Episodes

The UL 3030 certification standard for small commercial drones that use lithium-ion batteries. UL is a global safety consulting and certification company that was established in 1894. Previously a non-profit organization known as Underwriters Laboratories, the company transformed in 2012 into UL LLC, a for-profit company. UL has been developing a new certification called UL 3030 to help prevent safety incidents involving lithium-ion batteries in drones. We talk with two UL experts about the de...

Lockheed Martin’s MQ-25 Stingray concept, UTM testing, nuclear power plant inspection, pizza delivery by drone, another near-miss, Canadian drone regulations, and a new drone racing idea. UAV News Skunk Works Reveals Stealthy UAV Demonstrator The Lockheed Martin Skunk Works is celebrating their 75th anniversary and they were a major sponsor at the LA County Airshow in California. Lockheed put the X-44A small UAV on static display for the public for the first time. The X-44A first flew in 2001 ...

Picking up objects with a folding arm drone, a drone that protects dropped objects with an airbag, a large air freight drone, training drone photographers and videographers, a first night flight for the NTSB, a general aviation company partners with an unmanned company, and an autonomous vehicle accident. UAV News This Drone Has Retracting Arms that Allow it to Pick Up Objects South Korean scientists have created a drone with folding arms that can pick up objects. They are calling it an “origa...

Testing the Cora electric air taxi in New Zealand, drone research at Ford, package delivery in the UK and in the U.S., UAS traffic management in Switzerland and in the U.S. UAV News Larry Page’s Flying Taxis, Now Exiting Stealth Mode The Kitty Hawk company calls Cora “your first step towards everyday flight.” Financed by Google co-founder and Alphabet CEO Larry Page, Kitty Hawk’s operator in New Zealand Zephyr Airworks has been testing an electric, self-piloting flying taxi. The plan is for a ...

Observations from the FAA’s 3rd annual UAS Symposium. 2018 FAA UAS Symposium The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI) co-sponsored the FAA’s 3rd annual Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Symposium on March 6-8, 2018, at the Baltimore Convention Center. David attended the event and he gives us his observations. Remote identification of unmanned aircraft was viewed as a key enabler to the goal of BVLOS (beyond visual line of si...

Drone legislation priorities for 2018, UAVs and university research, Piaggio’s latest P.1HH HammerHead, unmanned vehicles from Turkey, the drones made by DJI, drone applications in Maine, and hydrogen fuel cells for drones. UAV News Commercial Drone Alliance: Legislative Priorities for 2018 Founded in 2016, the Commercial Drone Alliance is an independent non-profit organization led by members of the commercial drone industry. They “…advocate for the commercial use of drones by reducing barrier...

A call for regulation of recreational drones, the accuracy of wildlife counts, a flying display device, the MQ-1 Predator retirement, using drones for automated inspection, and a Phantom may have caused a helicopter to go down. UAV News Airline Groups Call on US Congress to Regulate Drones Three groups want Congress to modify Section 336 of the 2012 FAA Modernization and Reform Act that restricts the FAA from applying any rules or regulations to the operation of recreational drones or unmanned...

The changing landscape for drone services, drone swarms for urban tactics, a simulated drone attack in Idaho, European airport operators embrace the value of drones but look for protections, MIT develops a mapping system for drone navigation, the Department of the Interior uses UAVs with great results, and Intel at the Olympics. UAV News Here’s Why The Drone Services Industry is in Trouble In the “old” days, the Section 333 process was long and difficult. The hardware was tricky to operate and...

Ehang flies their autonomous aerial vehicle with human passengers, reaction to a close encounter with an airliner, drone safety measures at the Olympics, drone video awards, drone package delivery by Airbus, and thoughts on cargo drones. UAV News Flying car? Watch as this drone flies around with passengers inside The Ehang 184 autonomous aircraft is rated for a 220-pound payload, a cruising altitude of 500 meters, and a top speed of 80 mph. CEO takes ride in passenger drone to demonstrate tha...

DroNet uses deep machine learning for autonomous flight, a labor union takes a stand on package delivery by drone, a tiny radar for sUAS, counter-unmanned aerial systems, and a British drone survey. UAV News AI-Powered Drone Mimics Cars and Bikes to Navigate Through City Streets Researchers have developed a drone that can autonomously fly through the streets of a city. DroNet uses minimal onboard sensing and is trained with datasets collected by cars and bicycles. Two years ago, roboticists a...

Aurora Flight Sciences and PrecisionHawk receive additional funding, some first responders gain permission for BVLOS and night flights, the FCC imposes a civil penalty for communications violations, China is developing a heavy cargo drone, and KFC offers a build-a-drone promotion. UAV News Boeing’s New Drone Subsidiary Purchase Is Already Paying Off The U.S. Air Force awarded Aurora Flight Sciences a $48 million contract to fund continued development of its Orion Unmanned Aircraft System. This...

Drone parachute systems to protect your UAV, state-level drone legislation, UAS disaster response training, large drone swarms and peeping drones, and a new drone registration class action lawsuit against the FAA. UAV News New Harrier Parachute Launcher is Light, Compact, and Easy to Use! Fruity Chutes announced a new line of drone parachute launchers. The servo-activated Harrier Drone Parachute Launcher was developed for fixed wing and small multicopters. It featured a thin wall carbon fiber ...

Drone news from CES 2018, drones and asymmetrical warfare, situational awareness for sense and avoid from Insitu, a Cargo Air Vehicle prototype from Boeing, and GoPro exits the quadcopter market. UAV News Drones fly over Bellagio fountains during Las Vegas CES Intel Corp. flew 250 light-emitting Shooting Star drones over the Fountains at Bellagio at CES 2018. Intel plans a drone show at the 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea. Video: Intel’s drone light show sends 250 drones flying over Las V...

DARPA Gremlins advance reusable drone technology, North Carolina plans UAS workshops for public safety agencies, Seaglider underwater drones set to explore Antarctic ice shelves, fuel cell propulsion systems will be integrated into the ScanEagle, and medical package delivery drones are successful in Africa. UAV News Air Force Could Test “Flying Aircraft Carriers” as Early as Next Year The U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Gremlins program envisions small, reusable drones t...

An Aviation Rulemaking Committee has released their recommendations for identification and tracking of unmanned aircraft, Airbus looks to incorporate some Formula 1 technology into their Zephyr High Altitude Pseudo-Satellite, a proposal is submitted to send a multirotor drone to one of Saturn’s moons, a drone quickly finds a missing man, and the FAA prohibits drone flights over certain facilities. UAV News FAA Releases UAS Remote Tracking & ID ARC Report The Unmanned Aircraft Systems Identific...

Airways and AirMap partner on a three-month trial of a UAV traffic management (UTM) platform, NTSB issues Aviation Incident Final Report on drone collision with a helicopter, Singapore tests drone strikes on test dummies, recreational drone registration is signed into law, and using drones for law enforcement. UAV News New Zealand to trial drone traffic management system Airways is New Zealand’s air navigation service provider. They deliver air navigation and air traffic management consultancy...

SkyX completes a data collection flight of a Mexican gas pipeline, Terra Drone uses the LTE network for unmanned traffic management, Europe moves toward drone standards, Maine law enforcement employs drones, China uses drones for monitoring forest fires, New Jersey tackles droning while drunk, and Airbus expands its investment in unmanned technology companies. UAV News Canadian drone remotely monitors gas pipeline in Mexico Canadian company SkyX Systems Corporation offers systems for monitorin...

A study examines sUAS collisions with manned aircraft, Amazon patents a self-disintegrating drone, Mercedes completes 100 package deliveries by drone, a race that pitted an autonomous drone against a piloted drone, and marine mammals are disturbed by drones. UAV News Researchers Release Report on Drone Airborne Collisions A research team from ASSURE {Alliance for System Safety of UAS through Research Excellence} released a report that looks at sUAS collisions with manned aircraft. Congress dir...

David and Max take the week off due to the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday. We want to say “thank you!” to all our listeners around the world, as well as to our sponsors. Special thanks to @dronemama for working so hard to produce quality show notes each week. All the best, David and Max

Authority for drone registration would return to the FAA if the National Defense Authorization Act is signed into law. Airbus subsidiary A³ is building full-scale demonstrators of an electric single-seat tilt-rotor VTOL aircraft for a fleet of autonomous self-piloted taxis, LAANC is starting at four airports, AT&T deploys their Cell on Wings, and AOPA holds their first Drone Talk webinar. UAV News Congress Poised to Restore Drone Registration Tossed by Court H.R. 2810: National Defense Authori...

Additional details of the FAA UAS Integration Pilot Program have emerged, with webinars held on that topic by the FAA and others. Also, Boeing’s acquisition of Aurora Flight Sciences is complete, NASA’s Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate (ARMD) is expanding its research scope to include Urban Air Mobility, and drone strikes on manned aircraft. UAV News UAS Integration Pilot Program Webinar The FAA conducted several one-hour UAS Integration Pilot Program webinar sessions. The Program see...

CNN gets a waiver for a newsgathering drone, DJI offers an electronic license plate for drones and will quiz pilots before first flight, more on the Drone Integration Pilot Program, and drone regulations in India. UAV News CNN gets a first-of-its-kind waiver to fly drones over crowds CNN received a Part 107 waiver from the FAA to fly the Vantage Robotics Snap over people as a newsgathering drone at altitudes of up to 150 feet AGL. The FAA accepted CNN’s “Reasonableness Approach” that considere...

President Trump directs the DOT and FAA to launch an Unmanned Aircraft Systems Integration Pilot Program, a company drops out of the Navy MQ-25A Stingray competition, a long endurance drone flies for five days, and a microbot swims underwater and flies in the air. UAV News President Donald Trump and Secretary Elaine L. Chao Announce Innovative Drone Integration Pilot Program In a Presidential Memorandum for the Secretary of Transportation, President Trump directed the U.S. Secretary of Transpo...

Interviews from the 2017 Big Drone Show in Toronto, Canada with Tablet-EX-Gear, Gyrfalcon Unmanned Aircraft Systems, Global UAV Technologies, High Eye Aerial Imaging, and UAV Tower Innovations. The Big Drone Show The Big Drone Show was held September 27-28, 2017 at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, and David recorded interviews with a number of exhibitors: Brian Saunders, president of Tablet-EX-Gear, maker of tablet computer chest packs for forestry and other applications and now chest pac...