Axon, the company that invented Taser stun guns, says it has “formally” begun the development of a Taser drone to address America’s chronic gun violence problem. The concept, which has been voted firmly against by the company’s own Al Ethics Advisory Board, has resulted in immediate backlash and contempt from social media users.
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When it comes to aerial safety rules, Irish aviation authorities don’t kid around. Just ask the man who became the first pilot successfully prosecuted in the country for breaking regulations by flying his drone above a crowd.
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Aerial tech group Red Cat Holdings has announced its Teal Drones unit is introducing a product allowing a single pilot to operate four UAVs simultaneously, offering swarm performance and effectiveness to defense and enterprise users alike.
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North Dakota calls itself “the Silicon Valley of drone innovation.” And this summer, the state will be able to do full justice to that tag when six companies simultaneously fly their drones beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) for applications ranging from security surveillance to utility inspections.
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Draganfly has announced a new delivery drone called Heavy Lift, which can transport packages weighing up to 67 pounds (30kg) to customers within 18 miles (30km). The Canadian drone manufacturer said over two decades of industry experience has gone into making this engineering feat possible. In addition, Draganfly has launched a long-range laser scanning system that can produce survey-grade point cloud data.
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Vancouver-based SkyCope bills itself as having “the world’s smallest and most powerful AI supercomputer UAV detection system.” And there’s no doubt – what it does is quite impressive.
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Event 38, an Ohio-based drone manufacturer, has just announced its first VTOL drone called the E400. Built in the US, it is on a short list of fixed-wing VTOL drones made stateside.
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AirVuz is teaming up with XDynamics, with the drone video and photography sharing platform offering one of its partner’s state-of-the-art UAVs to winners of its monthly aerial imaging contest.
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One of the many (admittedly less important) ways that expanding UAV use has revolutionized the ways people live, work, and even play is in providing drone video fans enhanced proximity and angles of surfing. One pilot has now taken that to new heights by giving the world new perspectives into the multi-faceted insanity of Tahiti’s monstrous Teahupo‘o.
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It is said that once is an accident, twice a coincidence, while thrice is a trend. That may now apply to recent leadership changes at top electric takeoff and landing (eVTOL) plane manufacturers working toward craft certification – the latest occurring at Germany’s Lilium.
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Norway-based GRIFF Aviation is known for its heavy-lift drones. And now, as a result of a partnership with Norwegian armaments manufacturer NAMMO, the company is debuting a heavy lift drone that can dispatch anti-tank missiles.
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California-based drone logistics company Matternet, which has been working successfully with Swiss Post since 2017, says it will take over drone delivery operations from Switzerland’s national postal service starting January 1, 2023. In addition, Matternet will leverage its experience from operations in Switzerland to build Europe’s first city-wide drone delivery network.
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Canadian drone manufacturer Draganfly has announced the launch of its new North American-made Commander 3 XL drone. Draganfly is calling the high-endurance, weather-resistant, multirotor UAV the “Swiss Army Knife” of drones.
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Drone service companies Skyports and Swoop Aero are extending their past partnerships to Kenya, where they’ve teamed up with local UAV operator Astral Aerial Solutions in a series of the nation’s first beyond line of sight (BVLOS) delivery trials to prepare for regular transport of medical supplies.
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For much of 2022, Mavic 3 owners have been plagued by slow home point locks when cold starting the drone. With the recent firmware update, DJI seems to have fixed the GPS issues seen on the Mavic 3.
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Toronto-based drone logistics firm Drone Delivery Canada has received Transport Canada’s nod to conduct beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) drone delivery operations for the University of British Columbia’s Remote Communities Drone Transport Initiative (DTI) program.
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DJI has just released a massive new firmware update for its flagship Mavic 3 drone. Among other things, the update adds Pro settings and RAW photo capture to the zoom camera as well as HLG support for the main camera.
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Caltech researchers are developing a drone with rapidly reacting artificial intelligence (AI) capacities that allow it to adapt in flight to extreme wind similar to tornado or hurricane conditions.
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Medical drone delivery operator Spright is teaming up with Latin America aviation company Synerjet in what they believe will be a major step toward expanding access to healthcare services across Brazil.
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Join Yifei and Seth for this week’s weekly round-up of news from the drone industry. Each week they discuss the top stories and pick a drone video of the week.
Shop DJI, Autel, or other drone products on Amazon to support the show.
DJI Mini 3 Pro, the tech giant’s newest and most powerful sub-250-gram drone, is a huge leap forward in terms of hardware and performance. As pre-orders pour in from across the globe, a DJI product manager reflects on the company’s revolutionary Mini series and discusses how the team approached the task of exceedingly high expectations to design the Mini 3 Pro.
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Litchi, one of the most popular third-party flight apps for DJI drones, has updated its FPV video livestreaming feature to support the DJI Mini, Mini 2, Mini SE, Mavic Air 2, Air 2S, and Mavic 2 Zoom/Pro drones.
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South American airline group LATAM is among the growing ranks of global carriers benefitting from the reduced costs and time required to perform aircraft inspections with automated drones rather than traditional manual methods.
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Score it another “not independently confirmed” tale flowing from Vladimir Putin’s self-inflicted nightmare. Video has arisen of a hovering Ukraine drone being given the finger by an ill-advisedly smug Russian soldier, whose unit is purportedly soon blasted from above by dropped munitions. So much for sneering defiance.
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