As beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) UAS operations are primed to open a range of possibilities in the drone industry, fixed-wing drone solutions provider senseFly has established itself as an early leader in safely and successfully performing these operations.
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Weekend Roundup: December 4, 2020
This week (and last) in the Unmanned Systems and Robotics World
Mississippi State University (MSU) engineers in the university’s Raspet Flight Research Laboratory are leading research efforts that could make UAS operational by the U.S. government, as well as civilian aviation, in icy conditions. The U.S. Department of Defense is hoping that the icing system development and technology team being led by MSU will result in lightweight anti-icing systems, which would lead to certification for UAS to operate in forecasted icing conditions. (Mississippi State University)
FLIR Systems acquires small UAS manufacturer Altavian
FLIR Systems has acquired Altavian Inc., a Gainesville, Florida-based privately-held manufacturer of small UAS (sUAS) for defense and public safety customers.
Altavian UAS users are provided with decision support and intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) capability, thanks to Altavian's airframes integrating multiple sensors, including FLIR thermal technology.
Founded in 2011, Altavian designs and manufacturers Group 1 UAS platforms for long or short range operations. Altavian designs both quadcopter and fixed-wing UAS, so its expertise includes aeronautics, avionics, and software. The company’s solutions are engineered around an open system architecture aligned to the needs of government and defense customers.
Drone Harmony decides to embed its flight mapping solutions with Altitude Angel's market-leading data
Unmanned Traffic Management (UTM) technology provider Altitude Angel has announced that software company Drone Harmony has opted to equip its flight mapping solutions with Altitude Angel’s market-leading data.
Drone Harmony is developing a data capture platform that enables enterprises to capture quality data of infrastructure assets. According to Altitude Angel, this addresses the main hurdle encountered when attempting to tap into digitalization benefits: the lack of complete, quality, and up-to-date digital databases representing the enterprise assets.
DJI announces that drones have helped rescue more than 500 people around the world from danger
According to new statistics collected by DJI, drones have helped rescue more than 500 people around the world from danger.
The milestone was achieved in mid-October, when a DJI drone with a thermal imaging camera was used to find a missing 93-year-old woman in a dark field in Missouri.
“With more than 500 people now rescued by drones operated under basic rules, we can see how reasonable regulations with low barriers to entry literally save lives, and how useful expanded drone operations at night and over people will be when they are permitted at scale,” says Brendan Schulman, DJI vice president of Policy & Legal Affairs.
Walmart, Intel partner to bring holiday drone light show to communities across U.S.
In an effort to uplift families following an unprecedented 2020, Walmart has announced the “Walmart Holiday Drone Light Show,” which the retail giant describes as “an all-new magical experience that brings the joy and wonder of the holiday season to the skies of select communities across the country, and to all families through a special live-streamed event.”
SkySkopes' stratification as top Drone Service Provider validates its day one vision
In October, SkySkopes announced that it was named the top drone service provider (DSP) in the U.S., as well as one of the best globally, by Drone Industry Insights (Dii), the leading source for business intelligence in the field of commercial drones.
Equipped with a highly qualified operations and geospatial team, SkySkopes was ranked according to its size, consistent drone-industry development, global UAS market-share, growth, public awareness and online presence and activity.
“I’m truly delighted by Drone Industry Insights’ stratification of SkySkopes as the top DSP in the U.S.,” SkySkopes CEO Matt Dunlevy said at the time.
Weekend Roundup: November 20, 2020
This Week in the Unmanned Systems and Robotics World
Students and faculty at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia are working on an autonomous vehicle that can transport the elderly. The JMU Autonomous Cart (JACart) research group tested its second autonomous (AV) golf cart on the university’s campus in a fixed course on Wednesday, Nov. 18. (WHSV-TV)
uAvionix participates in deployment of North Dakota's statewide BVLOS network
uAvionix has announced its participation in the deployment of North Dakota’s statewide Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) UAS infrastructure and network, Vantis, which is led by the Northern Plains UAS Test Site.
uAvionix is a strategic partner to Thales’ TopSky Unmanned Traffic Management (UTM) platform, so it is deploying terrestrial command and control (C2) infrastructure and a cloud-based C2 service, which enables centralized management, coordination, and C2 handoffs. In turn, this will enable BVLOS missions across the key-site deployment area of McKenzie County, North Dakota.
Drone Delivery Canada successfully tests several critical aspects of its Robin XL UAS
Drone Delivery Canada (DDC) has announced that it has successfully tested numerous critical aspects of the Robin XL drone at its ‘Tranquility Base’ test range.
