Get the Latest Drone Industry News & Updates on DroneVideos.com
It seems like a simple issue, and at one level, it is. The short answer is: Yes, drones, commercial and recreational, are legally permitted to operate at night. It used to be more complicated. That’s because prior to April 2021, drone fliers needed a special waiver from the FAA to fly at night, legally. “Night”... Read More
Firefighting agencies are increasingly turning to drones to help them extinguish fires that can easily overwhelm their ground-based crews. Even fixed wing aircraft and helicopters can only fly so close to a raging blaze without posing a safety risk to their pilots and crews. And manned vehicles can only fly during daylight hours, while drones... Read More
It looks like a helicopter and flies just like one, but the newly-minted RX550X – the largest uncrewed whirlybird to be approved for production and sale starting in 2024 – has many advantages not found on the standard manned version of the aircraft. For one thing, there’s room for a higher payload – about... Read More
About two dozen law enforcement agencies nationwide have developed a specialized crime-fighting program that allows them to respond automatically to 911 calls with drone-based aerial surveillance. Dubbed “Drone First Responder,” the program sends a drone to a prospective crime scene in advance of arriving patrol officers, allowing them to size up the situation and adapt... Read More
Search-and-rescue (SAR) is among the most popular missions embraced by commercial and recreational drone fliers. Scottish Mountain Rescue (SMR), founded in 1965, first embraced the SAR drone mission in 2018 and has since made it a core capability. The group provided aid to some 740 lost or injured hikers and skiers on Scotland’s mountainous western... Read More
It’s an open secret that drones, despite their many operational, cost and sustainability advantages over gas-powered vehicles, also suffer from a potentially fatal flaw: they run on batteries, which limit their flight time, usually to about 30 minutes. While breakthroughs in battery miniaturization are appearing on the horizon, most efforts to enhance drone endurance consist... Read More
Matternet’s M2 cargo delivery drone was the first in the nation to receive a FAA Type Certificate in September 2022, followed closely by a Production Certificate in November 2022. Last week, the Mountain View, CA-based drone company scored another regulatory victory when the FAA issued the company its second Type Certificate, this time for a... Read More
Arkansas was tied for second in 2022 on the Virgina-based Mercatus Center’s annual scorecard of US states most ready to promote drone commerce. This year the state jumped twenty points to #1, joining four other states that have established an executive-level task force to promote drone industrial development. The Bear State’s latest surge is hardly... Read More
Despite its small size, Israel has one of the most advanced agricultural sectors in the world. And like other farming countries, Israel faces a shortage of agricultural labor at a time when production is booming. How can Israel close the gap? With a wide array of robotic technologies – including drones. Israeli agricultural engineers are... Read More
Two of the world’s leading drone delivery companies are spreading their wings this month. San Francisco-based Zipline, which pioneered the use of UAVs for emergency medical supply deliveries in Rwanda back in 2016, is continuing to make a fresh mark in the retail sector. Last week, the eight-year old company began drone flights of food... Read More