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DJI has announced version 3.0 of its software development kit, or SDK. To help spur developers into working with its SDK, DJI also creates an annual challenge with a cash prize. This year DJI is partnering with Ford and the United Nations to offer $100,000 to the team which builds the best application for launching a drone from moving vehicle as part of a theoretical search-and-rescue mission. Continue reading
The 700-gram Parrot Disco, which the company has been working on for the last two years, is a small fixed-wing consumer drone that looks like a model airplane. It can fly up to 45 minutes and reach speeds of just under 50 mph. The 1080p 14-megapixel camera at the front of the drone is the same one that Parrot used for its Bebop 2 quadcopter. Continue reading
Intel has made yet another hardware acquisition to build up its business of integrating its processors and RealSense imaging technology into the next wave of connected devices beyond PCs. The company announced it has purchased Ascending Technologies, a Germany-based startup that makes small drones and the software used to fly them. Continue reading
The validity of the FAA’s new drone registry is under challenge in federal court. The hope for these hobby flyers is that if the challenge is successful, they – including children as young as 13 – won’t have to file their names and home addresses in a public database. Many hobby flyers have held off on registering their drones, concerned about the public availability of their information. Continue reading
General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc., Poway, California, has been awarded a $338,231,976 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for Predator (MQ1) and Reaper (MQ9) unmanned aerial systems contractor logistic support. Continue reading
The Stanford Intelligent Systems Laboratory is just one team of more than 130 working with NASA to solve how to manage drone traffic. The traffic-management system, which will be under development for the next few years, will help drones communicate with each other and avoid potential collisions. Continue reading
The world’s best Alpine skier was nearly taken out by a drone camera in the middle of a slalom run recently. Continue reading