DroneDJ

With the rapidly-spreading Omicron variant of the coronavirus bringing back travel and meeting restrictions, in-person events are again getting canceled, moved, or delayed. Amsterdam Drone Week (ADW) and the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) High Level Conference on Drones, co-located events that were scheduled for mid-January 2022, are now expected to take place in March.

Apple cofounder Steve Wozniak’s tech-focused K-12 education organization, Woz ED, plans to debut a new STEM program, “Science of Drone Racing”, for middle school students in 2022.

Tech giant DJI and its social media platform SkyPixel are bringing back their popular SkyPixel Aerial Photo & Video Contest for the seventh year with prizes totaling nearly $100,000.

Less than three weeks after revealing it had received the requisite Special Airworthiness Certificate from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to conduct testing of its Maker electronic vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft, Archer Aviation successfully completed the plane’s first hover flight.

In a certain sign of a maturing sector, the heavy investment into manufacturers of all types of drones over the past decade is slowly but perceptibly shifting towards companies developing security systems to detect, identify, and if need be, neutralize the very UAVs earlier funding helped proliferate.

An English air ambulance aircraft near Leicester was forced to abruptly drop altitude to avoid hitting a drone head-on, a near-miss situation UK inspectors placed in their highest category of collision risk. The case is one of several recent incidents in the country involving UAVs dangerously crossing paths with large craft.

If you’re into drone-in-a-box technology, beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) operations, and all things drone automation, you’re going to want to mark February 22 in your calendar. Enterprise drone automation software specialist FlytBase is putting together an online conference called NestGen where it will discuss and share the latest developments in the drone autonomy space.

Fans of aerial artistry have gotten a nice range of spectacular UAV piloting footage over the past year or so, including some seemingly impossible high-speed flights through sports venues and shopping malls. Now, one of the magicians responsible for many of those films is offering a we-dare-you-not-to-flinch video of his drone whizzing through Dallas Baptist University’s baseball facilities while a full crew of players works out.

DroneDJ readers are familiar with stories about prisoners working with outside UAV pilots to stage aerial drops of prohibited matter into jails around the world. Now there’s a case of penitentiary guards themselves using drones to deliver not just the usual contraband phones, tobacco, and drugs to their prison, but also orders of hamburgers, fried rice, and booze.

In recent months UAVs have been deployed in many new types of critical missions around the globe – from ferrying medical equipment and treatments to remote destinations to flying vital organs to hospitals for immediate transplanting. Now, several municipalities in the UK have found another urgent use for drones: helping police spot and crack down on people illegally dumping their trash and unwanted junk in public places.

A friendly warning to DroneDJ readers: It isn’t clear whether the proposal by an African startup to build a passenger-transporting aircraft that looks and flies like a bird (it has a passing resemblance to Transformer toys kids love) is stunning in its vision and ambition, or an elaborate gag to see how many people will be fished into believing the mind-blowing venture is actually on the level. Either way, the Phractyl Macrobat electric near vertical takeoff and landing vehicle (eNVTOL – no kidding) is worth checking out.

Many people buy a drone so they can capture their best vacation moments from the air. If you plan to travel with your drone in Europe this holiday season, the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) wants you to make sure you have the right permissions and licenses in place. Here’s a quick lowdown on the things to remember…

Autel Robotics is ready with a new update for its Autel Explorer flight app, and you’ll want to grab this one, especially if you own an EVO II series drone.

DJI RC Pro, the tech giant’s latest smart controller that was released alongside Mavic 3 prosumer drone last month, has been updated to support the Air 2S as well. And if you buy it now bundled with the DJI Air 2S Fly More Combo, an unbelievable markdown on the products will save you a sweet $749.

Drone logistics company Swoop Aero has made some pretty impressive inroads in commercial services this year, but of late has turned heads in once again expanding its version of Ziplines’ “drones for good” in making medical deliveries across Africa.

Another player in the bustling advanced air mobility sector has staked out a corner of Wall Street, with London-based electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) plane manufacturer Vertical Aerospace completing its $300 million New York Stock Exchange floatation today.

Wing, the drone delivery unit of Google’s parent organization Alphabet, was first launched as an experimental program at the end of 2011. After a decade of development, testing, and trials, the company says it can finally call 2021 the year that drone delivery really took off.

Italian industrial UAV specialist FlyingBasket says it has successfully completed its first heavy-lift cargo drone flights in a major urban area.

Ah fame, that double-sided coin. The same month BRINC Drones founder and CEO Blake Resnick was feted as the youngest person named to the Forbes “30 Under 30 Social Impact” list, the young entrepreneur also finds himself drawing unwanted attention – and no little ire – for a resurfaced 2018 promotional video in which he hawks a border surveillance device that tases an immigrant.

South Korea’s flag carrier Korean Air has succeeded in deploying multiple drones simultaneously to shorten aircraft inspection time and improve operational stability dramatically. The unprecedented feat was at display at the airline’s headquarters today.

This week join Yifei and Seth to talk about this week’s top stories, including new features coming to DJI’s Fly app and Mavic 3, a new enterprise drone for pre-order, and something to do with TikTok. Read more about the stories below and watch the live show on the DroneDJ YouTube Channel.

A popular vacation destination near South Korean capital Seoul is preparing to open what local news reports describe as the nation’s largest drone park, offering enthusiasts and systems developers alike a regulation-free space for operating UAVs.

Israeli counter-drone company D-Fend Solutions says its tech successfully detected and removed a rogue UAV that had violated restricted airspace during an outdoor mass in Slovakia by Pope Francis.