Walmart earlier this month applied for a patent for “drone pollinators” that would fill in for the declining population of bees that now help fertilize the crops needed to produce the food sold by Walmart and other grocers. Continue reading
Cleaning Wind Turbine Blades by Drone
Hundreds of feet above a snow-covered field, a boxy black device covered in propellers hovers next to the enormous outstretched blade of a wind turbine. From a corner of the machine, a nozzle sprays a liquid across the surface of the blade in a rapid smooth zigzag motion like a rogue car wash in the sky. Continue reading
US Transfers New Scan Eagle to Philippine Air Force
U.S. Ambassador to the Philippines Sung Kim turned over a Scan Eagle Unmanned Aerial System to Secretary of National Defense Delfin Lorenzana during a transfer ceremony at Villamor Air Base, Pasay City on March 13. Continue reading
BMW Helps Build World’s Fastest Racing Drone
BMW is working with the Drone Racing League (DRL) to break the record for the world’s fastest drone set by the DRL itself last year. BMW will loan its technical expertise and wind tunnel at its Aerodynamic Test Center to help the league break the 165.2 mph Guinness world speed record it set with its DRL RacerX drone. Continue reading
Boeing Shares in $15M Investment in Detect and Avoid BVLOS Radar Firm
Fortem Technologies, Inc., a Salt Lake City, Utah-based company developing advanced radar systems for unmanned and manned aircraft, announced that it has closed a $15 million Series A funding round led by DCVC (Data Collective) with key participation from Boeing and Mubadala Investment Company, as well as Manifest Growth, New Ground Ventures and founding investor, Signia Venture Partners. Continue reading
Market Report on Civil Drone Operations Available Now
This market report is based on the Survey on Civil Drone Operations, conducted by Blyenburgh & Co, on behalf of UVS International, is now available. Continue reading
US Air Force Wants Air-to-Air Missiles on Reaper
MQ-9 Reaper Block 5 – Air Force photo by SrA. Damon Kasberg
The US Air Force (USAF) is looking to equip its General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc (GA-ASI) MQ-9 Reaper with an air-to-air missile (AAM) capability for the first time. Continue reading
Google Puts AI into Project Maven
Google has partnered with the United States Department of Defense to help the agency develop artificial intelligence for analyzing drone footage, a move that set off a firestorm among employees of the technology giant when they learned of Google’s involvement. Continue reading