sUAS News

by Parsippany, New Jersey – Numerous businesses today are choosing to outsource their drone operations to professional operators. This is one of the significant observations in a new white paper, “Contracting With and Between UAS Operators” published this week by Global Aerospace, a leading international aviation and aerospace insurance provider, and Dentons, an international law…

by by Shawn Musgrave A breach-of-contract squabble has spiraled into broader allegations of misconduct against a drone manufacturer with millions in US military contracts. A motion filed last week in Florida civil court claims that Prioria Robotics misrepresented specs for its flagship “microdrone”, and also sold refurbished units to the Army as if they were…

by Strat Aero plc (LON:AERO), the AIM listed international aerospace company focused on the rapidly emerging Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (“UAV”) sector, have today announced that Geocurve Holdings Limited (‘Geocurve’), its UAV inspection and surveying division, has been notified of the intention of Barhale PLC, a leading UK infrastructure focused civil engineer, to enter into a…

by Aeryon Labs, the leading provider of small Unmanned Aerial Systems (sUAS) for military, public safety and commercial operators worldwide, today announced a technology partnership with Microsoft® to include Aeryon SkyRanger within the new Microsoft® Advanced Patrol Platform (MAPP) vehicle. MAPP will connect its drivers to an unprecedented amount of helpful and easy-to-navigate information. Currently,…

by By Ciara Byrne Commercial drones are starting to be used for tasks like inspecting oil rigs and crops. But they still require a highly skilled human pilot, and even those that are semi-autonomous usually use prebuilt maps or access the data over a wireless link. Researchers from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in…

by The Ellis County district attorney Patrick Wilson turned to twitter when a hobby RPA arrived at his door on Monday. Speaking to Sebastian Robertson , of WFAA the DA Wilson said, it’s more than “not cool.” Under the Texas Privacy Act, this aborted flight could be illegal. Passed in 2015, the statute states that flying…

by Aerial Photography and Videography Using Drones is a much-needed field guide that includes everything a new pilot needs to know to safely and proficiently capture still images and video from the air, including equipment advice, pilot training, tips about flying and shooting, sample aerial images and the stories behind them, and navigating complex regulatory environment…

by Schiebel’s CAMCOPTER® S-100 Unmanned Air System (UAS) continues its successful shipboard trials when demonstrating its outstanding capabilities to the South African Navy from 20 to 23 October 2015 at False Bay, Western Cape, South Africa. The maritime environment holds unique demands for situational awareness and timely communications. The CAMCOPTER® S-100 is a much needed…

by Laura Wagner Signaling its intent to compete with Amazon and other companies in using drones to fill and deliver online orders, Walmart has applied for permission to test drones for home deliveries and curbside pickup. NPR’s Laura Sydell reports for our Newscast unit that Walmart has already been testing drones inside: “According to an…

by By Elizabeth A Tennyson AOPA will help determine the specifics of a new registration policy for drones as part of the FAA’s Unmanned Aircraft Systems Registration Task Force Aviation Rulemaking Committee. “We’re pleased to have the opportunity to weigh in on these important decisions,” AOPA President Mark Baker said Oct. 26. “The safety of…

by by Ryan Parker More than 100 customers are without power in West Hollywood after a drone was crashed into power lines Monday. The incident happened around 1:15 p.m. in the area of Sunset Boulevard and Larrabee Street, said Robert Villegas, a spokesperson for Southern California Edison. “A drone flew into the wires,” Villegas told The Hollywood Reporter. The object…

by bizUAS was selected as one of only six teams across North America to give an extensive live presentation on the inspection of energized 345kV power structures to representatives of the North American electric power industry. They successfully completed the missions last week. With the help of partners, Unmanned Experts and Cyberhawk, the world-leader in…

by CNN has acquired A Delta X8 from Altus Unmanned Aerial Solutions of New Zealand to advance its efforts to employ unmanned aircraft for their aerial newsgathering over public and property. Selected as one the Federal Aviation Administration’s three Pathfinder organizations, CNN has been actively engaged in identifying and evaluating UAS systems that meet both the functionality…

by These days it seems just about anyone can get an FAA Section 333 Exemption that allows them to legally use small unmanned aircraft systems (sUAS) for commercial purposes in the U.S. As of October 20, 2015, almost 71% of all Section 333 grants have gone to firms claiming that their primary operation/mission is Film/Photo/Video…

by SteadiDrone, paired up with local South African jewellery designer Stefni Muller, began the venture in the beautiful region of Nkwichi where Stefni will stay for the next 5 weeks and teach woman of the MANDA Wilderness Community in northern Mozambique useful skills in jewellery making. “…A community where economic development is scarce,…

by Neal St. Anthony A Minnesota-born civilian drone company has spun out of its former corporate parent and this year made Richfield its world ­headquarters. Sentera may be the largest pure-play drone company in the state and has deep ­industry roots. The 20-employee company also just raised $5 million in expansion capital from a ­private…

by The Environment and Food Ministry is contributing 1.7 million kroner to a project in which water and airborne drones will be used to find shoals of fish with the aim of improving business for fishermen and reducing the environmental impact of the industry. Eva Kjer Hansen, the environment and food minister, is optimistic about what…

by Drone Crew is very glad to announce that we have received our Remote Operator Certificate (ROC) from SACAA on 23 October 2015, and are now fully licensed to operate (RPAS) drones in South Africa. Drone Crew (Pty) Ltd is the first fully licensed RPAS (drone) operator in the South African film industry, and…

by It has been six year since the birth of T-MOTOR. In order to share the happiness and joy with all the honored and friend-like customers who witness the growth of T-MOTOR, who offer their support all the way, we release the special COMBO PACK for our 6th Anniversary Celebration. T-motor 6th Anniversary Limited Edition…

by It is projected that more than a million small UAS may be sold over the 2015 holiday season. Many new buyers are unfamiliar with critical concepts of aviation and may not completely understand what options best meet their needs. What We Want Do The Embry-Riddle Worldwide College of Aeronautics wants to test a variety…

by Christmas must be coming new FPV racers are coming out thick and fast. This one from Hyperion raises the bar by including a gimbal. In theory that means you can go nose down flat out and as you bring the nose up to hover, you have a standard picture. Until now everybody has tilted…

by One of the populations of killer whales that spends part of the year around the San Juan Islands north of Seattle is called the Southern Resident killer whales, and they’re very endangered. There are only 81 of them left in the wild. That’s the bad news. But the good news is that 81 is…

by EVANSDALE | Jonathan Zeissler thought it odd that a house could pass an inspection, even if it had a bad roof. “I know first-hand,” he said. “I’ve had the paid inspector come out and didn’t inspect my roof because it was too tall. I thought that was kind of a flaw in the system.”…

by By Hamish MacLean Could unmanned helicopters be, as their manufacturer claims, ”the future of the agriculture industry”? About a dozen farmers gathered on a farm near Ngapara on Thursday to have a look at the 99kg, 2.9m nose-to-tail, Yamaha RMAX in a simulation of spraying gorse along a fenceline, a creek, and in a…

by Rep. Frank LoBiondo (D-N.J.) is calling for for a national drone registry, saying drones “pose a real risk to firefighters, the airlines, to all manner of public service.” The chairman of the House Subcommittee on Aviation said he is worried about unregulated use of drones, warning that an estimated 1 million drones will be…

by A perfect excuse for me to head into the shed. The sharks loved the XCraft, XPlus One so much I thought I should have a go. There are going to be plenty of folks that just want to buy off the shelf, and many more that perhaps want to increase the size of the…

by Astron Environmental Services earlier this week took possession of Western Australia’s first BRAMOR rTK Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) (also known as an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV)), which is the second UAS of its kind to be operating in Australia. The BRAMOR rTK is a commercial grade UAS developed in Slovenia by aerospace enterprise and…

by Grace Ditzler, SANDPOINT, Idaho – A North Idaho company’s new product is creating such a buzz the producers of ABC’s Shark Tank contacted the company to appear on Friday night’s episode. The Sandpoint-based company xCraft will present its X PlusOne drone on Shark Tank to more than nine million viewers. The patent-pending drone is unlike anything…

by Tristan Navera Dayton Business Journal While the Department of Transportation is moving ahead quickly with an idea to make drone operators register their craft with the government, Ohio’s emerging UAS industry has been more skeptical. The DOT announced this week it’s forming a task force to explore a system for drone registration ahead of the…

by There can be no doubt 180 / 250 / 280 size FPV quads are on trend, What caught my eye from in the new offering from Align was the lost model finder. That’s quite clever it must be using the smartphones GPS and mapping bluetooth RSSI or direction finding with the compass or both.…

by MAPPS, the only national association of private sector firms in the surveying, spatial data and geographic information systems field in the United States and a leader on the use of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) in the geospatial field, today announced it has accepted an invitation from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to be a…

by Helipix UAV, one of the UKs leading aerial photographic and surveying companies since 2008 are offering a 1 day intensive course on Commercial Aerial Photography. This will be held in Bracknell Berks UK on the 12.12.15. The classroom based course will cover the Law, Digital Camera Technology, Client Requirements and how to meet them,…

by UAV operator and consultant, Firefly Aerial Innovation, has presented to Airport Safeguarding Officers from airports across the UK to raise awareness of how commercial drones are operated. The first partnership of its kind within the UAV sector, the innovative and forward thinking UAV operator, based in Balsall Common, was invited to participate at a…

by DJI, the world’s leading manufacturer of professional and consumer drones, is pleased to announce the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration has invited it to participate in its Unmanned Aircraft Systems Registration Task Force. U.S. Secretary of Transportation Anthony Foxx announced the formation of the task force Monday. DJI takes safety very seriously and has led the civilian drone industry…

by Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and the ASSURE Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Center of Excellence for Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) have received the first group of FAA grant awards since the Center of Excellence was established in May 2015. The Alliance for System Safety of UAS through Research Excellence (ASSURE) is composed of 21 of the…

by Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems (sUAS) create a powerful opportunity for flight departments to become even more relevant and impactful to their corporation’s bottom-line. Hazardous tasks like cell tower, flare stack, and wind turbine inspections that are normally performed by ground-based crews can now be accomplished more safely and efficiently by sUAS. Who in a…

by Sentera, LLC, a sensor, software, and drone company is making precise crop health and normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) data affordable to every grower by enabling new and existing Phantom 3 Professional drones to capture NDVI data. Sentera’s Phantom 3 NDVI Upgrade seamlessly integrates Sentera’s proven Single Sensor with the popular DJI Phantom 3…

by Lehmann Aviation (www.lehmannaviation.com) released its new long range data modem, compatible with all L-A Series drones. With this new functionality, L-A Series drones (especially the LA300 for mapping and surveying) gain the same operational capabilities as their 4-5 times more expensive competitors. This new long range data modem can optionally substitute the WI-FI…

by Parrot have added autonomous flight to their tablet or smartphone controlled Bebop drone. Unveiled at our show in San Francisco, by Parrot CEO Henri Seydoux in 2014 The quadcopter featured inbuilt video stabilization. A first in its class. Using the FreeFlight 3 app waypoints create a route for the drone to autonomously fly. All…

by I woke up this morning and realized we had not marked the first year of 333’s in America. The straight forward process allows anybody with a PPL to apply for an exemption that permits them to operate RPA commercially in the NAS. This process was put in place as a stop gap. Off to…

by BY: BETH STEVENSON A newly created company is preparing to penetrate the unmanned air vehicle (UAV) services market by offering high-end sensing for commercial applications. Moving away from the typical offering of an electro-optical/infrared (EO/IR) payload, new-start Iris, which began trading in July, is hoping to appeal to a market previously untouched by utilising…

by BY: BETH STEVENSON The UK’s Military Aviation Authority is preparing the release of an updated version of its regulations on unmanned air vehicles, which will draw on feedback from a first document that was released last January. Following the UK’s drawdown from Afghanistan – a theatre in which UAVs were operated in segregated military…

by If you have an opinion on mandatory RPA registration this might be the time to get it down in writing. Be quick though. Probably best not to be too rude or they will drop the comment. Also put it in writing as well, much harder for them to delete that. If enough people write…

by The South African Civil Aviation Authority (SACAA) has approved Public Display Technologies’ (PDT) Rocketmine Division as the first commercial RPAS operator for the South African mining sector. As of 16 October 2015, Rocketmine Aerial UAV Service provider received their Commercial Operating Licence for Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS). In May 2015 South Africa took the lead…

by 3DR, North America’s largest consumer drone manufacturer, launched a new third party product partnership program called “Made for Solo” at GITEX Technology Week in Dubai. The Made for Solo program supports companies that want to leverage 3DR’s Solo TM “Smart Drone” platform and its open hardware bays and dual computer processing power. Made for Solo…

by Rajnish Singh Violeta Bulc is worried about Europe’s aviation industry. The European transport Commissioner can see major turbulence ahead; “The aviation sector is affected by poor profitability and faces major challenges in an ever-changing global environment.” The fear is that, with the industry’s competitiveness under threat from external carriers, the EU’s ‘direct connectivity’ is…

by Alta Devices will introduce the new “Solar for UAV Index” which is designed to assess solar technologies for fixed wing UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) applications. This new index accounts for many of the issues that a designer must consider. Included in the new measurement system are power to weight; properties of the solar cell…

by Two Bayraktar Unmanned Aerial Systems composed of four ground control stations and six planes will be provided to Turkey’s General Directorate of Security, the Undersecretariat for Defense Industries (SSM) announced on Monday. The SSM said that an agreement with Baykar group was signed on October 15 on the purchase of Bayraktar tactical UAV systems…

by This course is designed for anyone, 16 years and older, that wants to fly small Unmanned Aerial Systems (sUAS) for fun or as a new career after the FAA opens the skies to commercial use. Students learn to fly, are taught about the different types of flight systems and, most importantly, acquire insight into…

by Borrowing heavily on other projects Googles Project X team seem to have discovered transitions are hard and stable hover with so much vertical area to weather cock also difficult. The tail sitter has gone. Anybody care to bet this is running a KK2 board and OpenAero VTOL firmware? Probably a Piccolo in there but we…