‘Switzerland is really on the leading edge’ of opening skies for drones
‘Switzerland is really on the leading edge’ of opening skies for drones said Ben Marcus, co-founder, and chairman of AirMap in an article from the Wall Street Journal.
Switzerland Stories August 6
Switzerland Stories August 1
After the second crash involving Silicon Valley startup Matternet drones, the Swiss Post has decided to halt their drone delivery service indefinitely. The failure of an emergency parachute to bring the aircraft safely to the ground raises questions about the safety of delivery drones in urban areas.
Switzerland Stories June 27
The new managers of the iconic Swiss cliff face restaurant are calling for a ban on ‘annoying’ drones. The Äscher mountain restaurant is located in the eastern part of Switzerland and is a very popular destination among Instagram users, many of whom use drones to capture the beautiful scenery.
Switzerland Stories January 15
Can you imagine, your mail delivered by drone over 60 miles? This is what happened the last month in Switzerland when a Swiss-built fixed-wing twin-engine drone delivered mail from Centovalli to Wolfenschiessen over a distance of about 60.8 miles in 1 hour and 15 minutes. This story comes with a breathtaking video that shows you how the drone used its anti-collision systems (FLARM, a Swiss anti-collision system) and GPS tracking to navigate its way over the mountain passes, reaching a maximum altitude of 10,656 feet. After flying for more than one hour at an average speed of 48 mph the fixed-wing drone had about 45% battery left. Visual line of sight was maintained with the use of a spotter airplane that followed the drone for the entire journey.
Fyi – we have seen more tests in the past that took place in Switzerland, for instance, this one where 100 deliveries were made by drone in Zurich.
Switzerland Stories November 7, 2018
Charging your drone in flight with lasers and diamonds
Sounds crazy? That’s what I thought too, but apparently, it’s possible. The Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL), Switzerland, has just released information about a spin-off start-up, LakeDiamond from their incubator which has developed lab-grown diamonds that can be used to recharge drones in flight.
Switzerland Stories May 26, 2018
Various Swiss media have reported a collision between a drone and a helicopter in the Verzasca Valley. The collision happened high above the Verzasca Dam in the canton of Ticino, Switzerland, last Friday, May 25. The Swiss Security Investigation Service (SUST) has identified the drone pilot, a 42-year-old Swiss from the canton of Lucerne.
