Haye Kesteloo

Good morning, today we have the headlines you may have missed, starting with Amazon’s patent. Furthermore we have a large order for anti-drone company, DroneShield and a discount on the Parrot Bebop 2 quadcopter.

Expand
Expanding
Close

As drones are getting more popular and the number of drone incidents is going up, the anti-drone devices are also becoming more in demand. This week DroneShield announced that they have secured $210,000 worth of orders from their European distributor to set up a demo hub near the NATO offices in the Netherlands.

Expand
Expanding
Close

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has issued a patent to Amazon for a delivery drone that responds to human gestures, such as flailing arms as well as screaming voices. The patent includes several interesting illustrations. In one, a person is shown outside their house waving his arms in an “unwelcoming manner” accompanied with a voice bubble, indicating that the drone would be able to hear the person and possibly respond to the input.

Expand
Expanding
Close

Good morning, here are the headlines you may have missed over the weekend. We a photo of what may be the new Phantom 5, DJI Master Wheels in action, the Mavic Pro making an appearance on the Tonight Show and an official DJI announcement for March 28th.

Expand
Expanding
Close

Talking about being back in the game! OsitaLV just tweeted a photo that may show the new DJI Phantom 5 drone. As was rumored before the unmanned aerial vehicle has an aluminum color. It is hard to say based on the photo whether this is plastic in an aluminum color or if it is the real thing. The photo does seem to show the interchangeable lens system we have seen before.

Expand
Expanding
Close

Two days ago DJI released another teaser announcement that said “The world of work is changing. Evolve with us.” Today our game-playing tipster OsitaLV posted this video on Twitter, showing the way the new DJI Master Wheels work in combination with the Ronin 2. The new DJI Master Wheels are also rumored to work with the Inspire 2. Could this be the way DJI is planning to change the way creative minds work in the world?

Expand
Expanding
Close

Will Smith came on to Jimmy Fallon’s Tonight Show to celebrate reaching one million subscribers to his YouTube channel and they brought along a DJI Mavic Pro. Watch the video below.

Expand
Expanding
Close

This morning, DJI Enterprise has an announcement for us. Just like with the last invite for the DJI Mavic Air, it is cryptic. The message reads:

“Over the years, DJI has reshaped the way creative minds view the world. Now, we’re changing the way you work in it. Stay tuned for what’s next on March 28th.”

“The world of work is changing. Evolve with us. March 28th.”

Expand
Expanding
Close

Good morning, in case you missed it. DJI announced the largest commercial drone order ever and the Chinese drone maker is raising funds ahead of planned IPO next year. This morning we also have an amazing drone video showing you Romania and the Transfagarasan highway. Beautiful! Grab your coffee and jump in.

Expand
Expanding
Close

Earlier today we reported, that DJI is looking to expand into the commercial drone space and now we receive this press release from the Chinese drone manufacturer; “DJI and Skycatch announce a global agreement to deliver 1,000 industrial drones for Komatsu.” The single largest order of commercial drones in history.

Expand
Expanding
Close

Chinese drone-maker SZ DJI Technology Co Ltd is talking with investors to raise between $500 and $800 million in funding ahead of a likely IPO in 2019, according to Reuters. The funding would consist of both equity and debt and would possibly double the company’s $8 billion valuation from 2015.

Expand
Expanding
Close

Good morning, today we have a beautiful video of the Russian capital, Moscow as well as yesterday’s headlines, such as a near miss with a Coast Guard helicopter, a drone flying higher than 33,000 feet, Freefly’s reaction to the Skydio’s R1, drones used by Police to track down Austin bomber and more. Grab a coffee en jump in.

Expand
Expanding
Close

According to the Coast Guard, the aircrew flying an MH-65 Dolphin helicopter came within 50 feet of hitting a drone in Port Angeles last Saturday. At the time of the near-miss with the recreational drone, the crew was 300 feet in the air near Fairchild International Airport, according to the Coast Guard.

Expand
Expanding
Close

DJI just released a new firmware update for the Mavic Air – V01.00.0300. It is strongly recommended by the Chinese drone manufacturer and just by the looks of it, it seems to address a large number of bugs. It does not, however, bring back the waypoints we all have asked for. We are still waiting for an answer from DJI on that one.

Expand
Expanding
Close

Back in November, we had a guy in Greece sending his Mavic Pro drone up to 8,200 feet. Now we have a presumably Russian drone pilot who goes even higher. His race drone, weighing 2.34 pounds, flies up to 33,691 feet, well into the cruising altitude of commercial airliners and passenger jets. Unlikely as it may seem, but if his drone were to collide with one of those manned aircraft it could be catastrophic.

Expand
Expanding
Close

Time to update your DJI GO 4 app to version 4.2.8 if you (or your phone) haven’t done so already.

Expand
Expanding
Close

It seems that everyone who gets their hands on the fully autonomous Skydio R1 drone has a similar reaction. This time the amazement comes from Tabb Firchau, president, and co-founder of FreeFly Systems, the company behind the large drones, such as the Alta 8, that are used for commercials and movie productions. Tabb flew the R1 around FreeFly’s warehouse and was simply blown away. Watch the video below.

Expand
Expanding
Close

The use of drones is becoming more prevalent among police forces and SWAT teams around the world as well as here in the US. Today, we learn that in tracking down the suspected Austin bomber, authorities used drones to fly over the suspect’s house in Pflugerville, TX. Even though it is not known at this point what kind of drones were used and for what purpose, it seems likely that drones outfitted with infrared cameras may have been used to scan for any people inside the building.

Expand
Expanding
Close

Hangar Technology offers a Robotics-as-a-System, this is a software platform that enables, for instance, construction companies to specify a drone mission to create aerial footage of a specific building. An authorized drone pilot can ‘claim’ that mission and launch his drone. Using Hangar’s software the drone will then autonomously fly the pre-defined flightpath and record the video footage or photos. Hangar now has opened up this platform, called Hangar OnDemand for communities and nonprofits.

Expand
Expanding
Close

Good morning, while the Northeast prepares for another snowstorm, here are yesterday’s headlines and a short film of Tel Aviv where temperatures are a lot more pleasing. Grab a cup of coffee and let’s jump in.

Expand
Expanding
Close