DroneDJ

Wisconsin-based vertiport specialist Volatus Infrastructure has announced additional business that – while admittedly modest – reflects the company’s efforts to enlarge its foothold in the design and construction of advanced air mobility (AAM) infrastructure – an activity that, up until now, seems to be largely dominated by European and South American companies.

Australian drone delivery and logistics company Swoop Aero is preparing to initiate beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) services for New Zealand’s health care system, initially operating flights of lab samples between the South Island west coast towns of Westport and Greymouth.

Popular drone platform AirData is now providing its fleet data management and real-time flight streaming services in Japan.

It’s that time of year again, the biggest football (American football that is) game of the year is quickly approaching, and the NFL is once again asking drone pilots to stay away from the stadium during game day weekend.

That may have been the shortest span from an opening scene to the climax of the mystery apparently being solved in history. Just hours after the first leak of a purported DJI teaser for a February 9 unveiling of what looks to be a new Mini 2 SE drone, another sector sleuth turned up not just photos of the product but what’s thought to be a fairly complete spec sheet to boot.

Oil and gas services company Flogistix says its drone methane detection technology has been approved by the State of New Mexico as part of its Advanced Leak and Repair Monitoring (ALARM) program. Flogistix’s aerial solution utilizes a DJI Matrice 300 RTK drone to carry a payload that can sniff out methane, sewer gas, volatile organic compounds, and hydrocarbons.

AgEagle Aerial Systems has introduced a trade-up program for its regulatory-compliant eBee X mapping drone. All professional fixed-wing, VTOL, and multirotor drones are eligible for exchange, and there are thousands of dollars up for grabs in savings.

It appears global drone giant DJI may be readying its first 2023 product launch earlier than expected, with leaked evidence suggesting a new UAV in the works could be a Mini 2 SE positioned toward the lower end of the company’s pricing scale, and currently being readied for a February 9 introduction.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has denied autonomous drone solutions provider Percepto’s latest exemption request. And that regulatory ruling is something that not only Percepto but the entire drone industry needs to celebrate. Confused? Read on…

Despite recurring announcements with significant fanfare at various stages of the service’s very long awaited rollout, it appears Amazon drones aren’t actually delivering much – or often ­­– in the two communities where they were finally put into operation last December.

Canada’s Indro Robotics, a leader in drone and ground UAV research and user training, says it is teaming up with next-generation vehicle trial center Area X.O to offer new test facilities for uncrewed tech, featuring a range of exacting courses particularly useful to police and other first-responder aerial units.

Japan’s electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft (eVTOL) developer, SkyDrive, is looking beyond the planned debut of its SD-05 “flying car” at the 2025 World Expo in Osaka by establishing a base in South Carolina as its operational foothold for future business in the US.

Global shipping, ground transport, and logistics giant Maersk is tackling the problem of getting accurate, continually updated data from its warehouse inventories by swapping one of the weak links in that process – the easily distracted attention of humans – with the laser-focused, unperturbable eyes of automated drones.

Israeli Police have successfully conducted a trial where drones served as first responders to incidents in two suburbs of Tel Aviv with a combined population of around 154,000 residents.

Czech UAV tech company Dronetag is starting 2023 with the rollout of its new Direct Remote ID (DRI) product, designed as an ultra-small internal component for incorporation by drone manufacturers around the world.

A new drone flight advisory service is now available for pilots in Australia, and it’s free for all users.

UK telecoms company BT is testing a powerful new antenna technology that, once mounted on a high-altitude platform station (HAPS) drone, is expected to provide 4G and 5G services of up to 150 Mbps over areas as large as 15,000 square kilometers.

Proposed legislation in Arkansas that would legally ban certain registered sex offenders from owning or operating a drone took another step toward passage this week, when the Senate Committee on Judiciary approved the bill in a five to one vote.

Surging Canadian drone, software, systems, and artificial intelligence company Draganfly has announced a manufacturing and distribution partnership with Hyderabad-based geospatial technological company Remote Sensing Instruments (RSI), designed to provide it access to the expanding, but also protected UAV market in India.

Officials from the island of Jersey have briefed authorities on neighboring Guernsey about potential implications that looming drone trials are expected to eventually have for daily life and activity on both English Channel territories.

Ukraine is doubling down on its deployment of drones in its efforts to oust invading Russian forces, pledging nearly half a billion dollars’ worth of spending for the production and procurement of UAVs – many to be made by domestic companies.

SK Telecom, South Korea’s largest wireless telecom operator that is now rapidly transforming into an AI company, says that it has developed an inspection system that checks the safety of cell towers using drones and automated image analysis.

One-click reality capture platform SkyeBrowse has launched a new situational awareness tool that allows for real-time tracking of team members within a drone 3D model. In other words, you create a 2D or 3D model of an area in less than five minutes using a single drone video, and participating members can plot their GPS coordinates onto that model in real time.