sUAS News

By JIM THOMPSON As the federal government continues to wrestle with regulation of drones, and a state legislative study committee just released its own set of recommendations for drone regulation in Georgia, Athens-Ben Epps Airport Director Tim Beggerly has a single piece of advice for anyone who might find one of the flying machines under…The post Georgia:- State legislative committee issues recommendations for drone regulation appeared first on sUAS News.

I feel a disturbance in the force. Not just because The Force Awakens here in Africa a whole two days before the USA. But because if disturbances in the force reaching sUAS News this weekend are correct another Force is about to wake. The FAA are said by some close to the process to release…The post FAA tipped to announce drone registration rules Monday appeared first on sUAS News.

Workhorse, a research and design company with offices in Loveland, has been testing drone deliveries since October. WLWT was invited to get a look at the company’s testing. Workhorse representatives said that the average delivery truck costs $1 per mile. They said drone deliveries are far cheaper at 30 cents per mile. “We’re doing the…The post Ohio company could soon be delivering packages by drone appeared first on sUAS News.

Dubai will host the first ‘World Drone Prix’ in March, which organisers say will be the world’s biggest drone race, with a grand prize of $1 million. Speaking at the last day of the World Air Games at Skydive Dubai’s Palm drop zone, Minister of Cabinet Affairs Mohammed Abdullah Al Gergawi said that the…The post Dubai to host World Drone Prix, grand prize $1 million appeared first on sUAS News.

This Request for Information (RFI) is a preliminary call for expressions of interest for supplying a commercially available UAV solution for the delivery and retrieval of time critical life-saving medical supplies. Proposed UAVs will have capacity and capability of delivering and retrieving different packages to and from logistically challenging remote locations in Ethiopia. Please consult…The post Call for expressions of interest for supplying commercially available UAV solutions. appeared first on sUAS News.

MetaVR has posted a video of a new real-time scenario that takes place on 3D geospecific synthetic terrain built with 2cm per-pixel resolution aerial imagery collected in early 2015 with the company’s remote-controlled aircraft, the MetaVRC. This new 2 cm geospecific 3D terrain is of two target ranges at the Naval Air Station (NAS) Fallon…The post MetaVR’s New 2 cm Per-Pixel Resolution Geospecific Target Range Synthetic Terrain Built With Imagery Collected by Remote-Controlled Aircraft appeared first on sUAS News.

What inspired the creation of Sky-Futures? One of my co-founders, Chris Blackford and I were working in the military in 2006-07 and it was in Iraq and Afghanistan that we used drones on the frontline. The technology was very good in the military and it was evolving very quickly. Before we went into a new…The post Thrive:- Sky Futures appeared first on sUAS News.

PEORIA, Ill. — As part of our innovation and technology strategy, Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT) continues to work with key industry players to help our dealers and customers benefit from significant advancements in the fields of data analytics and drone technology. Today, we are pleased to announce an exciting new marketing agreement between Redbird and…The post Caterpillar Inc. and Redbird to Advance Work Site Intelligence with Drone Analytics appeared first on sUAS News.

Strat Aero plc, an international aerospace company focused on the rapidly growing Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (‘UAV’) sector, is pleased to announce that it has entered into a Share Purchase Agreement to acquire Aero Kinetics, a Texas based privately owned company, which specialises in the provision of advanced UAV technology solutions, such as high-end UAVs, associated…The post Strat Aero UK, Acquisition of Aero Kinetics Texas UAV Technology Company appeared first on sUAS News.

Jon Woodward, CTV News, Reporter Canada’s federal transportation watchdog says it’s looking into a local drone operator whose eye-catching videos may have been taken from the flight paths of aircraft taking off and landing in Vancouver harbour. Transport Canada says it may crack down on 604 Aerial Drone Photography as part of its push to…The post Canada:- Drone operator probed for flying over Lion’s Gate Bridge appeared first on sUAS News.

Earlier this week Lincolnshire Police asked for the public’s help in identifying the operator of a flight that flew a multirotor over congested areas and beyond visual line of sight. Well he was allegedly spotted, at a drone show just a few miles from Lincoln. His image has been passed onto the Police and he…The post UK:- Wanted drone pilot allegedly spotted at UK Drone Show 2015 appeared first on sUAS News.

Hi, everyone! Are you going to buy a toy drone this holiday season? If you are, I have a plea: don’t buy crappy drones! And if you do, don’t fly them outside! I was interviewed as an expert today as part of a TV segment that will air next Tuesday. Part of the show involved…The post Stop buying crappy, anonymous drones! appeared first on sUAS News.

BY IAN CHIPMAN How do we prevent collisions when thousands of drones are flying in congested areas? A software-enabled system could play the role of an autonomous air traffic manager for unmanned flights. When Jeff Bezos unveiled his vision of drones delivering packages to Amazon customers during a 60 Minutes segment in late 2013, it…The post Stanford team develops software to predict and prevent drone collisions appeared first on sUAS News.

JIJI Secom Co. said Thursday it will start using its purpose-built drone on Friday, in what it claims is the first use of unmanned aircraft in the world by a private security service. Equipped with a security camera and light-emitting diode lights, the drone will take images of suspicious-looking individuals and automobiles. The images will…The post This Japanese security drone will chase intruders appeared first on sUAS News.

By Kevin Rawlinson The crowdfunding site Kickstarter has hired a journalist to investigate the demise of a mini-drone project that failed, despite record funding. More than £2.3m was pledged to the Zano project by more than 12,000 people, but it never got off the ground. The freelance journalist Mark Harris will try to enlighten investors…The post BBC:- Kickstarter hires journalist over Zano take-off failure appeared first on sUAS News.

Thermal imaging from the air has never been as easy as it is with the DJI Zenmuse XT. By combining DJI’s unrivaled expertise in gimbal technology and image transmission with the industry leading thermal imaging technology of FLIR, the Zenmuse XT is the ultimate solution for rapid and reliable aerial thermal imaging. Capture faster, with pinpoint precision,…The post DJI Zenmuse XT integrated FLIR Camera appeared first on sUAS News.

SALINA — As the estimated number of unmanned aircraft systems owners is expected to dramatically grow this holiday season, the UAS program at Kansas State University Polytechnic Campus is offering a half-day course specifically for hobbyists to ensure proper use and safety. Kansas State Polytechnic’s inaugural UAS Multirotor Hobby course will be Saturday, Jan. 23,…The post The gift of flight: Kansas State Polytechnic offers hobbyists UAS flight safety instruction as holiday drone sales expected to rise appeared first on sUAS News.

IRVINGTON, NY USA – In what may be the first time since the Section 333 program was introduced, the Federal Aviation Administration has granted Exemption 333 status to a Penguin B unmanned aerial vehicle, produced by UAV Factory and powered by a gasoline engine. The vast majority of aircraft being granted Section 333 exemptions have…The post 333 exemption granted for gas-powered UAV appeared first on sUAS News.

Spectacular new footage shot from a drone flying over the site of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant released by the EBRD today shows the latest advances in securing the site of the 1986 accident. The video focuses on the arch that will shelter the damaged reactor 4 upon completion in late 2017. If you wish…The post New drone footage shows progress with Chernobyl arch appeared first on sUAS News.

Kyodo Police will deploy a large drone with a camera and net to catch unauthorized unmanned aircraft as part of a new anti-drone squad being planned, sources said. The envisaged unit at the Metropolitan Police Department will be the nation’s first and comes as new regulations on drone flights kicked in Thursday. According to MPD…The post Police unit plans to use large drone to ‘net’ unauthorized unmanned aircraft appeared first on sUAS News.

In order to clarify the situation with regard to RPAS Training in South Africa, and the recent developments resulting in an approved ROC having their Practical Training License suspended, Cranfield Aviation Training, operating under ATO CAA0018 are still approved as confirmed by the SACAA Testing Standards Department – and accredited by the SACAA to carry…The post South Africa :- Cranfield Clarification Communication appeared first on sUAS News.

Noah Cohen PATERSON — A small drone was found on the roof of the Robert A. Roe federal building Wednesday, leading to a brief evacuation of the facility, officials said Passaic County Sheriff Richard H. Berdnik said the agency’s bomb squad responded to the building around 5 p.m. “I want to commend the members of the sheriff’s office for spotting…The post Small drone prompts evacuation at Paterson federal building, officials say appeared first on sUAS News.

Senseable, a small Danish drone technology developing company is pleased to announce it has successfully finished the first round of tests of a new drone safety system, designed to guide drones or small aircraft to a safe landing site if technical problems arise during flight. The safety system consists of three parts, an online database…The post Senseable conducts first succesful test of new safe drone technology appeared first on sUAS News.

Well now we can stick a name on the tail of the GoPro donkey. The company has an email list to sign up for news and to potentially win one of 100 being given away https://gopro.com/news/karma-is-coming-in-2016 Do they mean they had to make one as it was karma or do GoPro think they can get back…The post GoPro Karma appeared first on sUAS News.

It has come to our attention that the rug has been pulled from under the feet of students that trained with South Africa’s only one stop approved drone training school. The only school that could provide ground and flight training. Also leaving people in the company licencing process high and dry. Without RPL’s in place…The post South Africa:- SACAA suspends RPLs appeared first on sUAS News.

By Alain Clapaud Redbird, a French company which has built a strong reputation operating drones for the construction, public works and mining sectors, has just launched Cardinal, a Cloud-based service with ambitions to become the ‘Google Maps’ for aerial infrastructure monitoring. Redbird made front page news in the business press in April when GDF Suez…The post Cardinal: drone data collection meets the Cloud appeared first on sUAS News.

MARIKO TAI, Nikkei staff writer TOKYO — DJI Japan, a unit of the world’s largest drone maker, on Wednesday announced that it will begin offering corporate training programs next month. “We decided to offer [certification programs] in Japan because there were many requests from our customers,” said Tomoko Kakino, an event manager at the company.…The post DJI Japan to train 10,000 pilots in next 3 years appeared first on sUAS News.

WASHINGTON, DC – As part of its effort to provide businesses with turnkey drone solutions, Measure, the nation’s leading operator of drones, has partnered with Robotic Skies, the leader in maintenance services for commercial unmanned aerial systems (UAS). In partnership with Robotic Skies, Measure will provide companies worldwide with a combined package of services through…The post Measure and Robotic Skies team up appeared first on sUAS News.

Hiawatha Bray If you’re planning to buy someone a remote-controlled aircraft as a Christmas gift, Abby Speicher hopes you’ll spend a little extra and buy some lessons, too. Speicher is founder of Woburn-based DartDrones, one of the few companies that offer flight training for drone pilots. Her company’s “Santa Certified” program is offering lessons to…The post DartDrones offers ‘Santa Certified’ flight training for new drone owner appeared first on sUAS News.

Record-breaking aerospace students Robert Robinson, Tristan Heywood, Jeremy Cox (centre) Oscar Fawkes and Zitong Liu. Students pilot historic drone flight A team of aerospace students from the University of Sydney have helped break a world record by landing a drone in Texas using a remote control joystick located in Sydney. The feat, which has never…The post Students achieve world-record breaking drone flight appeared first on sUAS News.

BY TOMOKO OTAKE New regulations on the flights of drones and other unmanned aircraft will take effect on Thursday, despite concerns over the impact on hobbyists and fears that restrictions may hamper innovation in the emerging sector. Changes to the Civil Aeronautics Law, passed by the Diet in September, will ban flights of drones weighing…The post Japan to ground hobbyist drones in urban areas, impose sweeping restrictions elsewhere appeared first on sUAS News.

What a difference a year makes. Last year at this time, I reflected back on the news and trends of the commercial drone markets of 2014 and wrote about the mixed state of affairs in the U.S. Back then, drones got considerable media hype and you would have thought that drones could do anything from…The post Commercial Drone Markets: 2015 Year in Review appeared first on sUAS News.

It started with “what if”, it ended with FlyMotion TRIDENT. Our team has meticulously designed and engineered TRIDENT to take UAS operations to all-new heights. We’ve tasked our creative minds and engineers with developing a vehicle capable of UAV rapid deploy & fly functionality. TRIDENT‘s key features permit the operators to fully pilot an UAV from…The post Flymotion Trident appeared first on sUAS News.

By LORA KOLODNY Swift Navigation Inc. has raised $11 million in Series A funding for global positioning systems technology that is more accurate. San Francisco-based Swift wants to enable the next generation of drones, driverless cars and other robotics to navigate the world precisely, according to Chief Executive and founder Timothy M. Harris. Swift makes a…The post WSJ:- Swift Navigation Raises $11 Million to Make GPS More Precise appeared first on sUAS News.

Mapping with UgCS is now easier than ever, the Area scan now a flag called “additional waypoints” which helps to reduce the number of generated waypoints. This is very useful for DJI autopilots in which the number of waypoints per mission is limited. Futhermore, we have made the geotagging tool easier to use since now…The post UgCS 2.7 released appeared first on sUAS News.

The team at Aeryon Labs is passionate about building solutions that help people do difficult and (often) dangerous tasks – safely and efficiently – and equally passionate about the people who enable us to be successful. We offer careers that allow you to collaborate with some of the most creative minds in the industry, exceed…The post Aeryon Labs :- Senior Technical Project Manager appeared first on sUAS News.

senseFly Ltd is a Swiss company based in the Lausanne area, a spin-off from EPFL and a member of the Parrot group since 2012. At senseFly, we design, assemble and commercialise autonomous mini-drones for civil applications such as remote sensing, field surveying, mapping and inspection. senseFly is invested in offering a social, entertaining and dynamic…The post Jobs:- senseFly Drones Project Manager appeared first on sUAS News.

This advisory circular (AC) change incorporates new ADB-S guidance related to a technical amendment to § 91.225; equipping type certificated (TC) aircraft, light-sport aircraft (LSA), and experimental aircraft; and preflight requirements in U.S.-designated airspace. This change also modifies guidance for Cockpit Display of Traffic Information (CDTI) Assisted Visual Separation (CAVS) Draft Document (PDF) Draft Document…The post AC 90-114A CHG 1, Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast Operations appeared first on sUAS News.

Newly opened laboratories, classroom and equipment—including a 3-D router—are highlighted features of the Unmanned Aerial Systems Technician (UAS) training program entering its second year of classes at Truckee Meadows Community College. TMCC offers an Unmanned Aerial Systems Technicians training program – the first in Nevada. UAS classes and labs are located at the Applied Technology Center…The post TMCC Drone Technology Laboratory Expands appeared first on sUAS News.

By Alyssa Huntley Clue, a Tokyo-based startup, is dipping its toes into the drone world withDroneCloud, which could end up being a godsend for commercial drone operations. According to an article at VentureBeat, the new service manages drone projects and data in one place. The platform allows users to create projects based on whatever drone-dependent…The post DroneCloud aims to make easy work of drone management appeared first on sUAS News.

TANVI DUBEY From being a figment of a science fiction writer’s imagination just a few years ago, today, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have become a reality. A handful of Indian startups are working on specialised UAVs that can be deployed for everything from disaster management and crop monitoring to land surveys and aerial photography. Aarav…The post Aarav Unmanned Systems is mapping the future with its UAV technology appeared first on sUAS News.

I was honored to be invited to speak at GFIA 2015 by Giacomo Rambaldi Sr. Programme Coordinator, ICTsTechnical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation ACP-EU (CTA) here are the presentations from our session. Drones on the horizon: Drones on the horizon: New frontiers for precision agriculture The world of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) or drones has…The post GFIA Africa 2015 Session on Drones for agriculture: stepping into the future appeared first on sUAS News.

The sparse vegetation of Western Mali offers little protection from the sweltering sun. But today in the bush, even if there was cover everyone would still be subjecting themselves to the sun. It’s not everyday a UAV is flying overhead. A group of kids excitedly giggle and point their necks skyward to catch a glimpse…The post Travelling with the E384 – Frank Sedlar appeared first on sUAS News.

Submissions currently being accepted through December 31, 2015 The 2016 New York City Drone Film Festival (NYCDFF) will be held March 4th through March 6th 2016 at the Directors Guild of America Theater and the Liberty Science Center. Submissions for the festival are due by 11:59pm on December 31, 2015. To submit a film, visit…The post NYC Drone film festival 2016 to be held at Directors Guild of America Theater and Liberty Science Center appeared first on sUAS News.

Johannesburg, South Africa based Cranfield Aviation Training today concluded their first SACAA Accredited RPAS (Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems) Ground School Training course. Rick Bosman of Cranfield Aviation Training noted: We had 5 delegates attend the first course which was scheduled as soon as we received our CAA accreditation due to the many enquiries from our…The post South Africa Cranfield Aviation Training concludes first RPAS course appeared first on sUAS News.

3D Robotics returns to the number 2 spot in the USA. DJI continue to dominate with 44% market share at the beginning of the Christmas season. Both companies are beginning to pull away from other manufacturers. As noted earlier Microsoft joins the fray but otherwise there is very little happening. To explain the chart below…The post FAA registered drones a Yuletide update appeared first on sUAS News.

From the not quite as it seems dept (ed) Over 100 organisations in the U.S. have now been granted Section 333 commercial exemptions by the FAA to fly senseFly drones, confirming the eBee as the country’s most exempted fixed-wing UAS and senseFly as the second most exempted UAS brand overall. As of December 8th, 110…The post senseFly commercial FAA exemptions reach 100 and counting appeared first on sUAS News.

Resource Group is proud to announce that their Unmanned Aviation Services division has been awarded the UK Drone Show’s ‘Best Training Company’ award. “Over the past 12 months we have developed and adapted our already very successful training offering by introducing new courses, such as Introductory Flight Training an an Aerial Imagery course. Since being recognised and awarded…The post Resource Group win ‘Best Training Company’ at UK Drone Show 2015 appeared first on sUAS News.

Speaking at TechCrunch Disrupt London 2015 today Chris Blackford of SkyFutures noted that his company, “Faces generational challenges in getting big companies to transition to using flying robots” SkyFutures was recently named part of a group of 58 companies being mentored by Silicon Valley Comes To the UK (SVC2UK), an organisation set up by LinkedIn co founder…The post SkyFutures at TechCrunch Disrupt London appeared first on sUAS News.