DroneDJ

Having an eye in the sky is essential for Wilderness International, a nonprofit that has saved more than 4.5 million square meters of valuable and endangered rainforest to date. Here’s how drones are enabling the organization to follow a transparency-centric approach to conservation…

Despite UK drone regulations that have been knocked by critics for confounding increased use by consumers, businesses, and public administrations alike, the Lincolnshire Police force has not only found a way to fully integrate UAVs into its work, but has made the rising number of its aerial exploits a main vector of its external communications strategy.

Researchers at the University of Tokyo are working on ways to boost the task-performing brawn of drones without undermining the accessibility advantages that come with their smaller size, and now say they may have a solution by coupling devices once they’ve reached job sites to combine their power.

With the release of DJI’s Air 3, we now have every (non-FPV) video drone that DJI offers in its third generation – yes, I’m even going to talk about the Inspire 3 today. So, which drone is best for you? Well, the answer isn’t as straightforward as it used to be.

Officials in Washington State battling a series of wildfires are making a clear, unmistakable, and what should be – after this many years of repeated blazes ravishing the globe – an unnecessary appeal to drone operators: Keep your craft the eff away from burn zones and the firefighters seeking to control them.

In the wake of recent moves to facilitate drone operations in the formerly closed skies of New York City, officials are now reportedly examining the further expansion of already increasing police use of UAVs to include emergency responder activities – provoking immediate, albeit suspiciously motivated alarm.

Walmart has found a new partner to expand its drone delivery services. The retail giant is teaming up with Wing – a drone delivery firm owned by Google’s parent company Alphabet – to reach an additional 60,000 homes in Texas.

Less than 24 hours after Red Cat Holdings announced its reception of Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) certification under looming remote identification regulations, the security, defense, and military UAV specialist revealed the second multimillion-dollar order this month for its Teal 2 drones from the US Department of Defense’s official procurement agency.

The Police Department of Grand Rapids, Michigan, has received an all-clear to enter the small craft aerial age with final approval – and a nearly $100,000 budget – to create and operate a new fleet of drones, all of which will initially be DJI craft that politicians in Washington, DC, and a number of states have been seeking to ban.

Counter-drone specialist D-Fend Solutions has announced the launch of its latest product, EnforceAir2, which is flexible enough to be deployed using a portable backpack.

With enforcement of new Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) rules imposing UAV identification less than a month away, Red Cat Holdings says its Teal 2 defense and security drones have obtained certification as remote ID compliant with an onboard communications system that surpasses minimal requirements.

Canadian next-generation terrestrial and aerial vehicle specialist InDro Robotics has joined the effort to battle wildfires that have been punishing the nation for weeks with data-gathering drone deployments to assist firefighters in British Columbia.

Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) says it is using drones to assess the effects of low water flows on bull trout movement and migration in drought-affected Kittitas and Yakima counties.

The West Midlands region in England is trialing a new fully automated drone service to identify and resolve transport issues faster. Public body Transport for West Midlands (TfWM) has joined forces with drone company SkyBound Rescuer to ensure an eye in the sky in the areas that don’t have CCTV coverage.

Terra, the all-in-one drone mapping solution from DJI, has received a new firmware update. Version 3.8.0 of the software packs in several new features including a revamped workflow for cluster reconstruction. And as always, many existing features have been optimized, and occasional issues fixed.

An unrelenting quest for truth – and businesses recognizing a ripe opportunity when they see it – will be fueling the convergence of myriad mystery lovers, avocational researchers, and drone pilots on Scotland this weekend to search for the Loch Ness monster during the 90th-anniversary year of its first sighting.

A strain of drone protectionism appears to be spreading in Australia, where a political push to halt use of DJI craft by government agencies has coincided with the creation of a state tech accelerator encouraging the production of national alternatives to imported UAVs.

Firmware version 01.01.06.30 is now available to download for the new DJI Osmo Action 4 camera. The accompanying Mimo app has also been updated to v1.10.2 by DJI.

The stingy, irregular drips that used to seep out of drone giant DJI about products under development have in recent months turned into something of a deluge, with an additional glut of leaks bursting forth this weekend on the company’s rumored Mini 4 Pro and a mysterious, non-folding enterprise craft.

Say it with drone shows. That’s the method the UK’s Ministry of Defence (MoD) has adopted this summer in spreading its message about the considerable dangers of the public accessing land used for military training – including areas hosting fast-moving exercises that may involve live munitions. 

Given the growing use of UAVs in the country mirroring similar rises worldwide, it’s not surprising Australia has also recorded an uptick in illegal drone flights in restricted airspaces – with recent air traffic oversight figures reflecting the extent of increased banned activity around major Aussie airports.

When it was announced a week ago within a package of headline-making developments, Archer’s agreement with air taxi rival Wisk to end their bitter legal feud was greeted as an immediate win for both startups – though some evidence now says the biggest medium- to longer-term gains stand to be made by Wisk owner and aviation mastodon, Boeing.

Drones have become a part of the English Premier League football referee training program. With the new season now underway, referees and assistant referees are using video footage captured by DJI Mavic 3 Enterprise and the DJI Matrice 30 drones during practice matches to analyze their movements from above.