Haye Kesteloo

Less than one week ago, we posted this article about how drone design takes inspiration from birds (and even insects) when it comes to designing the aircraft. This latest drone study from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) in collaboration with ISAE-Supaéro takes it even a step further. The bird-like drone would have flapping wings and sense gusts and thermals to help it gain speed and altitude. Just like real birds.

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Today, Skydio announces more new features for their fully autonomous R1 drone. As the company keeps improving their software, they are now adding the ability for the R1 to fly over large bodies of water. Previously you were restricted to flying over smaller ponds or streams. Not anymore. Skydio suggests that you can now use the R1 to obtain footage of yourself wakeboarding, fishing or even when you’re out on a jetski. That sounds really cool, but keep in mind this is one expensive drone to see going down in the drink. Another new feature that was added in the latest release is a Hyperlapse mode and improved Car Follow shots. Check out the video below to get an idea of the kind of footage you can now get with the SKydio R1 drone. You can get the Skydio R1 on Amazon for $1,999.

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Just like last year, DJI launches their Winter Holiday Sale with up to 30% discounts. Unfortunately, many of the discounts are not for the newest and hottest DJI products, such as the DJI Osmo Pocket or the DJI Mavic 2 Pro/Zoom. Instead, the discounts seem to be focussed on older products such as the Mavic Pro and Spark and accessories instead. 
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We have seen it before in official DJI photos and videos (here, here and here). We know it is coming. And, now we know when. A source has shared with DroneDJ that DJI is planning to release the mystery remote controller soon. The same source also informed us that it is indeed for the Mavic 2 line of drones. The new DJI Mavic 2 Remote Controller with built-in display is set to be launched on Tuesday, January 8th during CES 2019.

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Engineers in Scotland used a drone to restore communications after a massive landslide cut off a remote Highland community. A road outside Kinloch Hourn was completely destroyed after a landslide dumped 9,000 tons of soil and rock on it from 2,500 ft.

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Former Evernote executive and Sunflower Labs CEO Alex Pachikov showcases the Sunflower drone security system at his own house in San Carlos, California. The system consists of ‘Sunflowers’, a ‘Bee’ and a ‘Hive’. And as you might have guessed, the Bee is the drone in this home surveillance system. Even though there are some challenges to overcome before drones can be as part of fully autonomous home surveillance systems, it is good to see companies working on new drone applications. Let’s take a closer look at the Sunflower drone security system and how they plan to put drones to work.

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Like last year, drones are expected to be a hot seller this holiday shopping season. And many of the recipients will be children. So, in anticipation of this, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) launched a new campaign: “Buzzy the Drone“. In a YouTube video, we are introduced to the ‘cute’ animated drone. The video is accompanied by a little rhyme that warns young drone pilots to keep the drone in sight and also check out some of the other rules that apply. The video seems to be somewhat childish, but as we know from research in Germany education goes a long way to preventing drone incidents. So, the FAA must have thought, better start them young! Nothing wrong with that, I suppose.

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Today the New York Police or NYPD announced that they will start using 14 DJI drones. The aircraft are to be used for reconstructing traffic crashes, crime scenes, securing large events and search-and-rescue operations. Some people fear however that ‘mission creep’ may set in and worry that the drones might be used to spy on law-abiding citizens. During a demonstration today, the NYPD denied the drones would be used for that purpose.

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Google parent Alphabet Inc’s Wing will launch drone deliveries in Finland in the Spring of 2019, according to a statement. The company announced that it will start to deliver goods and packages up to 3.3 pounds in a range of 6.2 miles in Helsinki. Last July, Wing recently became an independent company as it was spun out of Alphabet’s X research division. The company is led by James Ryan Burgess and has been actively testing with drone deliveries in Australia, delivering burritos among other things.

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DJI partners with Polytechnic University of Turin, Italy to help future architects and engineers. Mostly the DJI Inspire 2 and Phantom 4 Pro are being used during this drone course because of their mapping abilities. Since drones have become more popular, we have seen many universities and colleges around the world launch drone courses, including one in Florida. DJI released a video of the Italian university in their latest ‘DJI Stories’ series on YouTube.

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DJI recently released GEO 2.0., which is their updated and more accurate geo-fencing system that prevents DJI drones from flying near airports, airfields or other sensitive facilities. Instead of simply putting a circle around an area, DJI now makes the areas more precise and even includes 3D restrictions around approach and take-off areas. Meaning that if you’re further away from, and airport but in an approach zone, you may be able to fly your drone but only up to a certain elevation. Rick from Drone Valley took the opportunity at the DJI Osmo Pocket event to talk about DJI Geo 2.0, NFZ’s, Remote ID, DJI Global Response team and other related issues with Brendan Schulman (Vice President of Policy and Legal Affairs). Geo-Fencing (GEO 2.0) explained and more. Check it out!

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Finally, Tiffen filters for your favorite drones, such as the DJI Mavic 2 Pro and Zoom, the Mavic Air, and the Inspire 2. We had been wondering when the well-established filter companies, such as Tiffen, would enter the prosumer drone market when we wrote this article here. Tiffen already had filters for the Phantom 4, but the other popular drones were left out. Well, that has been addressed now.

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Kelly Shores from Ready Set Drone organizes a special event for the drone community, called SpinUp. The event will take place in Austin, TX and a number of well-known YouTubers will be there to give talks and presentations. It all takes places this Saturday at the Dell Diamond, a minor league baseball field. So, if you don’t have any plans yet for this weekend, be sure to check it out.

Ticket are $175 but DroneDJ readers get a special discount by using the code: dronedj

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The DJI Pro brand was first launched in September of this year. It is a part of DJI that is dedicated to the professional users of DJI equipment. Wether it be drones or other equipement such as the Ronin 2. Now, DJI Pro launches a dedicated YouTube channel aimed at these professional operators. The company’s first series of videos on Youtube is aimed at trouble-shooting and explaining the Ronin 2 gimbal. DJI Pro started with 25 different videos covering a wide range of topics. I would expect DJI to expand the series to include drones such as the Inspire 2 in the near future.

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Roughly two weeks ago we learned that the DJI Phantom 4 Pro V2.0 was out of stock on DJI’s official online store. This happened around the same time that the “Because Life is Big” event was announced so for a short time it seemed that a Phantom 4 replacement might be on the way. Now, we know that that wasn’t the case. Afterall DJI launched the DJI Osmo Pocket instead. But, what is the real story with the DJI Phantom 4 Pro V2.0? We asked DJI and here’s what they told us.

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