At every Commercial UAV Expo, either in the USA or Europe, there are always innovative technologies that catch our eye. This was the case during the recent Commercial UAV Expo Europe in Amsterdam when we walked into the booth of Drone Rescue Systems, an Austrian-based company that has developed an ingenious parachute system to keep…
Drones (Photogrammetry) vs Terrestrial LiDAR – What Kind of Accuracy Do You Need?
Drones vs A four-part series exploring when and how drone technology can be considered and utilized in place of or in addition to other potential solutions. Part 1 – Drones vs Manned Aircraft Part 2 – Drones vs Satellites Part 3 – Drones (Photogrammetry) vs Terrestrial LiDAR Part 4 – Drones vs HALE How accurate…
UL and the Release of a Battery Safety Standard for the UAV Industry
Over the past 18 months we’ve been writing about the frustration with the current state of affairs in terms of time in the air (TITA) for battery powered multi-copters and small fixed-wing unmanned aircraft. We have interviewed many people with innovative ideas to extend TITA, ranging from the more traditional tethered solutions to the really…
Starting a Drone Program with Zero Acquisition and Maintenance Costs
The U.S. Department of the Interior recently announced an addition of 50 Vertical Take Off and Landing (VTOL) fixed wing UAVs, and these tools will round out a drone program that has become a real leader in terms of the application of this technology. Since the DOI is one of the few agencies that actually…
Regulatory Update & U-Space Developments from Commercial UAV Expo Europe
A fascinating session about the current state of the regulatory framework in Europe took place at Commercial UAV Expo Europe. Chaired by Alain Siebert of SESAR, it provided and a comprehensive update on U-Space developments and much more. First we heard from Benoit Curdy from the Global UTM Association who gave us a 30,000 ft…
Drones vs Satellites: Competitive or Complementary?
Drones vs A four-part series exploring when and how drone technology can be considered and utilized in place of or in addition to other potential solutions. Part 1 – Drones vs Manned Aircraft Part 2 – Drones vs Satellites Part 3 – Drones (Photogrammetry) vs Terrestrial LiDAR Part 4 – Drones vs HALE The world…