DroneDJ

Next-generation electric takeoff and landing aircraft (eVTOL) manufacturer Archer Aviation and United Airways are deepening their partnership through the establishment of a joint advisory committee to prepare efficient, safety-focused maintenance operations for future air taxis and other urban air mobility (UAM) planes.

Concerned about increasing reports of drones penetrating controlled airspaces – particularly those surrounding the nation’s airports – Australia’s Civil Aviation and Safety Authority (CASA) has chosen four apps to operate a test run of instant access request processing similar to the Federal Aviation Administration’s Low Altitude Authorization and Notification Capability (LAANC) system.

American Robotics, a leading provider of fully automated drone services to enterprise customers, has obtained authorizations to operate beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) flights at seven work sites across the US, bringing the company’s total to 10.

Ascent AeroSystems, a leading manufacturer of compact, all-weather, high-performance coaxial rotor platforms, has introduced a new drone designed for transporting objects of up to 5 lbs. in even exacting flight conditions.

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.

Florida Power & Light (FPL), which serves more than 11 million people in Florida, is deploying autonomous drones across the state to monitor substations and power distribution grids. The electric utility has tied up with drone-in-a-box solutions provider Percepto for what is being hailed as “the largest commercial autonomous drone project in the world.”

The world’s largest drone manufacturer, DJI, says it will temporarily suspend all business activities in Russia and Ukraine “in light of current hostilities.” This move makes DJI the first Chinese company to pull out of Russia since the country launched its invasion of Ukraine two months ago.

Update [May 10, 2022]: DJI Mini 3 Pro drone is available to pre-order now from DJI’s official store, Amazon, and B&H Photo Video. Read Top 10 things you need to know about DJI’s new drone.

Wait, what just happened? DJI is yet to confirm when it plans to release the Mini 3 Pro, but a seller has accidentally revealed the complete specs and features of the drone online. A Dutch retailer has created a listing for the sub-250-gram drone, which tells us EVERYTHING save the product’s release date.

On the crowded floor of the AUVSI XPONENTIAL conference – the biggest drone show in the world – it takes something pretty unusual to stop you in your tracks. But literally three minutes after getting on the exhibition floor, I kinda had to stop in my tracks and check out the Aergility ATLIS. You’ll soon see why.

A brand new camera for FPV Drones from GoPro is about to hit the market. Called the Hero10 Black “Bones,” I was lucky enough to get an early production unit from GoPro for review. The short of it is that you get the same video quality of a GoPro 10 at a third of the weight – and at the same price! You don’t get the dual LCD screens or waterproofing, but the weight savings more than make up for it.

A Singaporean man has been slapped with a $37,000 fine (SGD $51,000) for flying a DJI Mavic 2 Zoom drone unlawfully in September 2020. If he’s unable to pay the fine, the drone pilot will face a jail time of 100 days.

ModalAI, a Blue UAS framework manufacturer of autonomous drone technology, says it has developed the world’s smallest and most advanced autopilot built in the USA. Weighing only 16 grams, ModalAI’s VOXL 2 is designed specifically for GPS-denied, autonomous drones with obstacle avoidance.

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.

Urban-Air Port, the London-based developer of vertiports for delivery drones and electronic takeoff and landing (eVTOL) vehicles like air taxis, has opened the doors of its first functional aerial hub – one of 200 terminals it plans to build around the globe in the near future.

Lucid Drone Technologies, a Charlotte, North Carolina–based startup that manufactures commercial spraying drones for cleaning external surfaces, is joining forces with T-Mobile for IoT connectivity and fleet management services. The news should excite property management and facility maintenance companies looking for IoT solutions to reduce risk and cut costs for exterior cleaning.

Australian UAV logistics specialist Swoop Aero will begin expanding the range and frequency of its drone deliveries of medical supplies in Mozambique as part of the nation’s ongoing healthcare improvement and disease prevention program.

Marine biology researchers have for several years used drones for periodical collection of data to evaluate the health of whales, but now they’ve developed a way to pilot a DJI M210 to gently and discreetly attach electronic tags to monitor the creatures for extended periods.

DJI’s top-shelf enterprise drone, the M300 RTK, is built for the not-so-average job site that requires greater flight time, more payloads, and enhanced protection against collisions. And such job sites must be many because Hextronics, a manufacturer of drone docking stations, says it has been witnessing an increasing demand for a solution that’s tailored for the DJI M300 RTK and can support high endurance and operations in extreme weather conditions.

When it comes to the consumer drone market, nothing can get more bang for the buck than DJI products. But, the Russian invasion of Ukraine has made it clear that commercial technology can have clear military applications too. Both Russia and Ukraine are widely using DJI drones, primarily for reconnaissance purposes. This has prompted the world’s largest drone manufacturer to reiterate its stance that DJI deplores any use of its products to cause harm.

The DJI Mavic 3 Pro flagship prosumer drone shipped installed last year without the company’s tracking software (as well as a bunch of other stuff we’ve come to know and love about DJI products). Earlier this year, DJI released firmware that enabled tracking called Active Track 5.0. Naturally, we took it for some testing and compared it to the king of tracker drones, the Skydio 2.

Australian logistics and drone delivery company Swoop Aero is shifting gears from its service to remote locations or above largely rural zones, and moving to establish an urban UAV network in the New Zealand city of Christchurch.

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.