DroneDJ

The UK-based UAV delivery specialist Skyports Drone Services has extended its activities in Japan through a successfully completed proof-of-concept trial transporting medical supplies between hospitals and clinics in Kaga City.

Belgian communications and connectivity specialist Citymesh has announced the launch of what it calls the world’s first nationwide network of public safety drones ready to begin onsite data collection and reconnaissance work as soon as 911 calls come in for police and firefighter help.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has authorized the Pearland Police Department in Texas to operate its drones as first responders beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) without any visual observers.

The Association for Uncrewed Vehicles Systems International (AUVSI) has announced the finalists for the sixth annual AUVSI XCELLENCE Awards. While industry recognitions are often considered important as brag tags, these awards are an especially big deal for the drone industry because AUVSI represents corporations and professionals from more than 60 countries involved in industry, government, and academia.

Zeitview (formerly DroneBase) says it has expanded the rooftop assessment capabilities of its AI-enabled Property Insights drone inspection platform. The company’s new offerings include thermal inspections for commercial properties and AI/ML damage assessment for commercial, residential, and multi-family properties.

Electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft developer Archer Aviation has announced it iss moving rapidly toward assembly of its first production air taxi, just four months after unveiling the craft in November.

Dronavia, a French company that manufactures drone accessories, has released two new autonomous flight termination systems (FTS). Compatible with the popular DJI Matrice 300 RTK and the Matrice 30 drone platforms, these are the first ready-to-buy FTS that are compliant with the European Union Aviation Safety Agency’s MoC Light-UAS.25 guidelines.

Specialized heavy-lift drone producer Parallel Flight Technologies has been tapped by USDA Wildlife Services to adapt its Firefly UAV developed to assist firefighters for a natural wildlife preservation project aiming to eradicate a destructive population of invasive rats on Wake Island.

DJI has released a new firmware update for the Matrice 30 commercial drone. The M30 can now fly consistently at the same height above the ground level while conducting Oblique photography and Linear Flight tasks, regardless of the variations in terrain.

The operator of Belgium’s Brussels airport is taking another step in its involvement in and support of UAV and next generation aircraft development by acquiring a 30% stake in DronePort, a project seeking to create a full ecosystem for advanced air mobility activity (AAM).

Drone safe navigation tech specialist Iris Automation will be supplying UAV services company Flying Lion with its ground-based Casia G and detect and avoid system to permit faster deployment of urgent first responder missions by client police departments.

When DroneDJ last visited Phil James in 2021, the former police officer had focused his passion for piloting drones into looking for lost dogs in his Nottinghamshire, UK, homebase and reuniting them with their owners – work that by April of that year had resulting in 47 of those happy endings. Cut to March 2023, and James’s aerial efforts have increased that joyful total to nearly 1,400.

Maker of both hybrid and entirely electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) airplanes, Horizon Aircraft has revealed research on what backers of new craft development expect in the early phases of operation, which ranks much-anticipated air taxi services surprisingly low on that list.

Heisha, a Chinese company that specializes in manufacturing drone-in-a-box solutions, is out with its latest offering, and it’s one that will convert your car into a drone docking station.

Days after releasing major firmware upgrades for the Mavic 3E and Mavic 3M aircraft, DJI is now rolling out a big software update for its flagship commercial drone with interchangeable payloads, the M300 RTK.

The European Commission, the executive body of the 27-member European Union (EU), is soliciting input from various actors in the UAV sector to help formulate unified guidelines and identify effective counter-drone platforms to mitigate potential threats from small aircraft.

Google’s corporate cousin Wing Aviation has repeatedly innovated its methods of organizing and operating UAV transport of ordered goods between retailers and customers. Now it’s taking that to another level by devising reactive, pragmatic, and automated networks of delivery drones whose flexibility and increased efficiencies are what the company thinks will be key to massively scaling the activity.

Mississippi governor Tate Reeves has signed the Uncrewed Aircraft Systems’ Rights and Authorities Act into law, which codifies that the ultimate authority over the state airspace lies with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). This law is crucial because it prevents additional burdensome regulations for drone operators. At the same time, it clarifies that violations of property-based legal regimes, such as trespass, do not occur when a drone simply flies overhead.

Australian developer of vertiports, Skyportz, has struck another deal to adapt existing commercial properties across that nation to serve as operating and recharging hubs for nearing air taxi services.

Drone giant DJI has responded to a study that revealed significant security flaws in the firmware controlling four of its models by offering assurances it had been informed of the gaps and moved to eliminate them before the German researchers behind the discovery released their findings.

For the first time ever, more than 45,000 square kilometers of previously unknown seafloor around Alaska’s Aleutian Islands and off the California coast has been surveyed by an ocean drone.

Canadian drone manufacturer Draganfly is integrating SkyeBrowse’s one-click reality capture platform with its public safety aircraft.