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Smart tech and engineering firm CAL International has formed a partnership with Australian green tech company AirSeed Technologies for a major climate change project that will employ aerial platform technology with the goal of planting 100 million trees by 2024. The partners have designed and engineered a seed pod delivery system for AirSeed’s existing delivery platform. Utilizing artificial and data intelligence, the AirSeed drone is a payload and delivery system that determines target areas using GPS coordinates before launching carbon pods at the ground at a rate of two-per-second.

Global Mapper Mobile: New GNSS Device Support

Using the internal location services of the iOS or Android mobile device by default, users can capture images and create points, lines, and polygon features in Global Mapper Mobile. With the addition of the Global Mapper Mobile Pro Module, Advanced GPS functionality supports Bluetooth connection to external GNSS devices and RTK connection for higher accuracy data collection. The latest update to the mobile app, version 2.3, extends GNSS device support to the new Juniper Geode GNS3 and Garmin GLO GPS units and incorporates a new method for connection through TCP/IP communication.

Helping Drones Land on Steep Rooftops: Check Out This Video

Many operators have learned the hard way that landing drones on steep roofs is almost impossible. Now, researchers at the Université de Sherbrooke have developed landing gear that allows a quadcopter drone to land even on a steep surface – which could have major implications for the commercial drone industry.

DroneShield Announces First Deployment of DroneSentry Counter Drone Tech at U.S. Airport

“The DroneSentry system configuration provides advanced detection capability, in compliance with current U.S. legislation for civilian airports,” says the company press release.  DroneSentry uses a variety of sensors, including radar and cameras, to detect drones in the airspace.  DroneShield also offers AI-based computer vision tools to track drones in real time.  The deployed system includes DroneShield’s RfOne passive long-range drone detection sensors integrated with DroneSentry-C2 command-and-control enterprise software. The system provides near real-time drone detection, tracking and reporting assisting airport authorities with security and risk assessment throughout the airspace.

BVLOS Flight, No Visual Observers: Volatus and FlightOps Receive Cert in Canada

Volatus Aerospace, using the FlightOps OS, has become the first company in Canada to obtain a Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) Special Flight Operations Certificate (SFOC), authorizing the operation of drones without the need for a visual observer. Awarded by Transport Canada, the certificate will enable Volatus Aerospace to scale its unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) operations and begin BVLOS training in several locations throughout the country.

Commercial UAV Expo 2022 Has a Sold Out Exhibit Floor: Make Sure You Don’t Miss A Thing

The Commercial UAV Expo is the world’s leading commercial drone trade show and conference – and it’s only 8 days away! You can still register here for the show, held September 6-8, 2022 at Caesars Forum in Las Vegas.  The exhibit floor is completely sold out and more than 2,500 commercial drone professionals are expected to attend from dozens of countries.

Xelevate and CSU Drone Center on Dawn of Drones August 31!

This week we close out our month dedicated to Developing Industry Leaders Month on the Dawn of Drones podcast, sponsored by Skydio with leaders by hosting leaders from drone training centers on the east and west coasts of the U.S. Join Dawn with special guests Christopher Robertson of Colorado State University’s Drone Center in Fort Collins, CO and Marcy Eisenberg, Co-Founder of the Leesberg, Virginia-based XElevate Unmanned Systems Center of Excellence!

Skyportz Reveals Stunning Design for Australia’s First Electric Air Taxi Vertiport

At the AAUS annual Advanced Air Mobility summit in Melbourne, Skyportz showcased the design of its first vertiport in Australia. Located at Caribbean Park in Victoria, the fastest growing business precinct outside of the Melbourne CBD, the vertiport will serve Australia’s emerging electric air taxi industry. Skyportz and Caribbean Park have collaborated with Contreras Earl Architects, to70 aviation, ARUP and Microflite to develop a design that meets the necessary operational requirements to serve as a vertiport for Advanced Air Mobility.

The Lollapalooza Drone Show: Verge Aero Uses T-Mobile 5G and a Google Pixel Phone

This past July, Verge Aero deployed 300 of its custom built drones at Chicago’s famous Lollapalooza festival, which performed a drone show above the venue to enhance the event. Featuring performances over a four-day period from a diverse set of artists such as Dua Lipa, Metallica and J. Cole, this year’s Lollapalooza was the first to include drones as part of the event. In partnership with T-Mobile and Google Pixel phones, a specially created Verge Aero drone show was staged during Dua Lipa’s Friday night slot.

DroneUp and Elsight Halo: Connectivity for Large Scale Drone Delivery

DroneUp’s major drone delivery program is one of the most widely recognized in the United States.  Expanding to six states, DroneUp’s “Drone Hubs” will serve millions of households: delivering retail goods, on demand.  Developing and future-proofing drone hubs means creating an ecosystem that can support a wide variety of use cases.   “While it would be possible to create a drone delivery solution that operated completely autonomously without intervention from a human pilot, DroneUp felt it was important to design in a remote piloting capability,” says the Elsight case study. “Such a capability would provide safety and redundancy for delivery drones, and could also be essential for other use cases that DroneUp pursued in the future. Robust communications would be critical for supporting command and control, as well as for other capabilities such as sensor and video feeds.”

Pixie Water Drone Picks Up Trash and Gathers Water Data: Meijer Helps the Great Lakes Cleanup Program

Retail chain Meijer recently announced it will be taking part in the Great Lakes Plastic Cleanup Program, an initiative to clean up Midwestern beaches and waterways in partnership with the Council of the Great Lakes Region (CGLR). Meijer will participate in the clean up effort using the BeBot, an eco-friendly electric beach cleaning robot capable of cleaning 32,000 square feet per hour, and the Pixie Drone, a water drone that traverses waterways to simultaneously collect trash and gather water data. This will be the largest ever deployment of such devices across multiple states in the Great Lakes, the world’s largest surface freshwater system.

DRONEIIs Drone Industry Barometer 2022 is Out: Why Most Companies Use Drones

The DRONEII Drone Industry Barometer 2022 is out – and the results of the survey reveal what drone manufacturers, service providers, and users experienced in the last 12 months, and anticipate for next year. The Drone Industry Barometer measures industry sentiment – comparing what companies surveyed expected over the last year, and how those expectations were met.  The survey also reveals what most drone industry stakeholders feel is the major force driving the industry right now – and why most enterprise companies use drones in-house, or through service providers.

Drone Training for Veterans: PromoDrone Partners with Vets to Drones

San Diego-based digital display drone company PromoDrone has formed a partnership with Vets To Drones, a veteran-owned program offering veterans an entry point into the UAS industry.  The goal of the partnership is to provide veterans transitioning to civilian life with entrepreneurship and drone training through the Vets to Drones program, utilizing PromoDrone’s forthcoming beta platform to allow for the development of new skills and as a point of access to a new revenue model.

Miriam McNabb is the Editor-in-Chief of DRONELIFE and CEO of JobForDrones, a professional drone services marketplace, and a fascinated observer of the emerging drone industry and the regulatory environment for drones. Miriam has penned over 3,000 articles focused on the commercial drone space and is an international speaker and recognized figure in the industry.  Miriam has a degree from the University of Chicago and over 20 years of experience in high tech sales and marketing for new technologies.
For drone industry consulting or writing, Email Miriam.

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