drones

Austria’s air traffic control agency, Austro Control, is relying on its longtime tech partner Frequentis to prepare a new Unmanned Traffic Management (UTM) system that will fully integrate drone flights into the nation’s broader airspace by early 2023.

The state legislature of Hawai‘i is moving closer to passing a law that would prohibit the use of drones for fishing, which supporters call both unfair and a threat to traditional methods of manually casting from the shore relying on physical strength and technique.

The Biden administration has asked Congress to dramatically expand the number of government and public agencies – from federal to local administrations ­– that are legally permitted to identify, track, and disable potentially malicious drones flying in US airspaces.

Open-source flight control specialist Auterion has taken another step in ensuring safe drone operation by adding a comparatively lower-tech, somewhat less-geeky asset to its ecosystem with Drone Rescue Systems’ autonomous parachute product.

Drones that have racked up countless hours flying above Australian beaches on watch for drowning situations and approaching sharks may soon start scanning the waters for another potentially deadly threat: box jellyfish.

Despite the long and often controversial use of military UAVs in wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria, the prevalence and performance in Ukraine of drones – this time, the consumer variety – have been both a surprise and often determining factor in local forces repelling invading Russian forces. Indeed, some experts now believe the results of store-bought drones as well as military-grade craft are forcing reconsideration of decades old military strategies about waging war.

Open-source flight control tech company Auterion is teaming up with German artificial intelligence (AI) software specialist Spleenlab to provide tiny but powerful supercomputing capacities aboard drones for business and government users.

Safety avionics specialist Iris Automation has made a meteorological enhancement to its Casia G ground-based surveillance system with the integration of TruWeather Solutions sensors and services – a move aiming to add climate security to the company’s aerial detect-and-avoid protection.

A federal court has ruled a Texas law considerably limiting the use of drones to be unconstitutional, particularly articles restricting images collected by journalists using UAVs in their reporting.

American Robotics CEO Reese Mozer has no beef with drone deliveries, but he thinks all the hoopla surrounding aerial transport of burgers and burritos is drowning out news about farther-reaching UAV activities that are dramatically changing the way businesses operate. He tells DroneDJ about that transformative innovation, and how American Robotics’s (AR) leading role in the complete automation of critical drone services to industry is set to take wing.

Verizon Robotics, the automation and machine development unit of the global communications giant, has said it will expand its testing and proof-of-concept capabilities by basing those activities at Oregon’s drone and aerial tech trial facility, Pendleton Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) Range.

Less than two weeks after Ukraine officials called on drone-owning citizens to volunteer their craft for use defending the country from invading Russian forces, some of those non-military craft have now been reportedly weaponized to drop Molotov cocktails on targets below.

Researchers involved in a unique wildlife project are flying drones in an effort to track invasive Burmese pythons that are infesting the Everglades and other natural areas of Florida.

The South Korean capital Seoul is upgrading its stable of smart city light poles with drone-equipped models that will aid officials to battle the problem of illegal parking and monitor traffic snags.

Singapore companies F-Drones and Marco Polo Marine are teaming up to create what they say will be the world’s first large-scale, electric aerial delivery UAVs designed to service offshore wind farms – and at 90% less cost than current transport options.

Less than a week after Ukraine officials called on private citizens to put their drones to use in defending cities from invading Russian forces, signs are accumulating that consumer UAVs are increasingly taking to the air – and flowing in from abroad – for operation in the conflict.

Biological science students at Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo have schooled themselves in the art of drone piloting as part of their noble pursuit of counting members of local elephant seal populations.

Edinburgh company Flowcopter is trying to bridge a major problem in deploying UAV on extended offshore missions: Smaller craft have neither the heft nor battery life to handle the exacting conditions, while gas-powered engines aren’t well-suited to quick adjustments rotor flight requires. Its solution is a long-distance, heavy-lift drone equipped with hydraulic motors that effectively regulate spin rates.

Ukraine’s Defense Ministry has called upon citizens who own drones to use them in support of the country’s armed forces in their battle to prevent the invading Russian Army from capturing the capital, Kyiv.

In another attempt to battle the spreading problem of drones transporting contraband to prison inmates around the globe, France is soliciting bids from companies to install anti-UAV defense systems in many of the nation’s penitentiaries.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) says it will commence field-testing new drone traffic management capabilities as part of its ongoing effort to integrate UAVs into the national airspace, and prepare for anticipated expansion of craft operation for a variety of purposes.