Drone

The final version of Part 107, the Small UAS Rule for commercial drone operation, was published to the Federal Register this morning.  The official effective date has been listed as August 29, 2016. The drone industry has been waiting for the final publication of the rule for several years, and …

Photo credit: Famartin, license by CC U.S. Forest Service officials are asking drone operators to stay away from the CA wildfires, as firefighters complain that drones are interfering with their efforts. Nine different wildfires are still burning throughout California, with almost 70,000 acres burned so far.  Over 5,000 firefighters are working …

Guest post by Kay Wackwitz, Drone Industry Insights — Everyone is doing something with drones today. If you want to check out what could be in it for you, this article is a must-have! Here you will find what’s happening today, what’s out there, what’s necessary and last but not …

Over the past few years, the press has emphasized how much commercial drones will be used to improve farming. The assumption is that drones provide more accurate data for use in variable rate technology (VRT) so farmers who use drones will experience increased yields.  But truth be told very little …

Guest post by Julio Ventura, DronesWorld.net — When we think about flying drones in a crowded place, most of us will be concerned about safety. Our drone technology has not yet developed to the point where we feel completely safe flying a drone around big crowds. Consequently, business areas such …

For dam infrastructure, monitoring is crucial. Operators require a simple, effective way in which to locate an area of interest on the dam’s wall and compare this to historical records—whether digital photos or annotated drawings—in order to track degradation over time. The Tseuzier dam’s operator, Electricité de la Lienne, was …

The FAA has released a draft of the details of the Part 107 test for commercial drone operators who do not already hold a Part 61 pilot’s license.  (For details on the process if you already hold a Part 61 pilot’s license, follow the links above.) The big change for …

The World Economic Forum has named a commercial drone company as one of 2016’s Top Technology Pioneers.  Precision Hawk, a leading provider of a drone and aerial data analytics platform heavily utilized in precision agriculture, made this year’s Top 30 List for their contributions to global food security. The World Economic …

Sponsored by PowerVision — PowerVision, a leader in robotics and big data, today announced a new global design contest kicking off this summer. The “PowerEgg Design Challenge” aims to inspire both professional and amateur designers to submit outstanding external designs for the pioneering and elegant PowerEgg flying robot, PowerVision’s first consumer …

Part 107, the Small UAS Rule, has been praised as a huge step forward for the drone industry and criticized for not going far enough to support industrial applications.  While the new regulations will benefit some, there are both winners and losers as a result of the law. The drone …