Drone News of the Week, October 7: DRONELIFE Headlines, All in One Place to Read or Listen

Read or listen to all of the headlines in one place: excerpts from the DRONELIFE drone news of the week October 7.  Click on the titles below for the full story.

Continue reading below, or listen: 

Drones at Montreal Marathon Identify Distressed Runner

Drones operated by InDro Robotics as part of a medical research project at the Montréal Marathon were able to assist in locating a runner in distress near the end of the course.  Data is currently undergoing analysis to determine if drones may be a useful tool for detecting athletes in need of assistance during major athletic events. While athletes in distress are typically reported by an emergency phone call, locating an individual in a crowded event can be time consuming. The aerial perspective granted by drones may allow for faster response times.

Drones for Hurricane Ian Recovery: Airborne Response Completes More than 500 Flights

Airborne Response a leading provider of mission-critical aerial intelligence using small uncrewed aircraft systems (sUAS), has completed more than 500 drone flights in Florida on behalf of enterprise customers supporting response, relief, and recovery efforts in the aftermath of Category 4 Hurricane Ian.  Overcoming immense logistical challenges associated with rising floodwaters and damage to critical infrastructure including closed roads and widespread power outages, Airborne Response teams are working with customers to restore electric service, telecommunications, and shelter to millions of Floridians affected by the storm.

Austria Integrates Drones and Air Taxis in Urban Airspace: Project GOF 2.0

Project GOF 2.0 Integrated Urban Airspace is designed to demonstrate how drone traffic and air taxis can be succesfully integrated with manned aircraft in Europe.    A series of test flights in Austria last month marked a milestone for the project, highlighting the need for integration between drone traffic control systems and air traffic control.

A2Z Drone Delivery Winch is Defining the Way Packages Drop to Your Doorstep

The A2Z drone delivery winch and drone platorm are drone delivery tools designed to keep the drone at a distance from the home, eliminating noise and many safety concerns, while delivering a package gently and accurately to the doorstep. At last month’s Commercial UAV Expo, A2Z Drone Delivery set up a demonstration of their delivery winch system – showing just how easy it is to attach a box, or a stack of pizza boxes, to the winch for delivery or for return.  DRONELIFE spoke with A2Z CEO Aaron Zhang.

TruWeather on Dawn of Drones this Week, with GrandSky President Tom Swoyer

Join Dawn, TruWeather CEO Don Berchoff and Grand Sky President Tom Swoyer this Weds at 9am MT/11 am ET LIVE from the UAS Summit & Expo in Grand Forks, North Dakota.   Among other things, the three will be discussing the TruWeather/Grand Sky collaboration that includes this week’s kick off of the nation’s first state-wide micro weather services. Don and Tom will explain how they plan to fill the mission-critical low altitude weather data gap and increase flight time in ND for both military and civilian drone flights. Don’t miss this one!

Verizons Response Team Launches Tethered Drone to Restore Communications to Sanibel Island

Just days after Hurricane Ian swept through Florida, causing major destruction and downing communications infrastruction, VerizonFrontline was there with drones, trucks and trailers – more than 100 deployables providing tools for recovery efforts.  Eric Durie, Verizon Public Sector, Communications Manager, was on the ground with the team when DRONELIFE reached out to discuss the use of Verizon’s tethered drone restoring communications over Sanibel Island.  The barrier island was particularly hard hit by the storm.  A portion of the causeway linking the island to the mainland has been destroyed, hindering rescue and recovery efforts. Governor Ron DeSantis called the destruction on Sanibel Island “biblical,” and door to door rescue efforts continue.

Drone Delivery in Utah: Zipline and Intermountain Healthcare Launch Program

Today, instant logistics and delivery leader Zipline announced that it is launching a delivery service in the Salt Lake Valley area in Utah, where prescriptions and medical products will be delivered directly to the yards of Intermountain Healthcare patients.   The Utah delivery system will expand over the course of the next five years, eventually becoming capable of servicing over 1 million people. Following a series of test flights beginning several weeks ago, eligible customers are now able to sign up to use the service and place orders. The company will determine whether deliveries can be made to a home based on factors such as yard size, location, and surrounding airspace, and will then contact those customers who meet the requirements.

Nominations Now Open for Women and Drones Global Awards!

Women and Drones has announced the launch of its sixth annual Global Awards, recognizing the women and companies that are driving change and advancing female participation in the uncrewed aviation industry. Today, the program began accepting nominations for the program, which will be open until October 25th. For the second year in a row, the awards will be held at CES 2023, the world’s premier technology event, in Las Vegas, Nevada. This year, the program has been rebranded the Women in Emerging Aviation Technologies Awards in order to reflect a shift in focus towards recognizing individuals and companies throughout the broader emerging aviation technologies system. Outside of drones and Uncrewed Aerial Systems (UAS), the field of emerging aviation also includes electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) vehicles and Advanced Air Mobility (AAM).

Drones and Digital Twins: Is Digitization Driving Drone Industry Scale?

“Scale” is a word of the month in the drone industry.  While large industry and Fortune 500 companies have been using drones to gather data for years now, a combination of regulatory gray areas, complex workflows, and the lack of a clear and easily realized ROI has held many industries back from integrating drones into their operations at scale. That seems to be changing.  Greater clarity on regulations, more automation in drone platforms, easier workflows and better analytics are delivering on something critically important to enterprise businesses: digitization.  Digital Transformation and the efficiencies realized are so important to the post-COVID enterprise that there is a 2-letter abbreviation for it: DX.

LTE for DJI Drones: Paladins EXT C2 Link Extends the Range for DJIs Matrice Lineup [VIDEO]

Today, software and drone manufacturer Paladin Drones launched Paladin EXT, an LTE module that integrates with DJI technology in order to assist departments in establishing drone-as-a-first-responder (DFR) programs more quickly and effectively. Paladin founder Divy Shrivastava was introduced to the world of public safety in 2016 when a friend’s home burned down. Upon speaking with the local fire chief, he learned that a fire doubles in size every 30 seconds, and that first responders lack adequate information when arriving on the scene as a result of 911 callers typically being panicked and lacking the training to assess a scene.

DroneShield Scores $1.8 Million Contract with DoD for Handheld Counter Drone Tech: DroneGun MKIII

Anti-drone system solutions provider DroneShield has announced its receipt of an $1.8 million contract from the United States Department of Defense (DoD) for its DroneGun MKIII handheld counter-drone system. The order will be delivered later in the month, with payment to be received in full during the current quarter. This new contract comes after a prior down selection by the DoD’s Joint Counter-small Unmanned Aircraft Systems Office (JCO) for an assessment of the DroneGun MKIII.

Drones at INTERGEO October 2022: GIS, Mapping, Solutions, Regulations and More

If you don’t have your tickets to INTERGEO 2022, October 18 – 20 in Essen, Germany or online, it’s time to reserve your spot.  Use the code IG22-Life and get free access to the INTERAERIAL SOLUTIONS part of the show!  INTERGEO has been a huge event for the GIS and mapping industry for more than 25 years.   As UAVs have become a critical tool in mapping, there has been a growing presence of drones at INTERGEO.  Now, the INTERAERIAL SOLUTIONS section of the show has its own space, including a flight zone for demonstrations.