Unmanned Aerial Systems / Drones

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued two new rules for U.S. drone operators, a potential significant step forward for the commercial drone industry. The FAA will allow small drones to operate at night and over people and will require remote identification of the drones. Remote ID will be required for all drones weighing 0.55 lb…

While investment in robotics and automation continued apace in November 2020, the total amount was about half of what it was in the same month a year ago.

WiBotic, which has developed wireless charging systems for mobile robots, aerial drones, and lunar systems, has joined the Advanced Robotics for Manufacturing Institute.

Canadian machine vision firm Immervision has been working on providing low-light capabilities to aerial drones and a wider field of view for autonomous vehicle lidar.

It’s no secret the U.S. Army wants its small unmanned aerial systems to operate quietly in densely-populated regions, but tests to achieve this can be expensive, time-consuming and labor-intensive according to researchers. Miranda Costenoble, a researcher with the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command, now known as the DEVCOM Army Research Laboratory, presented work at…

Skygauge Robotics has closed a $3.3 million CAD seed round to expand its team as it develops drones to relieve humans of dangerous tasks such as infrastructure inspection.

Welcome to Episode 26 of The Robot Report Podcast, which brings conversations with robotics innovators straight to you. Join us each week for discussions with leading roboticists, innovative robotics companies, and other key members of the robotics community. You can subscribe to The Robot Report Podcast on Amazon Music, Apple Podcasts, Google Play, SoundCloud, Spotify and more. Please subscribe…

Airdata UAV and Autel Robotics have partnered to offer a one-month free trial of the AirData Enterprise fleet management software to users of the Autel EVO Series II drones.

Stanford University’s “Photoacoustic Airborne Sonar System” could be installed on drones to enable aerial underwater surveys and mapping of the deep ocean.

Percepto, an Israel-based developer of drones for monitoring and analyzing industrial sites, raised $45 million in Series B funding and partnered with RBR50 company Boston Dynamics. The Series B funding, led by Koch Disruptive Technologies, brings Percepto’s total funding to date to $72.5 million. With the funding, Percepto is launching its Autonomous Inspection & Monitoring…

The Cave Circuit, the third stage of the DARPA Subterranean Challenge, was completely virtual, enabling teams to test their software and simulated hardware configurations in difficult environments.

University of California researchers are developing an autonomous mobile robot to sample leaves and measure their water potential.

Wisk said its partnership with NASA is the first of its kind and is intended to address key challenges and create a framework for autonomous passenger flight.

Thales, a “deep tech” multinational, is working with the state government of North Dakota and other partners to provide the TopSky UAS Traffic Management System to scale safe and secure drone air traffic control.

VTOL drone delivery developer and service provider Volansi said it is expanding in Bend, Ore., to take advantage of the region’s talent pool and aviation technology expertise and scale its production and operations.

Spain-based drone maker Quaternium and fuel-injection system provider Löweheiser said they have set a new endurance record for hybrid-powered aerial drones by combining technologies in the HYBRiX system.

Virginia Tech hailed the U.S. Department of Transportation’s BEYOND program, which is intended to foster stakeholder engagement in safely integrating aerial drones into the U.S. airspace for commercial uses.

For too long, I have flown over the middle of the United States ignoring the creativity of my fellow citizens below. COVID-19 changed everything, grounding planes and forcing me to drive on a cross-country adventure. To my surprise, the I-35 corridor that stretches from Dallas through Oklahoma City is one of the busiest centers for…

Stanford University researcher Mac Schwager entered the world of penguin counting through a chance meeting at his sister-in-law’s wedding in June 2016. There, he learned that Annie Schmidt, a biologist at Point Blue Conservation Science, was seeking a better way to image a large penguin colony in Antarctica. Schwager, who is an assistant professor of…

Exyn Technologies said its new ExynAero drone sensor system can map industrial environments in real time without a human pilot.

Labor shortages, dynamic work sites, and the need for accurate data are helping drive demand for robots, drones, and AI designed to serve the construction industry.

Volansi, which provides heavy-capacity, long-range, VTOL drone services, delivered temperature-controlled Merck medications in the first part of a three-phase pilot in rural North Carolina.