Haye Kesteloo

Yesterday, we had heard the first rumors, but it was only confirmed a few hours ago in a statement that drone startup Aria Insights, formerly known as CyPhy Works, has ceased operations as of March 21, 2019.

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Yesterday, Brendan Schulman, DJI’s Vice President of Policy & Legal Affairs, pointed out in a tweet that per the USDOT rulemaking report, UAS Remote ID rulemaking had been delayed by another three months. This is indeed unfortunate as Remote ID for drones is the first regulatory hurdle to be overcome before we can expect the rules for flying drones over people or at night to be finalized. The new projected date for the ‘End of Comment’ period is now set at 10/29/2019, but keep in mind that this a projected date, not a fixed one.

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On April 6th, an event will take place called the GPS 2019 Week Rollover and DJI just released a statement saying that their drones have been “thoroughly tested” and that the Chinese drone maker can confirm that their platforms “will not be affected by the rollover.” What is the GPS 2019 Week Rollover event? Glad you asked.

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Last week DJI published this unlisted video on Youtube. In it, the Chinese drone maker shows its Aeroscope technology during Operation Zenith at Manchester Airport in the UK. The program’s goal was to provide a live demo of Air Traffic Management (ATM) and Unmanned Traffic Management (UTM) integration in controlled airspace.

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Good morning, today’s drone video is from the hand of – GECOtzt-. The video was shot with a DJI Mavic Pro, a GoPro 6 and a Canon 6D and 70D. The video happens to focus on one of my favorite pastimes, kiteboarding. Can’t wait for Spring to start and temperatures to rise… Wait a minute… ;-)

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Last weekend, the 2nd annual DroneClash, the next level drone competition, took place in Katwijk, The Netherlands. DroneClash is the drone fighting competition you’ve never heard of, in which drones need to attack and disable rogue drones by any means possible. Think RoboWars but now in the air. The event is sponsored by the Dutch Ministry of Defence, Dutch Police, the Delft University of Technology and others. This event is not only fun and games there is a more serious aspect to it as well as the Dutch police and Ministry of Defence are looking for new innovative ways to take down rogue drones in real-life situations. A few years ago, they have already tried to do so with birds, but that did not work out so well. The DroneClash event offers a healthy cash prize of 30,000 EUR to the winner. Check it out below.

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Over the weekend, these images appeared online. They seem to be ‘leaked‘ photo and drawing of a new DJI product. It looks a bit like a Frankenstein device if I’m honest, with bits and pieces that you will recognize from other DJI products. However, looking past its appearance, this modular product might be a new handheld, gimbal-stabilized DJI camera that can also be controlled remotely. Let’s have a closer look at this new DJI product that seems to be geared towards professionals. NAB 2019 anybody?

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Finally, DJI made the Osmo Pocket 3.5mm adapter is available for higher-quality sound recording on the DJI Osmo Pocket. Especially when you’re shooting outside. Most if not all DJI Osmo Pocket owners have been waiting for this accessory to be released by DJI. And it is unclear why it has taken the Chinese drone maker so long to release this seemingly simple product. However, it is here now. At $39 it is not inexpensive, but for anybody who plans to use the Osmo Pocket outside, it is a must.

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Commercial drone use is set to take off in Japan with deregulation. The Japanese government had revised the aviation rules last September to promote the use of drones for commercial applications. Back in November last year we wrote about the Japan Post Co. that had started transporting documents by drone in Fukushima, Japan. Now, during the Japan Drone 2019 event, there is more news about commercial drone applications coming from the far east.

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Today’s drone video. Watch this short Red Bull clip with Greg Callaghan flying down one of the Irish enduro trails. Part of the footage was shot with an fpv racing drone, a sure way to get some amazing action footage. Enjoy!

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DJI releases a new version of their DJI Flight Simulator software. This is professional pilot training software using DJI’s leading flight control technology to recreate the natural flying experience. With this update, they have added the Mavic 2 Pro drone to both the free trial version as well as the Enterprise version. Check out the details below.

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Yesterday, DJI released new Ronin-S firmware. The new firmware update (v1.8.0.70) brings you a number of new features. For instance: various focus speed settings for Nikon, Canon and Panasonic cameras, photo capture, video recording, autofocus, and focus pull support for Canon EOS 6D Mark II, Canon EOS R and Nikon Z6 cameras with supported lenses. Similar features for Sony A7M3 and A7R3 cameras and more. Unfortunately, I don’t have a Ronin-S to check out these new features but this seems like a pretty big firmware update to me. Let us know what your findings are after updating your Ronin-S in the comments below.

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Last Tuesday, President Trump signed a bipartisan bill into law that pushes federal agencies to start using drones to fight wildfires. The details are described in Sec. 1114. titled “Wildfire technology modernization” of the John D. Dingell, Jr. Conservation, Management, and Recreation Act. Not only is this new law good for the use of drones in fighting wildfires, but it may also help the use of unmanned aircraft in other industries, such as deliveries by drone, search and rescue missions, and the use of drones for agriculture, inspection and construction.

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With the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) considering to loosen the regulations for flying drones over people, drone parachutes have become of greater interest to many drone pilots. Recently we wrote about how Indemnis Nexus parachute met the strict safety standards. Today, we have two videos that show the ParaZero SafeAir parachute system tested by Billy Kyle and Ready Set Drone.

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The Phantom 4 Pro V2.0 has been out of stock since early November 2018. And, now, the regular Phantom 4 Pro is officially out of production, according to the official DJI website. So even though you may be able to pick one up at the retailer of your choice, you can no longer get a Phantom 4 Pro (or V2.0) from the drone maker itself. The question is why? Is it related to DJI’s fraud case? Perhaps the DJI severed the relationship with some of its suppliers? Or is it because the Phantom 5 is indeed around the corner? Obviously, we hope for the latter but this tweet about the Phantom 4 Pro V2.0 may indicate differently.

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