Josh started in the drone community in 2012 with a drone news Twitter account. Over the years Josh has gained mass exposure from his aerial photography work and spends his days writing drone content for DroneDJ as well as pursuing his business. You can view Josh’s photography work here.
Josh can be contacted by email at josh@dronedj.com or @JoshSpires_.
UAV company UAVOS has managed to convert a Robinson R22 manned helicopter into an autonomous cargo drone, capable of flying over 1000km. The UVH R22 is capable of carrying 400 pounds of cargo, agricultural monitoring, and video surveillance, just to name a few.
Heathrow Airport recently deployed anti-drone systems around its runways and taxiways to prevent rogue drones from coming into the airspace near the airport. The system is also able to locate the pilot and share their location with the authorities.
Earlier this month, a bushfire in the Perth suburb of Baldivis, Australia, didn’t allow firefighters to take advantage of aerial support for some time due to a rogue drone being spotted close to the fire. The aerial support was forced to hold off while the drone finally made its way back to the ground.
Pyka is taking on the crop-spraying business with its autonomous crop drone, which is capable of spraying 135 acres in an hour. The drone removes the danger for pilots who fly a few meters from the ground and reduces costs.
Mauritania will soon be testing drones to fight back against the swarms of desert locusts damaging farmers’ crops and livelihoods. The test is thanks to the United Nations, which is hoping to minimize the damages caused by the desert locusts.
Ever since the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) proposed Remote ID standard was shared, many people within the industry, including DJI’s Brendan Schulman, have been worried about the effect it will have on the future of commercial and recreational drone pilots, including the ones who build drones themselves. Earlier this week, Rotor Riot released a video giving an overview of the situation and the effect it will have on the FPV community.
The DRL simulator tryouts are back for 2020 giving you a chance to make it to the Drone Racing League 2020 Championship series, where you will be taking on some of the best pilots in the sport. The tryouts will start on February 3rd and end on April 2nd.
Wing Aviation, Google‘s take on drone delivery, is now venturing into the UK by starting a new holding company to possibly launch delivery drones. Formerly known as Google Wing, Wing Aviation made it out of Google X and took on drone delivery in east Australia and is currently in operation.
A report by UK‘s Air Accidents Investigation Branch found that DJI Matrice 200 drones used by police were falling out of the sky in the rain due to a technical fault. The drone pilots lost full control and power of the drone causing it to fall straight down to the ground while in use by police.
Drones have been delivering everything from life-saving medicine to coffee for some time now, but a Seattle company hopes to add cannabis to the list by using drones to deliver it directly to dispensaries.
GRN Holdings announced the move publicly in December when it signed a letter of intent to purchase drones for cannabis delivery.
Drones are being used by South African insurance companies to inspect claims made by customers according to the South African comparison website, Hippo.co.za. Drone use within companies has grown exponentially over the last few years due to the lower costs and improved technologies.
Insta360 has released its latest camera, the Insta360 ONE R, a modular 3-in-1 action camera giving users choice in the way they want to capture video. The ONE R has a 1-inch camera sensor module, a 360 camera module, and a standard wide-angle module. I’m interested to see where this new take on the action camera goes.
This year at CES, PowerVision showed off its latest product the PowerEgg X, a stationary camera, a camcorder, and a drone all in one. The PowerVision PowerEgg X is a waterproof camera with a flight time of 30 minutes, 4K 60 fps video, flies in winds up to 38 kph, and can take off on water.
Vanover is the latest Drone Racing League (DRL) pilot to take the top position in last year’s Drone Racing League Championship season. Today I got the chance to ask Vanover a few questions about the sport and competing in DRL. He also gave some advice for beginner pilots.
Sunflower Labs has shown off its home security system like no other at CES this year: a drone. The system takes a new approach to keep your house safe with garden lights, a drone, and a waterproof drone charging station packed with AI.
The GoPro Karma is one of the most drama-ridden drones to come from a large tech company, with GoPro being forced to recall the drone due to an issue causing it to drop out of the sky. This later forced GoPro to leave the drone business altogether and let go of a large number of people.
The Nottinghamshire Police force in the UK, along with the Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue, is adding a 24/7 drone team as a new way to improve security as well as for use in emergencies. The team will also have a dedicated drone car used for fast responses and as a mobile ground station.
Canadian company Flash Forest is hoping to plant 1 billion trees using drones by 2028, a large task we want to see happen! The company hopes to use autonomous drones to plant seeds from above as well as monitor the seeds, ensuring they grow correctly and are able to survive.
The Drone Racing League’s 2019 Allianz World Champion Season has been one of the most action-packed and talent-filled seasons to date. DRL has released a recap video taking a look at the 2019 season. The in-depth, 47-minute video takes on a documentary style to inform and entertain viewers.
Nurk, also known as Nurk FPV, is one of the best drone racers right now. It’s back again with an epic video of a racing drone flying into the flame of a flamethrower. Nurk has been flying in DRL competitions for the last few years, and even won the 2018 Drone Racing League Championship.
SwissDrones is a leading drone manufacturer and has its SDO-50V2 product used around the world in critical missions for surveillance, search and rescue, inspections, and transport of goods. The company is now finally moving into Australasia as a focus area for 2020.
The Autel Evo 2 has made its way onto the FCC’s test bench with what looks to be some standout features for a drone of its size. Along with the Evo 2, we are expecting to see DJI’s Mavic 3 line of drones to be launched early this year. Let’s take a look at what we know about these two drones and what we would love to see in them.
While many countries celebrate New Year’s Eve with fireworks, a few are changing it up with drone light shows. Chinese broadcast company CCTV shared a video of what looked like drones on New Year’s Eve, displaying cool graphics and welcoming everyone into 2020. But there was a catch.