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

When electric power transmission lines become coated with ice, the risk of malfunctions, breakages, cracking, decreased performance and even system breakdowns increase dramatically.  China has faced this problem for years, with provinces like Hunan witnessing power outages lasting two weeks or more due to iced power lines.  Hundreds of thousands of local residents trapped in the dark and the cold have seen their lives placed at risk while lost economic revenues typically run into the billions.  Finding a solution has become an urgent national priority. Aerial drones, especially ..read more

Law enforcement agencies across the nation have turned to unmanned aerial vehicles to track down and capture fleeing criminal suspects.  But some agencies have also found their drones useful for capturing a different kind of fugitive:  escaped zoo animals. Last month, zoo officials in Scotland were searching for a rare Japanese macaque monkey that managed to escape from Highland Wildlife Park in Kincraig, about 120 miles north of Edinborough.  The monkey was spotted in the backyards and gardens of nearby residents, scrounging for food and generally enjoying life outside of capt ..read more

North Carolina, like Texas, is fast becoming one of the nation’s leading drone “hubs.”  The Tarheel State is already tied for 4th place on the Mercatus Center’s 2023 scorecard ranking the “readiness” of US states to promote drone commerce.  Part of its high ranking is due to a new program office in the Division of Aviation whose sole mission is to promote drone activities by government agencies across various niches.  The state’s transportation department is especially active in welcoming fledgling drone companies to test their services at Washington-Warren airport, fueling the ..read more

 2024 could prove to be a banner year for the US drone industry.  While various sectors, including construction and real estate, are experiencing a dramatic expansion in their operations and sales, it’s the retail delivery sector that may be poised for the greatest take-off. A good example is Virginia beach-based Drone Up, one of Walmart’s partners in the company’s “last mile” deliveries to its store customers in 7 states nationwide.  Drone Up has helped pioneer these deliveries, which typically feature short-distance point-to-point flights between individual store outlets and the h ..read more

A rare earthquake in New York City measuring 4.8 in magnitude has the residents of all five boroughs on edge.  The quake was powerful enough to rattle the city’s bridge infrastructure and though no injuries were reported in its immediate aftermath, concerns are growing about possible future damage to vehicles and pedestrians from crumbling and falling debris. In response, the NYPD has decided to deploy a portion of its recently expanded drone fleet on a citywide inspection mission.  The drones are flying over all of the major bridges as well as most of the city’s tallest buildings t ..read more

WSL.ch Drone innovators have been known to look to the insect world for their design inspiration –  bees and beetles are two favorite templates – especially when it comes to wing design.  Now, a team of Swiss designers are turning to cockroaches for insights into how to design a drone that can better explore tree canopies. Exploring tree canopies in depth – to test for sources of plant disease and infestations – has proven challenging to researchers and practitioners in the past.  Jungle forests are often difficult to access due to their remote location and the presence of poi ..read more

A number of recent studies point to a sharp increase in the number of extreme bushfires globally.  These blazes not only destroy property and cause injuries to humans and wildlife, they also exacerbate climate change.  In Australia, carbon dioxide emissions during the Black Summer bushfires of 2019-2020 amounted to nearly 80 percent of that country’s annual greenhouse gas emissions – an unprecedented toll.  Those unprecedented blazes were a startling wake-up call for Australia’s first-responders.  In the four years since. finding new ways of detecting and mitigating brush ..read more

One of the largest home hospital care facilities in the country is about to start delivering medicines to its home-based patients with the help of drones.  Mass General Brigham has just inked an agreement with Draganfly, a leading US drone company, to begin deliveries of critical medicines, technical equipment, and laboratory work to its 3,000 home hospital patients in the Boston metropolitan area. Home hospital patients are unique because they require daily ongoing care and generally cannot visit a local clinic or hospital.  Delivering medical supplies with road vehicles is time-co ..read more