UAVs
Airobotics scores authorization to fly autonomous drones in Israel
A startup based in Petah Tikva, Israel, Airobotics, has scored the right to fly drones autonomously for business purposes in Israel. The Civil Aviation Authority of Israel (CAAI) was the…
DARTdrones pitches Shark Tank to build a flight school for drone pilots
Entrepreneurs who pitch on ABC’s Shark Tank typically make packaged goods and apparel. Occasionally, the high tech breaks through. XCraft, the company behind the PhoneDrone Ethos, scored a rare investment from all of the…
AirMap raises $26 million to manage air traffic as drone use surges
Lower airspace isn’t crowded with drones quite yet. But as drones become more pervasive, a startup called AirMap is building software and systems to help drone operators fly only where…
Exyn unveils AI to help drones fly autonomously, even indoors or off the grid
A startup called Exyn Technologies Inc. today revealed AI software that enables drones to fly autonomously, even in dark, obstacle-filled environments or beyond the reaches of GPS.
When conservationists put drones to work in field research, they typically function as flying eyes that gather imagery of the habitat and wildlife below. Now, ornithologists from Gettysburg College in Pennsylvania…
To detect prying eyes in the sky, Dedrone raises $15 million
For better or worse, drones are about to become a lot more prevalent in US airspace. The FAA expects sales of drones to spike domestically from 2.5 million last year…
Energy giant AES partners with Measure to improve worker safety with drones
Major power producer AES Corp. is ramping up the use of drones with an eye toward shielding workers from industry hazards. Rather than buy all their own unmanned aerial systems, they’ve…
DARPA shows off its SideArm system catching drones mid-flight
Military-style fixed-wing drones are easy to launch, but difficult to land; DARPA aims to change that with SideArm, a portable drone-grabbing system that snatches the fast-moving craft right out of…
Amazon Echo spot ‘primes’ Super Bowl audience for drone delivery in the US
Although Amazon ran a Super Bowl ad for Echo, its delivery drones stole the show. The e-commerce titan’s Super Bowl spot featured a woman and a man sitting on a couch with a bowl of…
Blackboard cofounder Michael Chasen takes CEO reins at PrecisionHawk
Commercial drone tech venture PrecisionHawk has a new CEO—again. Red Hat Inc. cofounder Bob Young, who has served as PrecisionHawk’s CEO since July 2015, is handing over the reins to…
Iris Automation raises $1.5 million to help drones sense and avoid obstacles
Iris Automation Inc. has raised $1.5 million to bring “sense and avoid” technology, and truly self-flying capabilities, to drones used for industrial tasks. Even for human pilots, identifying obstacles and deciding…
The Federal Aviation Administration and SkyPan International in Chicago have settled a civil suit that was closely watched by the nascent commercial drone industry. The government agency said the privately held company flew its drones over…
Measure raises $15 million to fly drones as a service for other companies
Measure may not be building the ultimate flying camera, or drones that drop burritos at your door. But the Washington D.C.-based startup has raised $15 million in Series B funding to…
DJI acquires majority stake in Hasselblad, the iconic Swedish camera company
Last year DJI took a minority stake in Hasselblad, the iconic Swedish camera company. The companies also announced a partnership to work together on high-end camera drones that would combine…
Alarm.com is building drones to monitor your home inside and out
At CES on Tuesday, Alarm.com revealed that it is developing a smart home security drone alongside its other IoT devices and software. The idea is that if you hear something…
Amazon patents show flying warehouses that send delivery drones to your door
We’ve known about Amazon’s drone delivery ambitions since 2013. But patent filings from Amazon, circulated today by CB Insights’ Zoe Leavitt, reveal more details about how the e-commerce titan could…
The commercial drone industry in the U.S. hasn’t heard much from the President-elect about his plans for rulemaking that will impact their business and global competitiveness. Last month, Associated Press broke…
Hangar raises $6.5 million to give companies all the drone data they want without having to fly themselves
Drones and pilots legally permitted to fly them are here in spades. So American businesses are scrambling to figure out how to use drones to gain a competitive advantage. Recent…
A test flight with Zipline, makers of humanitarian delivery drones
A maker of delivery drones called Zipline began nationwide delivery of blood and other critical medical supplies in Rwanda today, through a partnership with the Rwandan government. The program strikes…
DroneDeploy launches a directory for professional drone operators
DroneDeploy wants businesses to be able to find a drone services provider as easily as anyone can find a place to eat dinner, anywhere in the world. So today, the…
A Santa Monica-based startup called AirMap today launched a feature that gives drone operators real time traffic alerts whenever manned aircraft such as helicopters, crop dusters or low-flying passenger planes,…
Mercedes-Benz and Matternet unveil vans that launch delivery drones
Mercedes-Benz Vans and drone tech startup Matternet have created a concept car, or as they’re calling it a Vision Van, that could change the way small packages are delivered across short distances. The…
Intel could put fireworks out of work, gets FAA permission to fly drone fleets at night
As regulations governing the commercial use of small drones in the U.S. went into effect this week,companies immediately began obtaining exemptions from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration to these rules.…
In a first, FAA allows PrecisionHawk to fly drones where pilots can’t see them
The Federal Aviation Administration has given permission to a drone tech startup called PrecisionHawk to fly its unmanned aerial vehicles beyond the visual line of sight (BVLOS) in U.S. airspace.…
New rules for commercial drone use take effect today in the U.S.
The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration put new rules into effect today regulating the commercial use of small, unmanned aircraft systems, or drones. The rules apply to drones that weigh up…
Domino’s Pizza Enterprises has demonstrated delivery of hot pizzas by drone in Auckland, New Zealand. The company has a long history of embracing high-tech concepts. Last year, they tested out…
DroneDeploy raises $20 million to help any business put drones to work
A San Francisco-based startup called DroneDeploy has raised $20 million in Series B funding to grow their drone data management platform. The drone tech startup closed its Series B deal…
PowerEgg, the ovoid flying robot, lands this October for $1,288
Today, Beijing-based PowerVision made its ovoid camera drone, the PowerEgg, available to international customers via pre-order on the company’s website for $1,288. Customers who pre-order a PowerEgg will also get a backpack designed to…
Drone startup Aptonomy introduces the self-flying security guard
Aptonomy Inc. has developed drone technology that could make prison breaks, robberies or malicious intrusions of any kind impossible for mere mortals. Dubbing it a kind of “flying security guard,” the company has built…
Intel unveils a ready-to-fly drone, the Aero, to win over developers
At the Intel Developer Forum on Tuesday, Intel unveiled a new, hardware product — a ready-to-fly drone; specifically, a quadcopter, aimed at software developers rather than casual hobbyists or commercial…
