By Eyal Zor, CEO and Founder of Airwayz What is your perception when you think about flying cars? Is it a perpetual cliché that’s only seen in science-fiction movies, that’s actually light-years away in terms of real-life adoption? It’s understandable that society views Urban Air Mobility (UAM) in this way, however, it is a common misconception and a rapidly increasing amount of use-cases, investment and infrastructure being introduced around the globe proves otherwise. Since February, the first airport specifically for ‘flying taxis’ is being built in Coventry in the UK as a carbon-neutral, zero-emissions hotspot for such means of travel. The vision is that air-taxis or electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) vehicles will provide a platform to transport both people and goods in urban airspace, easing the congestion that we’re so used to being a part of on the ground. Further to this, The UK Research & Innovation (UKRI) is investing £125 million into its ‘Future flight cha

RTH function (return to home) - important notes Image source: Pixabay Drones have become more advanced than ever. These machines almost work as they have their own brain. This is because of their many advanced features. Every good drone is equipped with intelligent, useful options, and the RTH function is one of them. Today we are going to give you some important notes on the return to home function. What is the RTH function? RTH function means a return to home. When you enable that, your drone will go back safely to the home point alone. Most of the drones have intelligent obstacle avoidance systems , which means that they can safely go back to the landing location even in bad situation such as low battery, or no signal. The RTH function is one of the most important options that you should look for while buying a drone. Why? Because you can not always see your drone, your battery may go low, or bad weather conditions may appear. It is always a good id

With a lot of talk around the Mavic 3 and DJI Smart Controller support and some of the confusion on Ocusync 2 and the M3. This should put a bit more clarity on what’s going on and why it’s not as simple as Ocusync 2 on the RC-N1 works and the Ocusync 2 on the SC does not. A bit of history DJI created Ocusync with the release of the Mavic Pro, before this on previous models we had the Lightbridge system that was a hardware-based radio system. What is known as Ocusync 1 on the Mavic Pro is a software radio (SDR) solution based on off the shelf Leadcore SOCs. These are Arm A7 chips that have a built-in 4G/LTE RF modem. Later the Mavic 2 was released with what DJI called Ocusync 2 again based on Leadcore with the White FPV goggles and the Goggles RE and Ocusync Air system all fielding the same Leadcore chipsets. This was DJI’s move into SDR based video/RC and telemetry link and it was driven by the leadcore LC1806 Series for instance. Regardless of if it was Ocusync 1 or 2 it was all the

Drones for Pollution: DJI Teams with Boat Owners to Combat Coastline Trash By DRONELIFE Staff Writer Ian M. Crosby DJI has partnered with AnimaMundi Ocean Data Solutions and Lagoon to build the world’s first comprehensive database of plastic waste on coastlines using drones. The project starts with drones piloted by sailors taking place in the Atlantic Rally for Cruisers (ARC), which begins on Las Palmas in the Canary Islands on November 21st. DJI is providing Lagoon with drones in order to measure plastic waste on beaches around the Caribbean. The drones will collect images for AnimaMundi’s automated processing to measure the scope of plastic waste pollution more efficiently. This data will offer evidence as to whether or not efforts to disrupt the flow of plastic into our oceans are resulting in a decrease in pollution on our coastlines. With over 300 million tons of plastic produced each year, at least 8 million tons end up in our oceans, making up 80% of all marine debris, from s

If you’re a longtime drone pilot looking to expand your fleet or new to the world of professional unmanned aerial systems (UAS), there’s a lot to consider when investing in a new drone platform. Before we jump into the exciting details such as advanced camera payloads, flight capabilities, data quality, and precision mapping outputs that were not even imaginable years ago, it’s essential that you first understand which type of aircraft is best suited for your business. Is a multi-rotor drone, such as a four-propellor-powered quadcopter ideal for most application needs, or a fixed-wing that more closely resembles a traditional airplane? Or both? While there are a lot of differences between these two platform types, the flight times that result from their unique aerodynamics, stand to make the biggest business impact. And the advantages are multi-faceted – let’s take a closer look. 1. Fly significantly longer When it comes to large-scale mapping projects, the eBee X fixed-wing design go

DJI provides a longer service protection for your Mavic 3 To show our appreciation for early customers of DJI Mavic 3, we’re offering extra service for those who purchase Mavic 3, DJI Mavic 3 Fly More Combo, or DJI Mavic 3 Cine Premium Combo before January 1, 2022 as a gift for your support. This additional service applies to DJI Care Refresh service (if purchased) and to the original warranty. 1. Longer Warranty Period For customers who purchased DJI Mavic 3 before January 1, 2022, additional warranty coverage will be provided from the day you receive the product until February 7, 2022. The official warranty period will be calculated beginning on February 8, 2022, giving customers a longer coverage period for additional peace of mind. For Example: November 9, 2021: Receive DJI Mavic 3 November 9, 2021 – February 7, 2022: Additional warranty coverage provided February 8, 2022 – February 7, 2023: Official warranty period of DJI Mavic 3 Note: Warranty duration varies by region. For more

Ōtautahi Christchurch is home to a diverse community of start-ups, entrepreneur-driven companies and organisations dedicated to aerospace innovation.  Canterbury is well on the way to being an integral facet of a flourishing national aerospace sector. With unique physical attributes, proximity to international ports, existing testing facilities and one of New Zealand’s largest electronic manufacturing clusters, the talent pool is also here; nearly a third of national aerospace engineering students, and nearly a quarter of engineering students, graduate from Canterbury universities.  Fuelling the transition to more sustainable, efficient ways of transport, the Christchurch aerospace industry has a range of new and well-established key players shaping the sector, from research and design, to building, testing, launching, and servicing satellites, drones, flying vehicles, space launch vehicles, and manned and unmanned spacecraft.  Below, we’ve curated a selection of exciting companies ope

DroneUp, LLC , a leading global provider of drone technology and services, and Walmart announced today the first multi-site commercial drone delivery operations. The three locations, which will be located at Walmart stores in Northwest Arkansas, will operate from 8:00 a.m. ­– 8:00 p.m., seven days per week, to deliver items to eligible Walmart customers by air in as little as 30 minutes. “When we invested in DroneUp earlier this year, we envisioned a drone delivery operation that could be quickly executed and replicated across multiple stores,” said Tom Ward, senior vice president of last mile at Walmart U.S. “Opening our first hub within months of our initial concept showcases DroneUp’s ability to safely execute drone delivery operations with speed. We’re already hearing great customer feedback at our first site in Farmington, Arkansas, and look forward to opening additional locations.” DroneUp’s delivery operation provides Walmart customers a safe, convenient, fast, and sustainable d

Which beginner drone tips are most valuable? Image source: Pixabay So, you have purchased your first drone? You are new to this and you still need to learn how to fly it without crashing it into the first building? We understand the struggle, and that’s why we want to give you some beginner drone tips that will be helpful in your drone journey! What are the best beginner drone tips? Legal flight The most important tip is – register your drone before flying it! Especially, if you are located in the US. There are some drone flight guidelines, which are a good idea to check before flying your drone in the US. You can read FAA drone laws and be prepared for your drone flight. Check the signal of GPS GPS signals are mandatory for safe flying. You can fly your drone when it finds at least 10 satellites, and when the GPS icon is followed by at least 4 bars. Obstacle avoidance system As a beginner drone tips, we can say – get a drone equipped with an obstacle

The New Alpha 900 unmanned helicopters by Alpha Unmanned are already flying with the Greek Navy. The sale to the Greek Navy of 5 new Alpha 900 unmanned helicopters for use onboard ships launches Alpha Unmanned’s state of the art new offering.  The Greek Navy plans to use the Alpha 900s for maritime security and surveillance. “The new Alpha 900 can take off vertically from a moving vessel and land autonomously on a navy vessel, requiring little space for those two essential operations,” says a press release. “It can also fly relatively longer flight times compared to other similar-sized UAVS (up to 4hrs and carry payloads up to 4kgs) and it is built “Stanag Compliant” so that all critical systems are redundant. This makes it a very good technology for many navies, coast guards, and/or seaborne intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition, and/or reconnaissance operations.” With immigration issues a growing concern around the world, navies and coast guards have begun to adopt unmanned

Volocopter, German urban air mobility (UAM) pioneer, and Kakao Mobility (KM), South Korea’s largest mobility platform company, have inked a memorandum of understanding to conduct a feasibility study on introducing UAM in South Korea. The study will identify a list of potential commercial routes, operational capabilities, and business models necessary for a UAM service operator in South Korea. The findings, to be released by February 2022, will lay the groundwork for possible future cooperation between both companies to launch UAM services in South Korea, which plans to commercialize the service by 2025. UAM refers to urban transportation systems that move people by air. This mobility form complements existing mobility options in cities to reduce congestion and lets people reach their destinations faster and more comfortably. As the pioneer in the UAM industry, Volocopter is the first and only electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) company globally to have obtained both design a

Source: Iris Automation California-based drone-tech provider Iris Automation is helping commercial drones over Canadian skies stay safer after the nation’s FAA equivalent, Transport Canada , chose the company’s Casia collision avoidance system as part of a new tech-demo program. Conducted by the National Research Council Canada ( NRC ) on behalf of the agency, the Detect and Avoid trials evaluates the use of various types of DAA tech to inform future Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS) regulations and standards. What is Casia? Iris’ Casia systems uses machine learning to detect unanticipated aircraft encounters and takes corrective action to avoid a potential mid-air collision. During the Canadian trials, the system will be integrated on a helicopter serving as a surrogate RPAS and then flight tested against various “intruder” trajectories flown by other NRC aircraft. “These real-world encounter scenarios simulate the kinds of encounters that commercial drones face while operati