DroneDJ

Following a year of up-and-down news, Archer Aviation this week gave itself something to smile about with the introduction of its Maker electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) demonstration aircraft. That, and its recent receipt of a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Special Airworthiness Certificate, will enable its first hover test flights later this month – and the promise of going out of 2021 on a high note.

Parrot, a leading maker of drones in Europe and the US, has announced its new ANAFI Ai enterprise craft is available for pre-order through selected resellers. The pre-tax price for one of the G4 connected vehicles is listed as $4,000, and somewhat dearer at €4,000 in Europe.

A new Orwellian video released by the Future of Life Institute calls on the United Nations to ban AI-powered drone swarms. Showcasing a hypothetical future, the video’s been watched more than 3 million times – and even artificial intelligence pioneer Elon Musk seems alarmed.

While the video may not be real, it raises important questions about the future of drone-based weapons the regulations surrounding them.

Leading urban air mobility (UAM) craft and infrastructure company Volocopter has unveiled its VoloPort concept that it says will serve as a reference for – or itself be adopted in use as – the vertiports enabling future operation of electric vertical takeoff and landing vehicles (eVTOL).

To improve the safety and efficiency in its water quality sampling process, the Latvian Environment, Geology, and Meteorology Сenter (LEGMC) is mulling over the use of drones. To this end, a trial flight has been conducted using the DJI M300 RTK drone and an automated water sampling system developed by SPH Engineering.

For all those first responders out there who’ve been a bit tardy in taking advantage of a nice opportunity, here’s good news. Connecticut-based UAV tech, cloud, and software solutions provider Aquiline Drones has announced it is extending its offer to provide free pilot training and education to emergency and rescue workers for another six months.

Medical drone delivery specialist Zipline has been presented with the 2021 Award for Corporate Excellence (ACE) by US Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken.

This week on DroneDJ’s weekly live show, Yifei and Seth discuss some of the top stories from the past week. Check out the top stories this week and watch the live DroneDJ news round-up show below.

KLM Royal Dutch Airlines has taken another stride toward the routine use of drones for passenger aircraft inspection. It’s transforming its previously exploratory relationship with UAV service provider Mainblades into a multi-year partnership that aims to develop the automated process into a regular part of airline maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) activity.

If you’ve been flying for long, chances are you have a spectacular or instructive or goofy video lying around that your friends still haven’t seen. Why not save the stamp for a Christmas card and send them a drone video holiday greeting?

Hard-charging Australian drone delivery and logistics company Swoop Aero has been granted beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) authorization to transport medical supplies in the northeast state of Queensland.

Some exciting news coming from the Drone Racing League (DRL) today. The Federal Aviation Administration has accredited DRL as the first UAS event organizer. In addition, DRL will also participate in FAA’s Partnership for Safety Plan (PSP) program to help the agency establish standardized safety protocols that all individuals and organizations would be required to follow while conducting drone demonstrations, air shows, exhibitions, and events in front of a live audience.

Innovating startup Electric Sky is working on an energy transmitter to beam power to both single and swarms of drones in flight, and has now been backed by a grant from the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).

In need of some Christmas cheer? Look no further than this amazing video from the Faculty of Electrical Engineering at the Czech Technical University (CTU) in Prague that has an all-star team of robots stealing the spotlight.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has awarded $90,000 in grant funding to train 40 high school teachers in drone fundamentals, as well as to equip each educator with a multi-rotor drone to use with their own students.

San Francisco-based airspace security specialist Dedrone is teaming up with European telecommunications company Swisscom Broadcast to provide clients protection from invasive drones.

A major Swiss update of a previously developed robot has yielded a car, quadruped, humanoid delivery vehicle that may rival aerial drones in getting goods to destinations – apart from the flying trick, that is.

It’s not a drone, but its University of California Riverside inventors say it is robotic: a film powered by light, capable of being configured to soak up oil spills in the ocean or contaminating liquids from freshwater supplies. It’s therefore non-dronishly cool enough to write about here.

DroneUp, a drone services provider that US supermarket chain Walmart has invested in, has taken another significant step toward advancing safe last-mile drone deliveries. The Virginia-based startup has acquired AirMap, a leading airspace management software provider for drones.

We’re at the end of the year, which means social networking platform TikTok is ready with its list of top videos that make up some of 2021’s biggest moments. And sitting pretty at No. 1 is David Allen’s viral dance video to Kid LAROI and Justin Bieber’s “Stay,” filmed with a DJI Mavic Pro Platinum drone.

Everybody has heard about drones by now, but there are several other oft-used terms like UAS and UAV that tend to confuse readers. So, what exactly is a drone and how is it different from these other commonly heard terms such as UAS, UAV, FPV, RPAS, and model aircraft?

One of the most burning questions DroneDJ readers have is also one most pilots are eventually confronted with: What’s the best way of flying drones to observe wild elephants without disturbing them? Thanks to researchers, the world now has the answer.

DJI has released a new firmware update for its sub-250-gram Mavic Mini drone.