes of establishing communications. Where there are no towers, drones can be used to set up temporary communication networks. However, limited flight time of drones can cause […]

All this talk of selfie drones reminded me of Lily, ah Lily. A look at their Facebook Page shows disappointment from non-US residents who have been put at the back of the queue. This from the Lily blog. All United States pre-orders will ship between December 2016 and January 2017. Pre-orders will be fulfilled in the order […]

Select group of commercial drone users receive special permission from the Federal Aviation Administration to conduct nighttime operations One of the first law practices to specialize in U.S. drone law, Chicago-based Antonelli Law has helped secure four of the first federally-issued Certificate of Waivers to allow several of the law firm’s commercial clients to operate […]

Did Colin from GoPro make a monumental marketing error letting Casey fly Karma in New York? I have received the link of this flight, no less than 12 times this morning already from concerned Part 107 operators and even the very famous in our world, Bruce Simpson of New Zealand! I made a video about what […]

Coming up with ways to deal with the threats faced by small drones is among the trickiest problems military and security agencies face these days. The devices are so small, so easy to use and are proliferating so rapidly. The MITRE Corporation based in Washington DC, supported by the federal government, set up a competition […]

This is the first question asked when an Insured is seeking UAS hull physical damage coverage. How you answer this question will greatly affect your cost of coverage what will happen in the event of a partial or total loss, so it is important to understand how to determine the current value of your UAS. […]

SUAX founder Joseph Aletky has recently revisited VTOL craft and may have created the world’s smallest separate lift thrust (SLT) craft. Ardupilot code flies the craft. Not much room for sensors but and excellent test platform. Nano VTOL Full Specifications- AUW: 610g Endurance with VTOL Takeoff/Landing: 12 Minutes Autopilot: Pixhawk 1 with GPS, 900mhz Telemetry, […]

SimActive Inc., a world-leading developer of photogrammetry software, is pleased to announce Correlator3D™ version 6.5 with a new picture-in-picture (PiP) feature. The PiP brings a 3D rendered view of projects through an inset window, visible at all times to streamline processing and editing (for a preview, please click here). The interactive viewing capability allows display […]

Researchers at TU Delft have developed a new hybrid drone that takes off like a helicopter before tilting 90 degrees and then continuing to fly like an aircraft. The drone does this using mainly a single large propeller, which means that it has hardly any unnecessary control actuators on board when in flight. This makes […]

Part 107 Statistics: 3 Big Take-Aways from the First 15 Days The data gathered above was from a source in the FAA which requested to remain anonymous. I made an effort to cite data and list it in end notes below. 1. Remote Pilot Pass Rates Are Close to Private Pilot Knowledge Test Pass Rates. Interestingly, […]

Erlich Bachman today announced in Squaw Valley, California the much anticipated GoPro Karma drone. It is much larger than others out there and quite frankly a disappointment. Karma is very much yesterday’s drone. Two years ago it would have been revolutionary. Now it’s just what everyone else has. There were high fives and stirring music but […]

Oh look less than 30 minutes until GoPro launches Karma and DJI Mavic images start appearing in my inbox. From all four corners of the earth as well! A gimbal and tidy folding arrangement with pretty large props. Is that forward facing anti-collision sensors I see so add that to the sonar and camera seen […]

Tremco Roofing & Building Maintenance announced today its SkyBEAM unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) completed the first Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)-approved nighttime commercial flight, to inspect rooftops at a southern Ohio business. More than 2.3 million square feet of roofing were scanned. The innovative SkyBEAM (Building Envelope Asset Mapping) UAV used its thermographic (infrared) camera to […]

X, Formerly Known as Google[X] Joins Board; New Officers Push for Expanded Drone Operations Washington, D.C. and Silicon Valley, September 2016 – The Commercial Drone Alliance, an independent 501c6 non-profit led by key figures of the commercial drone industry, today announced its members have elected the Alliance’s first Officers of the Board. Michael Latiner, chief […]

Numbers of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) to surge as they become smaller and cheaper Innovative technology can accomplish menial or dangerous tasks but also raises safety concerns such as risk of collision, a terrorist attack or cyber incident Systematic registration of UAS and robust education and training of operators necessary to ensure safe skies, as […]

The questions have been swirling around the Internet and coming through private messages – now that this is legal what do we charge? Very relevant and timely question as the drone rush officially started August 29th, 2016. I’m reaching back into my experience as a legal commercial drone operator many years ago, imparting some from […]

If you fancy turning the recently announced Parrot Disco into a fully autonomous mapping platform the folks from ArduPilot have made it possible. For best results you will need to add a vertical camera and a way to trigger it. Wizard developer Tridge, has been working with the Disco for some time. Full instructions can […]

We know now when the Mavic will be launched. The teaser video released, today Sunday the 18th of September pulls the rug from under the GoPro Karma launch tomorrow. Well played DJI, well played. All eyes on DJI on the 27th of September. News of the folding quad has been in the wild for some […]

On Friday GoPro stock closed up 5.65% ahead of the Karma product announcement tomorrow (Monday 19th September). If that stock price keeps rising ahead of the announce it might be time to sell! Why so bleak? It is a hard market to enter. American drone maker 3DR has just about left the multirotor marketplace. Unable […]

I’m not entirely sure this is a shoot down. Looks more like a poorly maintained machine that auto landed. It is in quite a good condition considering it has arrived at the ground all by itself. Amnesty International calls the war in Yemen, “The Forgotten War” On 25 March 2015, an international coalition led by […]

QuestUAV, have spent many years developing and flying UAVs, capturing data for developing into output products. Recently celebrating their 5 year anniversary they have expanded their processing facilities to make them fully available to the wider drone community. Given the experience of spending capital building an in-house processing capability – using spare capacity from these […]

Eric Ringer The capabilities of drones are increasing rapidly, and we can’t yet imagine all the business applications that will emerge over the next five years. What is clear is that some of the most groundbreaking use cases are emerging from major corporations. In my role as strategic projects engineer at Skyward, I help enterprises […]

The Property Drone Consortium (PDC), a collaboration that consists of insurance carriers, roofing industry leaders and supporting enterprises is pleased to announce a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T). The agreement will leverage the knowledge base, capabilities, and resources of the parties […]

Well done Aerial MOB an impressive opening sequence for Dancing with the Stars. Seen by millions across America who won’t give a second thought to how it was made. Obviously, Patrick is more the sequins and shimmy type around here so I can’t comment on the dancing. What I can say though is that the […]

Amendments to Part 101 commence on 29 September 2016. CASA will be reducing the entry requirements for people wanting to fly a very small (under 2kg) remotely piloted aircraft (RPA) commercially. From 29 September 2016, the new category of excluded RPA will come into effect. If you want to fly very small RPAscommercially under the […]

Garuda Robotics, a leading provider of end-to-end enterprise robotics solutions, today announced the launch of Garuda TowerSight, a complete UAV system for cell tower surveys. The TowerSight system improves the efficiency and safety of tower surveys by enabling surveyors to verify line-of-sight (LOS) from new tower sites to existing towers without having to work at […]

Kittyhawk, the drone fleet management company, is proud to announce the availability of its industry-leading platform on Android. Commercial drone operators can now use Android devices to easily adhere to the recently-introduced FAA Part 107 regulations, and benefit from the same pre-flight intelligence, post-flight insights and in-flight peace of mind that has already served thousands […]

XTENDERmp taps into the power of a world-recognized autopilot and expands it to fill the gap between standard autopilot functionality and your specific requirements. MP plug-ins are code modules that execute at the same time as the autopilot code and allow customers to add functionality to the autopilot to differentiate their products and close the […]

Quantum Spatial, Inc., the nation’s largest independent geospatial data firm, announced today that the company will be acquiring, processing and delivering high-resolution aerial LiDAR data and multispectral imagery data from an unmanned aerial system (UAS) for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Office for Coastal Management (OCM). The project will focus on three National […]

Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Administrator Michael Huerta announced today that the FAA is delivering on its commitment to incentivize general aviation aircraft owners to equip their aircraft with required NextGen avionics technology before the January 1, 2020 deadline. On September 19, 2016, the FAA’s Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) rebate website will go live, and general […]

Today at ION GNSS+ 2016, NovAtel Inc. (NovAtel), the world’s leading supplier of high precision OEM Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) positioning technology, unveiled its new OEM7 positioning engine. Leveraging previous generations of precise positioning know-how, the OEM7 incorporates new innovative capabilities and features that significantly enhance GNSS-based positioning reliability, accuracy and availability. The OEM7 […]

How time flies, it feels a very long time since I was stood in a field in Buckinghamshire with Nigel mucking about with autopilots and gliders. Congratulations to everyone at QuestUAV QuestUAV has operated since 2008, though formerly know as Blue River Studios. The founder/director, Nigel King, is a former Royal Air Force pilot and […]

Humanity has a unique combination of intelligence, ingenuity and idiocy, that makes its every action an adventure. The UAS industry is such an adventure. At the time of publication of “The Future of Commercial and Industrial UAVs – 2016 Edition”, aviation authorities around the world are trying to impose order on the chaotic world of […]