Drone News of the Week March 10: 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 of March 10, 2023.  Click on the titles below for the full story.

Continue reading below, or listen:

AFWERX has awarded Asylon Robotics a $1.2M Phase II Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) contract in order to transition its DogHouse unmanned ground vehicle (UGV) recharging platform to battery swapping for UGVs.  Asylon will assist the 6th Space Warning Squadron (6 SWS) at Joint Base Cape Cod in developing a battery swap station for UGVs, allowing for uninterrupted security operations. Asylon’s DroneHome battery swapping technology, made to facilitate the automated swapping of batteries for small unmanned aerial vehicles (sUAS), will be integrated into Asylon’s recharging Doghouse to form a battery replacement/swap station for UGVs.

The Mercatus Center on the Drone Radio Show Podcast: Are Drone Highways the Future?

This week, the Mercatus Center on the Drone Radio Show Podcast.  Host Randy Goers speaks with Senior Research Fellow Brent Skorup about drone highways in the sky: their benefits and the challenges local, state and federal policy makers may have in advancing the UAS industry while responding to varied stakeholder interests.

The Winners of SkyPixels 8th Annual Aerial Photo and Video Contest!

Today, SkyPixel announced the winners of its 8th Annual Photo & Video Contest. This year’s contest, co-organized with DJI, received over 65 thousand submissions – a 120% increase from last year’s event. The theme of this year’s contest, “The Story Behind,” urged users to share what mattered to them most through both their submissions and the reflections shared on their submission page.

As Remote ID Approaches, DJI Discontinues AeroScope

DJI has “quietly” discontinued AeroScope, the Verge reports, noting that the DJI website says the product is no longer available.   DJI has stopped production of the AeroScope system, which offered one of the first solutions for detecting a drone’s pilot.  Introduced in 2017 as a “drone license plate” technology, AeroScope was developed as a way of meeting the needs of law enforcement officials to track the pilots of unlawfully operated aircraft while balancing the privacy needs of pilots.

Adobe Sponsors National Public Safety Drone Donation Program

Adobe has become a corporate sponsor for the National Public Safety Drone Donation Program, or NPS-DDP.org. Essential in supporting non-profits, corporate sponsors provide financial backing, resources, and assistance in reaching a wider audience. Sponsors also help by offering expertise, skills, and volunteers to assist non-profits in meeting their goals.

AAM and Vertiports in Australia: Skyportz and Pelligra Partner

Air taxi infrastructure company Skyportz has announced a partnership with property developer Pelligra to explore the joint development of vertiport networks to attract air taxi and drone delivery services to Australia.  This new Agreement builds on a prior partnership between Skyportz and other property owners such as Secure Parking, an owner of hundreds of inner city car parking sites.

Drone Based Roofing Inspections: Zeitview Expands Software Platform

Advanced inspection service provider Zeitview announced that its AI-enabled Property Insights Platform is being expanded. The company will now offer thermal capabilities for commercial properties, as well as AI/ML damage assessment capabilities for commercial, residential and multi-family properties. The Property Insights Platform leverages high-resolution aerial imagery of the roof secured from drone flights to assess rooftop conditions, identify anomalies, and recommend optimized maintenance schedules.

Clean Up Australia: Aerologix Drone Pilots Find Hidden Trash

Sydney-based drone startup Aerologixhas announced a partnership with Clean Up Australia to assist communities in cleaning hidden pockets of garbage in waterways and nature reserves. This weekend’s cleanup will see pilots focus on capturing aerial footage along the Northern Beaches coastline. The gathered image and video will be used to geolocate trash and highlight hotspots on a map for clean up groups to focus their attention on.

Drone Show Korea Highlights International Partnerships: Drone Solutions for Bangladesh

Drone Show Korea 2023, the largest in its 7 year history, took place last week in Busan, South Korea at the Busan TechnoPark.  The growing cooperation between the Korean drone industry and Bangladesh is a case in point.  Malik Fida Khan, Executive Director of the Bangladesh Center for Environmental and Geographic Information (CEGIS) was a VIP guest, telling a compelling story about the critical role of drone technology in environmental conservation in his country.  Established in 2002, CEGIS is a public trust and center of excellence (COE) by the Government of Bangladesh under the Ministry of Water Resources. CEGIS is a multidisciplinary center

Airobotics Acquires Counter Drone System Iron Drone Assets

Ondas Holdings announced today that its subsidiary Airobotics has completed the acquisition of the assets of autonomous counter-drone systems specialist Iron Drone, whose new system will be presented March 7th – 9th at the World Police Summit in Dubai.  Ondas will integrate Iron Drone’s counter-drone technology within its Ondas Autonomous Systems business unit. Alongside its Optimus System™, Ondas offers a government-grade drone solution for security and critical infrastructure protection and monitoring.

Elios Users, Don’t Miss Flyability’s First User Conference! April 17-18 in Atlanta

Flyability’s Elios is the collision-proof drone designed for inspection in inaccessible spaces.  Now, Flyability is holding their first user conference April 17-18 in Atlanta.  Elios owners and users  – or anyone interested in the technology – won’t want to miss this opportunity to learn from other industry experts and the Flyability team.  See a full agenda and register here.

Veterans Film Apprenticeship Program Wins Funding: Drone Pilot Training for Veterans

The Atlantic County Economic Alliance (ACEA) has received $150,000 in congressionally directed funding for a training program helping veterans to become drone pilots and find jobs in the aviation and film industries. The funding was announced during a press conference held at the National Aerospace Research & Technology Park in Egg Harbor Township, NJ.

Wing Launches the Automated Wing Delivery Network, with Autoloader for Curbside Pickup [VIDEOS]

Alphabet’s Wing has been working towards providing safe and efficient drone delivery as part of an automated logistics system capable of transporting packages by the millions. Recently, the company has worked to integrate its drone delivery with existing delivery infrastructure for restaurants and retailers. Wing has launched delivery services from parking lots and rooftops, integrated with major delivery apps, and has delivered as many as one thousand packages per day in a delivery region of over 100,000 people. These efforts have largely been directed toward the development of Wing Delivery Network, a decentralized, automated logistics platform able to support high-volume drone delivery across a major metro area or a more sparsely populated region.