Read or listen to all of the headlines in one place: excerpts from the DRONELIFE drone news of the week of January 27, 2023. Click on the titles below for the full story.
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Amazon plans the largest headcount reduction in its history, slashing 18,000 jobs to improve financials. Unfortunately, just as it is getting off the ground, Amazon drone delivery layoffs will hit the Prime Air team. The Prime Air drone delivery team has been in the headlines since Jeff Bezos first brought the idea to the public in 2013. The company was early to drone delivery – possibly too early, as the retail giant was forced to step far out of its usual lines of business to develop an unmanned delivery aircraft from scratch.
Dedrone Partners with G4S for Airspace Security in EMEA
Smart airspace security leader Dedrone announced that it has partnered with G4S, an Allied Universal® company. The partnership covers Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA). Within these locations, G4S will offer Dedrone’s command and control (C2) drone detection, tracking and identification (DTI) solution suite to customers in over 50 countries.
FlytBase Hosts NestGen ’23 February 23: Best Practices, Solutions for BVLOS Drone Operations
FlytBase, Inc. has announced the second edition of NestGen, the industry’s largest global virtual summit on autonomous BVLOS drone operations. Held on February 23rd, the 12-hour event will feature over 45 speakers from companies such as DJI, Iris Automation, Elsight, TruWeather Solutions, Hover UAV, Aerodyne, Delta Drone International, Citymesh, Paladin Drones, EVA, Zing Drone Delivery, and Valqari. Topics will include the applications and verticals of autonomous drone technology, drone-in-a-box solutions, BVLOS enablers, and drone delivery operations.
Edgesource Corporation is a small business in Virginia, delivering airspace security solutions to the public sector. In 2022, Edgesource joined the group of drone companies donating critical equipment to Ukraine, providing approximately two million dollars in Windtalker™ Counter-Small Unmanned Aircraft System (C-sUAS) technology and the centralized Dowding™ common operating platform to the Ukrainian Army.
Ring, the Compact Counter Drone System Using GNSS Manipulation to Pacify Threats
Software-based GPS/ GNSS security expert Regulus Cyber is launching Ring, the first fully operational, compact counter-UAS system. Ring utilizes unique GNSS manipulation technology in order to pacify all manner of UAS threats. The Ring system relies on combat-proven GNSS manipulation to override the drone’s controls, holding or crashing it or forcing it to land. This method can be used to target and neutralize a single threat, or unlimited threats at once, using very low-power transmission on a single channel. This guarantees low collateral damage limited to the GNSS channel, as opposed to jamming, which affects several RF channels and can interfere with other systems in the area.
Inside the Department of Energy Project Using Drones to Map Radioactive Waste Storage Vaults
Flyability’s Elios 3 has successfully completed a 3D mapping operation of a radioactive waste storage vault following more than a year of preparation and research. The information obtained in the mapping project will prove crucial to planning the vault’s removal. This is thought to be the first time a drone has been deployed to enter a high-level radioactive waste storage vault.
Pixhawk Releases Latest Open Standards: Helping Manufacturers Get New Drones On the Market, Faster
Pixhawk v6 offers a robust, feature rich set of standards designed to support innovation through interoperability – and help manufacturers get new aircraft to market. The Dronecode Foundation (DF) is the organization behind the Pixhawk FMU (Flight Management Units) Open Standards, with contributions and participation from the Pixhawk Special Interest Group, open to all members of the Dronecode Foundation.
Canada’s First BVLOS Approval Without Visual Observers
Today, leading autonomous inspection and monitoring solution provider Perceptoannounced that its Percepto Air Max drone-in-a-box solution has been approved by Transport Canada for Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) operation by Ontario Power Generation Inc. (OPG) at McConnell Lake Control Dam. For the first time in Canada, this BVLOS operation will not require the presence of a visual observer on site. The Percepto Air Max was issued a BVLOS Special Flight Operations Certificate (SFOC) by Rocky Mountain Unmanned Systems and their GM Kevin Toderal to conduct remote inspections in a pilot project beginning this month.
SkyDrive Enters US Market with Plans to Develop Practical Uses for eVTOLs and an AAM Ecosystem
Today at the 2023 annual VFS eVTOL Symposium in Mesa, Arizona, leading Japanese eVTOL manufacturer SkyDrive announced its plans to enter the US market and establish a base of operations in South Carolina, where it plans to develop an advanced air mobility ecosystem and implement practical uses for eVTOLs in the region. The company was first invited to South Carolina last July by the Beaufort County Economic Development Corporation (BCEDC). SkyDrive has been focused on assessing practical use cases originating from several of South Carolina’s major airports utilizing its SD-05 eVTOL aircraft.
Choctaw Nation BEYOND Program Granted BVLOS Approval with uAvionix Installation
UAvionix has announced that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has granted the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma (CNO) Beyond Program approval for Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) operations at the Emerging Aviation Technology Center UAS Test Range utilizing uAvionix SkyLine™ Managed C2 and Detect & Avoid sensors. This is the second BVLOS waiver issued by the FAA for the combination of uAvionix SkyLine software and SkyLink™ hardware, enabling drone operators at the CNO range to rely on an Electronic Observer while meeting requirements to stay clear of crewed aircraft while the uncrewed aircraft is beyond the pilot’s visual range of sight.
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.
TWITTER: @spaldingbarker
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