Ishveena Singh

Israeli startup Exodigo is announcing the commercial availability of its subsurface mapping platform in the US with a bang. The tech company has scooped up a cool $29 million in seed funding to make underground mapping easier with drones.

When it comes to search and rescue (SAR) operations, every second matters. And this new drone payload strives to not let any moment go waste as rescuers look for survivors trapped under debris or buried in an avalanche.

The chief of the Federal Aviation Administration, Steve Dickson, has resigned from his post halfway into his five-year term. Citing family issues, Dickson told his staff late Wednesday that he will leave the FAA at the end of March.

Epirus, a Los Angeles headquartered counter-electronics startup, has scooped up a cool $200 million in funding to develop countermeasures against potential drone attacks in the US.

Alphabet subsidiary Wing has named Adam Woodworth its new chief executive officer. Woodworth, who has served as the chief technology officer at the on-demand residential drone delivery firm since its inception, replaces James Ryan Burgess as the CEO.

A consortium of seven entities from five EU member states has successfully completed the concept of Hybrid UAV-UGV for Efficient Relocation of Vessels (HUUVER) drone. The HUUVER hybrid drone combines the most useful features of a flying aircraft with an all-terrain robot.

Following drone manufacturer Holy Stone’s use of C1 EU class identification label on the HS720E GPS aircraft, the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) has provided an update on the market availability of drones with C0-C6 labels.

Switzerland-based Sulzer Schmid has launched a new plug-and-play solution that enables most off-the-shelf DJI drones to perform semi-autonomous wind turbine blade inspections.

Singapore-based ST Engineering, Sumitomo Corporation, and Skyports are joining forces for a nine-month drone delivery pilot, wherein drones will be used for shore-to-ship parcel delivery of maritime essentials.

Singapore-based drone solutions company Avetics Global says it’s set to make confined-space inspection more accessible with an affordable new product, Lumicopter. Combining the DJI FPV drone with a custom-made protective shell and LED light, Lumicopter has been designed to fly in enclosed or hazardous facilities such as storage tanks, building interiors, powerplants, ships, etc.

Named the best international short ski film of 2021 at High Five Ski Film Festival, FLOW captures world-class freeride skier Sam Favret’s recent adventures (on empty slopes, no less!) amid COVID-19 lockdowns. The mind-blowing film is made 100% from aerial footage – using FPV drones, DJI Inspire 2 with Zenmuse X7, and DJI Mavic 2 Pro. It showcases the majestic beauty and high-intensity action of skiing Europe’s famed Chamonix-Mont-Blanc in such a grand manner that you simply must take out a few minutes to watch it now.

Israel has created aviation history by approving a drone to fly in civilian airspace and not restricting its flight to uncontrolled airspace. Following its certification by the Civil Aviation Authority of the State of Israel (CAAI), the Hermes Starliner UAS by Elbit Systems will now be able to fly at medium altitudes for a multitude of long-range missions, such as securing mass public events, environmental inspection missions, precision agriculture work, maritime search and rescue, as well as border security and anti-terror operations.

India has imposed an import ban on drones with immediate effect. The ban, which was notified by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry on Wednesday, prohibits the import of drones in all forms – Completely Built-Up (CBU), Completely Knocked Down (CKD), and Semi Knocked Down (SKD).

Drone solution providers Censys Technologies and Soaring Eagle Technologies have secured a fresh beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) waiver from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). This waiver covers a 12-mile distance, which the companies stress is the longest distance ever approved by the FAA.

Drone mission planning platform Drone Harmony has finally released an iOS app. You can now execute flights planned in the Drone Harmony software platform on iPhones and iPads running iOS 14.0 or later.

After five years of growth, DroneUp, which operates an on-demand drone delivery network that matches a database of more than 10,000 FAA-certified pilots to missions across the US, has undergone a branding makeover in efforts to evolve with its aspirations.

About 50 tons of floating debris – plastics, wood, cardboard, organic material, mooring lines – are collected every year from the docks in Belgium’s port of Antwerp. Not only does this waste pollute the waters, but it also has an impact on biodiversity and can cause damage to ships. This is why port authorities are now turning to drones to detect and clean up the debris as soon as possible.

It’s been a while since Google’s sister company Wing announced it was bringing a new, retail-based drone delivery system to Texas’s Dallas-Fort Worth area. Let’s take a look at how the company is preparing for the commercial launch of its drone delivery operations…

The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is investigating a drug trafficking incident where a tiny DJI Mini 2 drone was used to smuggle 259g of meth – 10g more than the drone’s own weight – across the US border.

The Bondgate Tower in Northumberland, UK, is a 15th-century monument that is in danger of collapse, and as such, sits on the “Historic England’s Heritage At Risk” register. As part of conservation efforts, the historic gatehouse was recently mapped using a drone, and the results are so incredible, you need to see them for yourself.

Esri Site Scan Flight for ArcGIS, a popular cloud-based drone mapping software, has added support for the DJI Matrice 300 (M300) RTK drone with the Zenmuse P1 photogrammetry camera.