sUAS News

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 […]

Tactical Robotics is expanding the flight testing of its Cormorant drone. The company has been expanding the flight envelope of the drone, formerly known as AirMule, during ongoing, untethered flight testing this summer, Tactical Robotics said in a statement. The testing also involved gauging modifications that enhance the flight control and multiple sensor suite. The […]

Partnership to provide FAA-trusted airspace data to LATAS to improve safety specifically for drone operators, airports and drone manufacturers, particularly during flights beyond visual line of sight. PrecisionHawk Inc. – a leading provider of aerial data and safety platforms for drones – today announced the launch of its low altitude traffic and airspace safety platform […]

Exclusive Distribution of Precision Payloads and Phoenix™ 2 UAV Minneapolis, MN, September 13, 2016: Sentera, LLC, a global provider of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), sensors, and data management platforms, has signed an exclusive distribution agreement with Dynamic UAV Solutions North America, LLC, a new distributor in the commercial UAV space for the mapping, construction, survey, […]

So far we have only seen quads doing really impressive stuff in motion capture rigs, cheating almost. Vijay Kumar and Giuseppe Loianno, Gary McGrath and Chris Brunner from Qualcomm working at the GRASP Lab, Penn Engineering have posted a video of an autonomous 250 g quadrotor performing aggressive manoeuvres using a Qualcomm snapdragon flight controller and […]

NVIDIA today unveiled a palm-sized, energy-efficient artificial intelligence (AI) computer that automakers can use to power automated and autonomous vehicles for driving and mapping. The new single-processor configuration of the NVIDIA® DRIVE™ PX 2 AI computing platform for AutoCruise functions — which include highway automated driving and HD mapping — consumes just 10 watts of […]

Half moon based drone delivery company Zipline have several openings, not just for pilots but maintenance, development and logistics. The company aims to parachute packets into remote places and has projects in Rwanda and Tanzania. As a Flight Operator at Zipline, you’ll maintain and operate a fleet of Zips. You’ll learn how to take a […]

A self-propelling surface-clinging drone able to inspect both ceilings and vertical surfaces, for the civil infrastructure inspection market. Who would have thought. Lots of power to keep it in position I would have thought. Autonomous inspection is fast becoming a thing. The PD6-CI-L addresses a key pain point in bridge inspection. Japan’s Ministry of Land, […]

MAG Aviation is currently recruiting for an upcoming award of a HERON UAV Support Contract. This is an additional requirement to a contract we are currently operating on. No security clearance is required and foreign nationals who have experience on the HERON UAV platform are encouraged to apply. No further details can be given out at this time BUT […]

Well it might be fast, has America got a pilot good enough to win with it yet? Not one international competition won by the USA yet! The xCraft Rogue is a revolutionary new drone that flies unlike anything else on the market. Featuring a powerful rear “booster” motor, the Rogue can achieve speeds exceeding 100 […]

After over a year of careful research and development, a New Zealand resident has achieved a long sought after goal. On Saturday, September 10th, Tim Vincent flew an RPFlightSystems, Inc. Vigilant C1 aircraft for a total of 425 kilometres on a single battery pack. Tim thought, and still thinks the goal of 500km could be […]

Unmanned Systems Canada is pleased to announce that registration is now open for the 9th Student Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Competition for 2017. The competition takes place in two phases with Phase I, a design report from each team due January 13th, 2017 and Phase II, the flying demonstration, April 28 – 30th, 2017 in […]

It is another thing I didn’t see coming, that I should have. Simulator company Simlat have developed high-fidelity simulation capabilities for UAS-based mining inspection . The Mining Package,as well as the utilities inspection package introduced a few months ago, were designed to provide a further detailed level of training for the UAS operators on a […]

“Knowledge is power.” Under this slogan, high-tech company TeAx Technology from Germany is providing again another powerful solution in the field of thermal vision: Intelligent thermal cameras. TeAx Technology created a proof of concept (POC) to demonstrate how easy and cost effective a processing computing power unit can be provided. For the POC a Tau 2 […]

Rapid Imaging Software, Inc. announced today that SmartCam3D View, an augmented reality (AR) app for small drones is available on the Apple App store. As an introductory offer SmartCam3D View is free for a limited time. The app uses augmented reality to blend place markers onto video. SmartCam3D View is easy to use. Before or […]

The International Drone Racing Association (IDRA), the Tesla Foundation, and their partners will launch the UAS STEM Alliance (U-S-A) during a Congressional Briefing on September 21,2016, followed by an IDRA-sponsored Demo Race in the Spring of 2017, an effort to promote STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) programs and research and to inspire the next […]

Full disclosure, I know not what a burrito is nor the company Chipotle Mexican Grill. But I do know who Virginia Tech and Project Wing are. “It’s the first time that we’re actually out there delivering stuff to people who want that stuff,” Project Wing’s Dave Vos said when explaining the plan. The Project Wing drone […]

Well done Drone Deploy their video series, Zero to Hero is worth watching for hints on successful mapping projects with all sorts of software not just theirs. Getting started with drone mapping? Check out this step-by-step tutorial featuring DroneDeploy co-founder Jono Millin. Completely new to drones? No problem– this series will take you from “zero to […]

Septentrio, a leading provider of accurate and reliable GNSS solutions, today announces the launch of its most advanced GNSS receiver for dedicated time and frequency transfer applications, the PolaRx5TR. The PolaRx5TR is the newest addition to Septentrio’s renowned PolaRx product line of GNSS receivers which has established itself as the standard for timing receivers and […]

More than 100.000 people watched the successful European premiere of “DRONE 100 – Spaxels over Linz” yesterday evening. At 7:45 sharp, the 100 world record drones took off and performed their airborne spectacle in the sky over Linz, synchronized to music created by Linz sound artist and composer Sam Auinger.

Airogistic LLC, a leading pioneer for developing UAV infrastructure products and services, has introduced its new version of the DroneDomeTM with improved features that can be configured for larger flight areas. The Airogistic DroneDomeTM is an outdoor UAV netted test, launch and landing shelter that allows for the controlled and personnel safe environment development of […]