New legislation to extend the ‘no-fly’ zone around UK airports came into force 13 March 2019. It is now illegal to fly a drone within 5km of an airport, with major penalties for those who break the law. Continue reading
Airbus’ Skyways Trials Shore-to-Ship Deliveries
Airbus has begun shore-to-ship trials in Singapore with its Skyways parcel delivery drone. Airbus claims that this marks the first time drone technology has been deployed in real port conditions to deliver a variety of small, time-critical maritime essentials to working vessels at anchorage. Continue reading
Unifly Launches e-Identification and Drone Tracking
At the World ATM Congress in Madrid Unifly presented an e-Identification and tracking solution for drones. The device works in a completely independent fashion, with its own power source and sensors for position, altitude, temperature, pressure, speed and direction. As soon as the pilot attaches it to a drone, it is ready for use. Continue reading
US Army Starts Manned-Unmanned Training Programme
Sikorsky S-97 Raider demonstrator
The US Army launched a manned-unmanned aircraft teaming demonstration programme on 14 March which is intended to help rotorcraft pilots better coordinate with autonomous drones in combat. Continue reading
Swarming Drone Hackathon Challenge
The UK’s Dstl (Defence Science & Technology Laboratory), in partnership with the AFRL (US Air Force Research Laboratory), are hosting the ‘Swarm and Search AI 2019 Fire Hack‘. Simultaneous competitions in the UK and US will explore new and more efficient ways to plan and execute complex drone searches and missions. Continue reading
Chinese Startup Focusses on Agritech
Back in 2009 Justin Gong and a group of friends he calls “The Geeks” designed their first drone. For the 21-year-old Chinese business student, the prototype was a means to an end. As a freelance cameraman and passionate nature lover, he could use the technology to capture unique shots of animal migration. Continue reading
‘Grasshopper’ Cargo Drone Leaps 6.5ft into the Air
A drone has been likened to a grasshopper because of its unique ability to leap into the air using its specially designed legs. Continue reading
Echodyne to Provide Radar for NASA UTM Program
Echodyne, the manufacturer of innovative, high-performance radars for government and commercial markets, announced that its radar platform has been selected by two Technology Capability Level 4 (TCL4) awardees of NASA’s UAS Traffic Management (UTM) program – Lone Star UAS Center of Excellence & Innovation at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi, and Nevada Institute for Autonomous Systems Unmanned Aviation Safety (NIAS-UAS) Center of Excellence. Continue reading