Camera drone operator Paul Nurkkala just released a video titled “Flight of the Year” that showcases his world-class drone piloting skills. He captured some seemingly impossible footage of his drone flying onto, next to, inside, and under a moving freight train. Continue reading
Category Archives: Non-Military & Commercial UAS
New Autonomous Drone Charging Station
Atlas Dynamics, a Latvian developer of drone-based solutions for professional users, has introduced the new Atlas NEST smart protective charging station Continue reading
Wyvern and Women and Drones Partner on EXACT UAS Certification Assessment
Wyvern Ltd., a provider of risk management solutions for the UAS industry, has partnered with the Women and Drones organization to offer its EXACT UAS Certification assessments to its members at a discounted rate. EXACT is an acronym for EXcellence, through Assessment, Continuous monitoring, and Training. Continue reading
First Transmission Line Cable Construction with Drones
Sharper Shape and SkySkopes, in cooperation with an investor owned utility, have developed an innovative and unique way to use unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) for powerline construction. The mission used the Sharper A6 UAS to string sock lines for a 675 kV line construction project. Continue reading
Small Consumer Drones Unlikely to Cause Head Injury
Researchers at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia, the site of an FAA-sanctioned drone testing facility, concluded that the risks of a catastrophic head injury were less than 5 percent in an impact with a 2.6-pound unmanned vehicle, according to results published in the Annals of Biomedical Engineering. Continue reading
US Border Patrol to Test the Operational Use of sUAS
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) announced that U.S. Border Patrol (USBP) will begin evaluating Small Unmanned Aircraft System (sUAS) in the operational environment this month as part of a pilot program. Testing will take place in three USBP sectors beginning with Tucson followed by Rio Grande Valley and Swanton later this year. Continue reading
New Swarming Drone Technology Could Help Find Lost Hikers, Study Wildlife
CU Boulder researchers have developed an advanced drone “swarming” technology that allows a single operator to control multiple unmanned aircraft for a variety of tasks, which could include searching for lost hikers or studying wildlife. Continue reading
Kongsberg Geospatial and eSmart Systems Partner to Deliver Real-time BVLOS Powerline Intelligence
Team members from eSmart Systems and Kongsberg Geospatial pose in front of an eSmart Systems powerline inspection truck. Kongsberg Geospatial and eSmart Systems announced a partnership to deliver BVLOS powerline inspection capabilities in North America and Europe
Kongsberg Geospatial, an Ottawa-based developer of real-time, mission critical, geospatial visualisation software, and eSmart Systems, who develop digital intelligence for the energy industry and smart communities, announced that they have integrated the Kongsberg Geospatial IRIS UAS situational awareness system into the eSmart Systems Connected Drone solution for powerline inspection. Continue reading