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Inspector General Audits FAA on Drones: How Does the Agency Measure Up?

Written by Betsy Lillian on December 07, 2016

According to the OIG, the Federal Aviation Administration, rather than “proactively identifying and mitigating risks,” is taking a “reactive approach to UAS oversight.”

Drones, Multispectral Imagery Offer New View of Calif.’s Giant Sequoias

Posted by Betsy Lillian on December 07, 2016

As part of a joint project, Pix4D and Parrot recently used drones and multispectral technology to create a 3D normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) point cloud of Whitaker’s Forest in Kings Canyon National Park, located in California’s Sierra Nevada mountains. [Read More]

A Bunnycopter and Pentacopter? MIT Lets You Create Whatever Drone You Want

Posted by Betsy Lillian on December 05, 2016

The new Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) regulations have made drone flight easier than ever for both companies and consumers. But what if the drones out on the market aren’t exactly what you want? The Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Computer Science [Read More]

Case Study: UAVs Proven as Powerful Tool for Vital Crop

Posted by Betsy Lillian on December 05, 2016

Using unmanned aerial vehicles, Deveron UAS tracked a winter wheat field from planting in the fall to emergence the following spring.

New President, New Transportation Secretary: How Should Drones be Handled?

Posted by Betsy Lillian on December 01, 2016

The Drone Manufacturers Alliance (DMA) – comprising 3DR, DJI, GoPro and Parrot – is applauding President-elect Donald Trump’s recent nomination of Elaine Chao as the next U.S. secretary of transportation, succeeding Anthony Foxx. In addition, the group is calling on [Read More]

Report: Apple is Getting on Board with Drones

Posted by Betsy Lillian on December 01, 2016

Next up on big name companies’ emergence into the commercial drone space: Apple. According to a report from Bloomberg, which cites “people familiar with the matter,” Apple is preparing to deploy unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) to augment its map services [Read More]

Who’s Flying Beyond the FAA’s Commercial Drone Rules?

Written by Betsy Lillian on November 29, 2016

Since its Part 107 rules went into effect at the end of August, the FAA has green-lighted a number of approvals for nighttime drone operations, as well as a few other types.

UAVs Help Students Plot Cemetery for Maine Town

Posted by Betsy Lillian on November 28, 2016

Thanks to a new DJI Phantom 4 drone, the University of Maine at Presque Isle’s (UMI) Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Laboratory says mapping and photographing research areas has become a whole lot easier. Dr. Chunzeng Wang, a UMPI professor of [Read More]

So, You Want a Safe and Efficient sUAS Operations Business?

Contributors
Written by Tariq Rashid on November 22, 2016

Increasing productivity while lowering costs is the business of every non-recreational drone operator, explains Skyward’s lead remote pilot.

UAVs Show ‘Overwhelming’ Potential in Conflict-Affected Africa

Posted by Betsy Lillian on November 22, 2016

In conflict-affected parts of Africa, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are being used by humanitarian aid organizations such as the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees – the UN Refugee Agency, or UNHCR – to plan relief responses and save lives. [Read More]

How Public Safety Agencies Should Go About Bringing UAS On Board

Written by Betsy Lillian on November 17, 2016

The founder of Draganfly Innovations recently offered advice for police officers wanting to establish a drone program: gain both experience and public support.

Disney and Intel Make it Official: A 300-Drone Light Show is Coming

Posted by Betsy Lillian on November 17, 2016

Not long after they respectively announced plans for light shows comprising fleets of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), Intel and Walt Disney Parks and Resorts have confirmed that they are collaborating on a holiday show that will be made up of [Read More]

Two Drone Launches in One Day: DJI Keeps ‘Em Coming

Posted by Betsy Lillian on November 15, 2016

The Chinese unmanned aircraft giant has brought two new editions of drones to its ever-increasing lineups of Phantom and Inspire drones.

DJI’s Newest Hexacopter Offers Higher Stability, More Loading Capacity

Posted by Betsy Lillian on November 11, 2016

DJI has updated the capabilities of its largest drone series by introducing the new Matrice 600 Pro, which the company says offers improved flight performance; a more powerful battery charging system; and better loading capacity for cinema cameras, industrial equipment [Read More]

3DR Brings New Drone Capabilities to Construction

Posted by Betsy Lillian on November 10, 2016

3D Robotics (3DR) has launched building information modeling (BIM) capabilities within its Site Scan software, a full-stack commercial drone platform suited for the construction industry. Site Scan, an end-to-end application offering fully autonomous drone image capture and cloud integration with [Read More]

GoPro’s Karma Drone Takes a Hit: All Units Recalled

Posted by Betsy Lillian on November 09, 2016

Uh-oh: GoPro is recalling approximately 2,500 Karma drones, which, in a very small number of cases, lost power during flight, the company says. GoPro’s new Karma quadcopter made its official debut in the consumer unmanned aircraft systems world back in [Read More]

Drones are Coming to Disney Skies – Sooner Than You Might Think

Written by Betsy Lillian on November 08, 2016

In conjunction with the holiday season, Disney – now with a federal green light – is planning to bring its “Flixels” drone light show to one of its parks.

Intel’s Latest UAS Venture: The Shooting Star Drone

Posted by Betsy Lillian on November 08, 2016

“Can we pretend that [drones] in the night sky are like shooting stars?” Intel, gaining a stronger foothold in the commercial drone sector more and more every day, has announced a quadcopter designed specifically to be used in a fleet [Read More]

First-of-Its-Kind App Store for Commercial Drone Users is Here

Posted by Betsy Lillian on November 04, 2016

The DroneDeploy App Market, launched with more than 15 inaugural apps, creates a one-stop shop for all aspects of cloud-based drone data analysis.

Aerotenna Releases Mini Collision-Avoidance Radar, Flight Controller for UAVs

Posted by Betsy Lillian on November 03, 2016

Kansas-based Aerotenna has launched two new products for the commercial unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) space: the µSharp Patch, a small, collision-avoidance radar, and OcPoC mini, a system-on-a-chip (SoC), field-programmable gate array (FPGA) flight controller. According to a news update from [Read More]