A report by the prestigious 41-member Drone Advisory Council (DAC), which advises the FAA on Urban Air Mobility issues, is calling for a sharp reduction in the current airspace restrictions on drone flight near sports stadiums.  The 15-page report, released late last week, criticizes the current restrictions as unduly onerous and unrelated to the actual safety and security requirements for major sporting events.  Under current FAA rules, drones must abide by Temporary Flight Restrictions or TFRs that generally require aircraft to observe a 3-mile radius around sports stadiums severa ..read more

Pressure on Chinese UAV companies to reduce their presence in the US drone market and make room for more US-based suppliers is growing.  A number of ambitious start-ups with niche capabilities are rapidly expanding their operations, hoping to increase their market share. One such start-up is Indiana-based Uniform Sierra Aerospace, the brainchild of three Purdue University graduate students, who first introduced their Arrowhead drone for indoor inspections in 2023.  The company also produces a Phantom drone, released earlier this year, that is ideally suited for criminal pursuit and ..read more

Mountain View, CA based Wisk, a leading designer of eVTOL air taxis,  has just inked a deal with the City of Sugar Land near Houston, TX to begin providing drone passenger service at a small regional airport by the end of 2030. Under their agreement, Wisk and the city will work jointly to identify a site at the Sugar Land Regional Airport to establish a vertiport for Wisk’s autonomous air taxi operations.  The airport, located about 24 miles southwest of downtown Houston, will serve as the hub for a much wider eVTOL network planned for the greater Houston region. Wisk and the city a ..read more

Asylon Robotics, based in Norristown, PA, has just joined an elite group of UAV companies offering companies “Drone in a Box” solutions for their industrial inspection needs. The company has been working with the FAA for the past year to qualify its drone system for Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) operations without the need for remote piloting or ground observers to ensure flight safety. “This approval is the golden ticket of the industry, it is what every major player has been working towards,” Brent Mclaughlin, co-founder and COO at Asylon Robotics, said last week. “The BVLOS waiver an ..read more

Can American UAV companies really make a dent in China-based DJI’s near monopoly over global drone sales?  With pressure rising in Congress to curtail DJI’s access to the US market – and with bans on their use already in place in states like Florida and Tennessee – some U.S. drone firms are stepping up to fill the void.  The efforts of some of the larger NDAA-certified UAV companies, like Skydio, BRINC, Skyfish and Parrot – anxious to enter the lucrative US defense sector –  have become well-known.  But a growing number of smaller, less well-known companies operating in sm ..read more

2024 promises to be a banner year for retail drone deliveries across the United States.  A handful of US-based  drone companies, having acquired FAA approval to conduct flights on a Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) basis, are poised to begin making long-distance deliveries at scale without the need for ground observers or special safety checks.  Of these companies, South San Francisco-based Zipline, founded over a decade ago, and boasting some $500 million in total investment, has emerged as the first among equals. The company first cut its teeth with medical supply deliveri ..read more

Indoor drone flying is a special commercial niche that few UAV companies have mastered.  One of the leading pioneers is Switzerland-based Flyability, designer of the state-of-the-art Elios indoor mapping drone – currently in service inspecting mine shafts, construction sites, warehouses, ship hulls and nuclear waste facilities. The Elios 3 was introduced early last year featuring significant modifications to earlier models.  Key upgrades have included the addition of LiDAR sensors for stabilized mapping in GPS-denied areas (with volumetric measurements that are accurate to within 1 ..read more

Most of the nation’s police forces are eager to acquire drones to bolster their crime-fighting capabilities.  Those that cannot convince their local government to approve a special budget request to purchase a UAV sometimes turn to private foundations for support. But one local law enforcement department has found another source of support –  the proceeds collected from drug busts. The Sheriff’s Office in Campbell County, Wyoming – population 47,028 – tried for years to convince the local government to approve its annual drone budget request – and was turned down every time.  T ..read more

Another country – another drone delivery service.  This time it’s Sweden, and the drone service is a three-way partnership.  The players are all Swedish companies:  Tele2, a mobile connectivity firm; Foodora, a restaurant and grocery delivery company; and Aerit, a delivery drone manufacturer. Together, they’re planning to make food deliveries in Värmdö, a suburb outside Stockholm, starting in May. That’s for starters.  The next stage will be groceries, general store items and medicines from pharmacies and hospitals; the three players then hope to serve Stockholm proper – a ..read more

A South Africa-based drone company is helping fruit and nut farmers worldwide to maximize their crop yield with the help of sophisticated aerial mapping and data collection systems enhanced with artificial intelligence (AI).  The 9-year old drone firm is already operating in 18 countries.  Its largest market by far is the United States, primarily California, followed by Australia, Spain and Portugal. Its customers produce tens of millions of tons of fresh produce every year; with the help of AI systems they’ve seen their yields – and their profits – skyrocket. Aerobotics is part of ..read more