Read or listen to all of the headlines in one place: excerpts from the DRONELIFE drone news of the week, September 16. Click on the titles below for the full story.
Continue reading below, or listen:
The drone industry learned of Matternet’s type certification in a surprise announcement by David Boulter, FAA Associate Administrator (Acting) Aviation Safety, during the Commercial UAV Expo Keynotes earlier this week. The type certification is the first of it’s kind issued in the US for a non-military drone, and went to Matternet’s M2 drone delivery system. Matternet has partnered with logistics company UPS to perform drone delivery on medical campuses, as well as delivery of COVID-19 vaccines. The company has been one of the pioneers of drone delivery since their inception in 2011.
New DroneUp Training, Testing and Research Center Shows Their Investment in People
Automated Drone Landings on Moving Vessels: UAV Navigation (Check Out the Video!)
Flight control solutions specialist UAV Navigation has incorporated fully automatic flight deck UAV operations into its flight control system, enabling Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) to autonomously land on moving platforms.
The system’s autopilot is now capable of conducting fully autonomous maritime operations without any manual input across all stages of flight, from take-off to landing. The enhanced flight control system is able to carry out missions from vessels underway at sea or from moving platforms, all without the addition of any extra hardware or third-party devices to improve system capabilities. The UAV Navigation flight controller is able to complete the entire mission on its own, lightening operator workload significantly.
13,000 Miles of BVLOS Utility Line Inspections by Drone: Phoenix Air Unmanned
After about three years of operations, Cartersville, Georgia-based Phoenix Air Unmanned announced it has logged more than 13,000 miles of beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) flights, inspecting utility transmission lines for Xcel Energy.
The company conducted its inspection flights under Xcel Energy’s certificate of waiver authorizing BVLOS flights without visual observers along the route of flight. The FAA-issued waiver allows for use of unmanned aerial systems (UAS) surveillance spanning Xcel’s 18,000 miles of transmission infrastructure. In an interview, Will Wheeler, Phoenix’s director of operations, said the flights took place across Xcel’s service territory, which encompasses a broad swath of the U.S. Midwest and Southwest, including the states of Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Colorado, Oklahoma, Kansas, Texas and New Mexico.
Workhorse Group on Dawn of Drones September 14! Last Mile Delivery with the Horsefly UAV
This week we continue Market Use Cases Month on the Dawn of Drones podcast, sponsored by Prestige Air Group / Global Aerial Management Group, with Rob Heber, Director of Government Programs for Workhorse Group Incorporated. This company is perfecting integrated last-mile delivery technology with its Horsefly drone! Workhorse, originally AMP Electric Vehicles, is an original equipment manufacturer and technology company headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S. Workhorse that makes electric delivery vans, drones, and telematics software designed for last-mile delivery. Its custom-built high-efficiency delivery Horsefly UAV is designed to be fully integrated with its line of electric delivery trucks, while conforming to the FAA guidelines for UAV operations in the U.S. Learn how the company is eyeing other market use cases with these drones and advanced sensor technologies!
UK Drone Delivery Network CAELUS Launches: Medical Distribution
CAELUS (Care & Equity – Healthcare Logistics UAS Scotland), a consortium led by AGS Airports in partnership with NHS Scotland to establish the UK’s premiere drone-based medical distribution network, closed £10.1 million in funding from the Future Flight Challenge at UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) last month. Consortium members, stakeholders and politicians assembled at Glasgow Airport for the official launch, which featured a keynote speech from Scottish Government Public Health Minister Maree Todd as well as a number of exhibitions from consortium partners
Mapping is one of the broadest and biggest applications for drone technology – and that’s why INTERAERIAL SOLUTIONS has grown so rapidly as part of the giant INTERGEO conference in Europe. This year’s conference will be held 18-20 October 2022 in Essen, Germany, and will highlight some of the hottest new technology innovations in commercial drones. For a limited time, DRONELIFE subscribers can get a free ticket to the INTERAERIAL SOLUTIONS part of the show. Enter the voucher code IG22-Life here and register now!
Commercial UAV Expo Outdoor Flight Demos kicked off bright and early in Nevada last Tuesday. Customers, operators, press and the curious joined hosts Sundance Media Group and KukerRanken for a sold-out program of flight demos, held at the nearby Henderson Equestrian Center. Seven vendors brought aircraft and pilots to the stunning high desert venue to demonstrate their unique characteristics and the newest developments. “As you’ll see, there is nothing like witnessing these drones in action,” said Lee Corkhill of Commercial UAV Expo – and we agree.
Skyportz Modular Vertiport Design: Company Seeks Property Partnerships Around the World
This week, electric air taxi developer Skyportz opened its property partner database globally, allowing for registrations from potential vertiport locations anywhere in the world. Additionally, the World Air Taxi Congress in Istanbul, Turkey saw the announcement of a modular vertiport design able to be shipped to any location. These new vertiports, designed by Contreras Earl Architecture with site specific input from Arup and To70 Aviation, are capable of being deployed in separate components and shipped anywhere in the world. Battery charging infrastructure will be provided by leading electric aircraft developer Beta Technologies.
Skydio and Aloft Offer Data Integration for Enterprise Customers
Today, Aloft Technologies, alongside autonomous flight leader Skydio, announced a newly available integration between Aloft Air Control for Enterprise and Skydio Cloud. This new integration provides customers with a united, reliable data stream of flight logs, telemetry, asset tracking, reporting and more. Long requested by customers, this new capability joins Skydio’s dependable autonomous aircraft with Aloft’s preflight and post-flight compliance solutions.
Inspired Flight Blue sUAS Clearance for Heavy Lift and Medium Lift Aircraft
Today, commercial sUAS (small Unmanned Aerial Systems) manufacturer Inspired Flight Technologies, Inc., announced that it has received Blue sUAS 2.0 clearance from The Defense Innovation Unit (DIU). Both of Inspired Flight’s product lines, the medium-lift IF750 Quadcopter and the heavy-lift IF1200 Hexacopter, were accepted into the program. All Inspired Flight products are immediately available on a standard 3 week lead time. The Department of Defense led Blue sUAS Program serves to certify US manufacturers’ aircraft for compliance with all Supply Chain & Cybersecurity requirements pertaining to the operation of UAS by Military operators. This certification allows Government customers such as the Department of Defense to purchase products by Inspired Flight directly from the GSA schedule, all without the requirement of further approvals.
The First Professional Drone Race in Silicon Valley: Drone Racing League and Google Cloud Partner
Today, the Drone Racing League (DRL) and Google Cloud announced the formation of a partnership that will oversee the launch of the 2022–23 DRL Algorand World Championship Season, bringing the first professional drone race to Silicon Valley.
Presented by Google Cloud, the DRL Race in the Cloud will bring in the 2022-2023 racing season on October 11 at 7:30 p.m. PST at San Jose’s PayPal Park, with tickets currently available. The race will coincide with the opening night of the Google Cloud Next annual conference. Conference attendees will be able to take part in the Google Cloud Fly Cup Challenge, a competition for developers to predict race outcomes and provide tips to DRL Pilots using DRL’s race data. Starting today, the competition will run throughout the fall, with developers competing for a chance at an expenses-paid trip to the season finale of the DRL 2022-23 World Championship, where they will be celebrated on stage.
Miriam McNabb is the Editor-in-Chief of DRONELIFE and CEO of JobForDrones, a professional drone services marketplace, and a fascinated observer of the emerging drone industry and the regulatory environment for drones. Miriam has penned over 3,000 articles focused on the commercial drone space and is an international speaker and recognized figure in the industry. Miriam has a degree from the University of Chicago and over 20 years of experience in high tech sales and marketing for new technologies.
For drone industry consulting or writing, Email Miriam.
TWITTER:@spaldingbarker
Subscribe to DroneLife here.