Haye Kesteloo

In a second story about drones for good, an injured hiker was rescued with the help of a drone. The woman had fallen nearly 30-feet, down a rocky slope in Clear Creek Canyon in Denver, Colorado. A drone was used to locate the woman, but it took three dozen rescue workers nearly six hours, an inflatable raft and two rope systems to bring the hiker back to safety from the inaccessible backcountry. Based on the photos in a tweet from West Metro Fire Rescue, it seems that another DJI Mavic 2 Enterprise has been used in this rescue.

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This morning, DJI announced the continuation of their partnership with the Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD) to advance the use of drones. The LAFD will get access to DJI’s latest drone technology, training, and support. This is very exciting news as we see an increase in the use of unmanned aircraft by both police and fire departments around the country to help save people’s lives and bring them back home safely. Just see today’s stories here on DroneDJ.

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Xenia police of Greene County, Ohio released a drone video of the moment that a 90-year-old woman, who suffers from dementia was rescued. Her daughter, Beverly Brown, credits the drone for helping find her mother and bringing her home safely. The search for the woman took about one hour, but would have taken much longer without the help of the unmanned aircraft. The video shows a DJI Mavic 2 Enterprise Dual as the drone that likely was used during the search. The woman was found during daylight conditions. There is no mention if the use of the thermal camera aided in the search. The missing woman was brought back home safely.

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We have seen customized drones dropping grenades in the middle east, but this is something entirely different. Check out this Russian shotgun-wielding drone that can shoot other drones, balloons or model airplanes out of the sky. Terrifying? Yes. Impressive? Yes, as well. This is a 50-pound weighing drone that can take-off and land vertically and can shoot other flying objects out of the sky with the help of the Vepr-12 shotgun, that is operated by a second, visor-wearing person who aims the gun through a live video link and sighting system. To top it all off, this heavyweight drone has a flight time of 40 minutes.

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According to safety experts, UK drone incidents rose more than a third in 2018. The UK Airprox board recorded 125 dangerously close encounters or drone incidents in 2018. This number is more a third higher than in 2017 when only 93 drone incidents were recorded. 71 incidents were recorded in 2016. It should come as no surprise that 39 of the 125 drone incidents occurred at the UK’s busiest airport Heathrow.

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Today’s drone video: little over a week ago, this video was posted on YouTube by RED- FPV and it blew me away when I first saw it. I mean, we all know that rally cars are fast and exciting, but normally the cameras used to record rally races are fixed. Well, not anymore. FPV racing drones provide amazing footage of all kinds of actions sports, including rally racing. Heck flying the drone the way these guys do is as much of a skill as what Sebastien Loeb does in his World Rally Championship car.

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The DJI Osmo Pocket accessories are back in stock, said an email that we received from DJI earlier today. Since the launch of the DJI Osmo Pocket, news that we broke first here on DroneDJ, last November many of the accessories were not yet available. Specifically, the release of the Osmo Pocket 3.5 mm Adapter that allows you to connect an external microphone to the gimbal-stabilized camera, kept us waiting for quite some time. Today, however, DJI reports that the following items are in stock: the Osmo Pocket Charging Case, the Osmo Pocket Expansion Kit, the Osmo Pocket ND Filter Set, and the Osmo Pocket 3.5 mm Adapter.

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One year ago, a micro-light airplane crash-landed in New-Zealand. The pilot of the airplane, Rod Vaughan, who also happens to be a journalist, had implied that a drone was to blame for the accident. At the time, the mainstream media ran with the story and continued to paint drones as the culprit. In this video, Bruce, also known as XJet on YouTube, explains how an investigation report from the Civil Aviation Authority of New-Zealand (CAA) now proofs his theory right. A drone did NOT bring down Vaughan’s airplane but a failed windscreen, due to prolonged exposure to high UV levels in New-Zealand, was to blame.

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This morning, we got an email from DJI that they are, I mean, Ryze is launching the Tello Iron Man Edition. The entry-level drone, that can do impressive flips mid-air, comes with a new Iron Man inspired color scheme and an updated flight app that features Iron Man’s FRIDAY. The drone is available at the DJI store and sells for $129. The Tello is a great starter drone for anybody who is looking to get into drone flying. The new Iron Man design should be particularly apeling to kids. Keep in mind that the Tello is a very lightweight drone and therefore is susceptible to even the slightest amount of wind when flying outdoors.

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In fact, two NYPD officers working crowd control during a well-known rabbi’s funeral were injured today. One NYPD officer was hit on the head by an illegally-flown drone, while the other was injured when the hearse ran over his leg in Brooklyn, NY.

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Back in December 2013, Jeff Bezos famously announced on ’60 Minutes’ that deliveries by drone would be routine by 2018. And, even though that scenario hasn’t quite panned out a lot of progress has been made in the drone industry, including deliveries by drone. Just see what there are doing in North Carolina if you want any proof. Amazon, however, has been one of the most active companies to file for drone-related patents. One of which includes an “airborne fulfillment center” (AFC) such as an airship or blimp that would float around and from which drones would complete the last mile delivery. Well, a computer-generated video was circulated online that shows just what such a drone future according to Amazon might look like. It includes a massive Amazon blimp. Check this out.

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DJI Osmo Pocket gets new firmware! The very popular gimbal-stabilized pocket camera gets a new firmware update today. DJI just released their latest version of the firmware this morning. Among other things, it promises improved optimized face detection which should help with keeping your face in focus during vlogging for instance. DJI also added a tip prompt and display icon when connecting an external microphone. I will be updating my DJI Osmo Pocket later today and test the new features. I will update this post if I find any significant improvement.

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UPS and Matternet are operating the first FAA-sanctioned commercial drone service to deliver medical samples in North Carolina. The Matternet M2 drone makes up to 10 routine delivery flights per day at WakeMed’s flagship hospital and campus in the Raleigh, N.C. The project, that is part of the UAS Integration Pilot Program will be overseen by both the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the North Carolina Department of Transportation.

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After recording The Drone U / DroneDJ news show today, Paul Aitken and I were talking about the upcoming NAB 2019 and how some people were hoping for a Phantom 5 launch at the event in Las Vegas. To my surprise, Paul told me that DJI wasn’t even on the list of exhibitors this year, even though the company has had a booth in previous years. Time to get some clarification. I contacted DJI to find out about DJI’s absence. Adam Lisberg, Corporate Communications Director for DJI North America, confirmed that indeed, DJI will not be at NAB 2019 as the company is exploring other avenues. So, with that, any hope of a Phantom 5 launch at the event evaporates. Sorry guys.

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We first covered DJI Terra back in November of 2017, but couldn’t quite make sense of what it would be. Late last year during the Airworks 2018 event, DJI said that DJI Terra would become available during Q1 of 2019. And here we are, right at the end of the first quarter with the official announcement of DJI Terra. The company calls is software that “transforms drone data into digital 3D models and maps for easy analysis and decision making.” It seems that DJI will be very useful for a number of industries, specifically “crash reconstructions to critical infrastructure inspections as well as agriculture field mapping and construction site modeling.” DJI Terra promises to be very interesting and will surely ruffle some feathers of competing drone services companies.

DJI Terra is available today for purchase through authorized DJI Enterprise resellers worldwide and is compatible with Windows PCs and all current DJI Phantom 4 Series drones

Photo shows DJI Terra’s office in The Netherlands

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Over 30,000 submissions from aerial photographers and videographers from 141 different countries for the Skypixel 2018 Aerial Storytelling Contest that was co-organized with DJI. In the Video Category the grand prize winner is Ain Raadik shared a collection of adventures from his travels across New Zealand, Japan & around his home in Australia. and in the Photo Category, Deryk Baumgartner takes home the grand prize. He shot that awesome image of Mont Saint Michel with his DJI Mavic Pro.

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Last week, Judge Leonard P. Stark of the District Court of Delaware dismissed Autel’s counterclaims in a Memorandum Opinion. The judge sided with DJI contending that Autel has not alleged facts that plausibly support any of its antitrust counterclaims. After reviewing the parties’ briefing the Court granted DJI’s motion and Autel’s antitrust counterclaims, both federal and state, have been dismissed.

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