Category Archives: Non-Military & Commercial UAS

State Farm Gets First National FAA Waiver for Damage Assessment Drone Flights

State Farm drone pilots conduct drone flights with Mid-Atlantic Aviation Partnership (MAPP) at Virginia Tech

State Farm just announced that it has received “the first national waiver to any company in the U.S. by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)” for the operation of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) or drones beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) and over people. The waiver grants relief of certain FAA rules through 2022. Continue reading →

Israel’s Flytrex Closes $7.5M Funding Round

Israeli drone logistics startup Flytrex, which specializes in food and consumer good deliveries via unmanned aircraft systems, has raised $7.5 million in a series B funding round led by Benhamou Global Ventures, with additional investment from Btov. The investment follows a $3 million Series A funding round in June 2017, bringing the company’s total raised to $10.5 million. Continue reading →

How to Dig a Hole with Two Drones and a Parachute

The NIMBUS Lab at the University of Nebraska has been developing drones that have the unique ability to dig holes in the ground and then fill those holes with sensors. If this sounds like a complicated task, that’s because it is: The drone needs to be able to carry a portable digging system a useful distance, locate a diggable spot, land, verify that the spot it thought was diggable is in fact diggable, dig a hole and install the sensor, and then fly off again. Continue reading →