Episodes

A General Atomics remotely piloted drone flew across the Atlantic, military drone documents found on the dark web, Google’s delivery drone project moves forward, and recreational drone registration reaffirmed. UAV News First ever trans-Atlantic drone flight lands in UK The civilian-registered and remotely piloted General Atomics MQ-9B SkyGuardian flew 3,760 nautical miles from the Grand Sky park at the Grand Forks Air Force in North Dakota to the Royal Air Force (RAF) Fairford in Gloucestershire...

KT Corp proposes the Skyship platform for search and rescue operations, EU moves to harmonize drone rules, deliveries by drone in China, a drone that can change its shape, UAS success in the Arctic, Transcend Air proposes a city-to-city VTOL aircraft.

The Facebook Aquila project is canceled, drone companies attract VC capital, Amazon patents drone hacking defense, making wildfire overflights a felony, surveillance drones that look like birds, and a VTOL transportation service is proposed.

A UAS for Venus from Black Swift Technologies, DJIs new headquarters complex, the MIT Navion chip, commercial drone predictions for 2018 and beyond, and the LiquidPiston rotary drone engine.

A report says FAA risk adversity limits use of drones, SenSat breaks U.K. BVLOS record, Japan set to loosen BVLOS rules, and FCC sends a strong message to drone makers, marketers, and operators. UAV News Risk-Averse Culture At FAA Stifles Progress On Drones, Scientists Say A study by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine was mandated by Congress and sponsored by the FAA. It concludes that the FAA views drones the way they view aircraft: under a strong safety culture that ...

AiRXOS creates partnerships to create an “air operating system,” a five-month Canadian UAS BVLOS proof-of-concept trial, using drones to identify violent crowd behavior, and a chain of custody drone program for law enforcement. UAV News Waze for the Sky: GE Drone Venture AiRXOS Takes Flight AiRXOS is working with government agencies and others to help develop standard criteria for commercial drone operations. The company is a venture between GE Business Innovations (the corporate venture capital...

Airbus pushes forward with a new Urban Air Mobility unit, law enforcement embraces drones, another Amazon drone delivery patent, and FAA UAS news. UAV News Airbus Steps Up Push for Flying Taxis, On-Demand Helicopters Airbus SE is creating an Urban Air Mobility (UAM) division based in Munich. The division will consolidate all UAM activities except current air vehicle projects. Eduardo Dominguez Puerta becomes head of Urban Air Mobility. Previously, Puerta was CEO of the Airbus A3 innovation cente...

A long endurance solar-powered drone, UAVs used for offensive and defensive applications, autonomous pollination drones, and DJI interest in the UAS Integration Pilot Program. UAV News Naval Research Lab Adds Solar Power to Hybrid Tiger UAV Project The U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) will use Alta Devices solar technology to help power the Hybrid Tiger UAV, a long endurance UAV with a planned flight time of at least 3 ½ days. The Tiger uses solar cells, a hydrogen fuel cell, and autonomous ...

UAS Integration Pilot Program selectees, the Small UAS Coalition, Aurora’s Hybrid-Electric VTOL X-Plane, and air taxi action with Uber, Embraer, and NASA.

The Rockwell Collins CNPC-1000 UAS command and control data link, DOT procedures for obtaining operator exemption to hold economic authority, New Zealand police ask the public not to shoot down drones, autonomous air ambulances, battlefield deliveries by drone, the CBP drone program comes under fire, Intel wants to play a major role in processing drone sensor data.

The Intel Falcon 8+ becomes the first drone certified under UL 3030, DJI responds to security and privacy concerns, hydrogen fuel cells for drones, combating the Zika virus with drones, and an air taxi startup draws on an outside designer. UAV News First Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) and Automated Guided Vehicle (AGV) Certified by UL UL issued their first UL 3030 electrical system safety certification to the Intel® Falcon 8+ UAS. Anil Nanduri, VP and GM of Intel’s Drone Group said, “The Intel F...

The Commercial Drone Alliance wants to repeal Section 336 and include recreational drones in the FAA regulations.

Recreational drones flying for commercial purposes, upset Google employees, illegal anti-drone systems, drones and the travel industry, UAS ID and tracking proposals, a business competition winner, mapping with a LIDAR-equipped drone, an outdoor drone testing facility.

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 deve...

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 to...

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 “origami...

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 co...

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 ...

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 barriers…...

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 a...

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 g...

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 that i...

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 at t...

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 ...