Category Archives: Non-Military & Commercial UAS

Tech Startups Develop Spraying Drone with 50L Capacity

The use of drones in agriculture has gained size and momentum due to their capability to save time and costs while improving crop profit. However, most multi-copters aren’t powerful enough to cover large crop areas or plantations.  In the best of cases, electric multicopters offer flight times that range from 10 to 25 minutes with a load capacity of 20L, forcing the pilot to carry multiple batteries to the field and losing most of their time charging them. Continue reading

senseFly Drones Monitor Lake Winnipeg Ice Hazards

senseFly fixed-wing drones have been used to track and monitor the formation of lake ice hazards on Lake Winnipeg by NextGen Environment Research Inc., a Canadian company based in Winnipeg. The project, conducted as part of the Canadian Space Agencies Earth Observation Applications Development Program (EODAP), aimed to identify and monitor the levels of lake ice and detect cracks and pressure ridges to raise awareness among local communities and first responders about the risks of lake ice travel. Continue reading

IAI Introduces MultiFlyer – A Fleet of Small Helicopter Non-Military UAVs

Israel Aerospace Industries has introduced MultiFlyer, a UAV squadron of small unmanned helicopters that can fulfill a large range of non-military tasks. MultiFlyer provides advanced monitoring capabilities for large areas and is based on commercial, off-the-shelf helicopter UAVs from Alpha Unmanned Systems integrated with components from IAI and several Israeli startup companies. Continue reading

Regulators Approve Brazil’s First BVLOS Drone Delivery Operation

Speedbird Aero team with ANAC officials after successful live parachute deployment

Latin American drone delivery company, Speedbird Aero, announced it has received regulatory approval from Brazil’s National Civil Aviation Agency, also known as ANAC, to operate two experimental drone delivery routes in Brazil. Speedbird Aero operates a proprietary delivery drone with an integrated ParaZero parachute recovery system, and is now the first company in Latin America to win regulatory approval for a drone delivery operation. Continue reading

Japan Airlines Joins Tokyo Drone Delivery Test

Japan’s flagship airline has joined a consortium of transportation and technology specialists to test drone deliveries of medicines and food in Tokyo. Japan Airlines, along with KDDI Corp., East Japan Railway, Weathernews and Terra Drone Corp., announced the project with the Tokyo government. Continue reading