Read or listen to all of the headlines in one place: excerpts from the DRONELIFE drone news of the week, July 8.  Click on the links below to read or listen to each story in full.

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SimActive and Phase One IIQ Integration: Faster Processing, Easier Data Management 

SimActive Inc.’s Correlator 3D photogrammetry software is designed for large mapping projects.  Phase One, a pioneer of digital imaging sensors and airborne systems, are a leading tool for data capture.  Now, SimActive and Phase One have partnered on Correlator3D Version 9.2 to offer productivity enhancements that include the support of Phase One’s Intelligent Image Quality (IIQ) format.

Everdrone Emergency Medical Drones Fly in Denmark

Everdrone’s emergency medical drones transport cardiac defibrillator equipment to the scene of cardiac emergencies.  In the city of Aalborg, a hangar is currently in place with operations underway. Two years ago, Everdrone began exploring potential locations in collaboration with the Copenhagen Emergency Medical Services. After deciding on Aalborg, the project was developed and finalized alongside Region Nordjylland in order to serve the region’s 110,000 inhabitants.

NASA Partners with DRONERESPONDERS to Develop Systems for Automated Flight in Emergency Response Ops

NASA has announced the formation of a partnership with DRONERESPONDERS for the research and development of automated safety processes and procedures that will allow for highly automated aviation response in the national airspace.

Class G Inc. on Dawn of Drones This Week! Air Tolling, Avigation, and More

Avigation rights are one of the hottest and most controversial topics in the drone industry today. Who owns the airspace over private property? Does the FAA govern airspace down to the lowest blade of grass in your backyard?

Class G envisions people should be able to monitor their own airspace and report privacy & security issues in real time, with concrete proof of intrusions/violations. This bold start up holds one of the first Air Tolling patents ever issued. Learn about their vision, their product and how this may play out in a neighborhood near you. Join the debate – it’s going to be interesting!

How to Invest in the Drone Industry Now: Diving in to the UAV ETF

At DRONELIFE, we write often about the growth of drones in industry and advanced air mobility – and we take calls and emails every month from individuals who want to know how to invest in the drone industry now.  The AdvisorShares Drone Technology ETF (UAV)is one way to add drones to your portfolio.

An ETF, or exchange-traded fund, is similar to a mutual fund. When investors buy shares of an ETF, they are getting access to a basket of different of stocks.  In the case of UAV, the ETF currently consists of 37 companies that are involved in the drone economy.

American Robotics to Acquire Airobotics, Autonomous Drones

Ondas Holdings Inc., the parent company of Ondas Networks and American Robotics, announced that it has signed a term sheet to acquire leading Israeli unmanned aircraft system (UAS) developer Airobotics. The acquisition of Airobotics would aid in the advancement of American Robotics’ technical development and regulatory roadmap, as well as expand the breadth of applications, use cases and vertical markets AR targets.

Censys Funding: Over $8 Million in Series A for BVLOS Fixed Wing Drone

Remote sensing solutions provider Censys Technologies has announced the closing of its Series A Funding Round, which saw the acquisition of $8.3 million in a round that was oversubscribed and only expected to raise $8 million. The round was led by Kirenaga Partners, with additional major investment from Collective Capital Ventures.

Optelos on Digital Twins and Immersive Data Visualizations: Beyond Drone Data

Optelos is a respected name in the drone industry: but drones have never been their only focus.  The company understood “it’s not the drone, it’s the data,” long before that phrase became a theme in the commercial drone industry. Optelos is a visual inspection data management and AI analytics platform, developed from the founders’ years of research and experience in data analytics and enterprise data management.  Designed from the outset to deliver business tools, Optelos has naturally evolved from managing the vast quantities of data produced by drone missions to developing digital twins, exact visual models of assets in the field – and moving beyond Digital Twins to an immersive visual understanding of an asset or a portfolio.

Dominion Energy, Skydio Drones: BVLOS Waiver for Power Generation Facility Inspection

Today, Dominion Energy and Skydio announced that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has granted the energy company an approval to operate Skydio drones beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) for the inspection of power generation facilities in seven states.

The waiver enables operators to fly drones beyond their line of sight without the need of an additional crew member or technology to detect crewed aircraft. Skydio’s AI technology provides the pilot with the ability to safely fly in a closer proximity to structures than would be possible with a drone utilizing less advanced technology. The waiver will allow Dominion Energy to conduct scaled BVLOS operations to inspect over 40 power facilities throughout Connecticut, Georgia, Indiana, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia. There, the drones will take volumetric measurements and assess construction progress, provide surveying and mapping services, and inspect infrastructure.

Spright Chooses Elsight Halo to Ensure Connectivity for Critical Missions

Spright chooses Elsight‘s Halo to ensure connectivity on manned and unmanned platforms.

Spright, an Air Methods subsidiary, is performing critical missions in North America, providing emergency medical services to more than 100,000 patients across 48 states.  Spright is their drone division – created to help solve many of the time sensitive challenges that the medical logistics industry faces.  Reliable drone operations requires reliable connectivity: and Spright has chosen Elsight’s ‘Halo’ bonded connectivity solution as the C2 (Command and Control) trustworthy link provider for Spright’s different manned and unmanned vehicle platforms.

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