Technology

Sensors, batteries, LiDAR, obstacle avoidance, and the engineering that moves the industry forward.

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Oct 19

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White HOVERAir Versa handheld gimbal camera held in a hand below a hovering HOVERAir caged selfie drone

Technology

HOVERAir VERSA FCC Certification Was Granted In Error, FCC Says

The FCC tells DroneXL it has ordered HOVERAir to stop selling the VERSA in the US, set aside the device's certification, and is weighing further action.

Haye KestelooAug 18

FCC BAN

FCC Drone Ban Comment Window Closes September 2, Putting LiDAR Drones On The Line

The FCC's proposal to pull previously approved foreign drones covers seven capability categories, not four, and comments close September 2, not September 3.

Haye KestelooAug 16

DOCKET 26-189

Idaho Quadcopter Says The Drone Noose Keeps Tightening. The FCC Notice Answers One Fear

Idaho Quadcopter says tariffs and FCC rules are pushing hobbyists out. The FCC's own notice answers his biggest fear about the drones he already owns.

Haye KestelooAug 16

AVIDrone Katana unmanned helicopter drone hovering against a clear blue sky, showing its main rotor, long tail boom, tail rotor and four-legged landing gear

Technology

DARPA Pays Half As A Conventional Helicopter Wins The Lift Challenge At 3.84:1

Avidrone Inc. won the DARPA Lift Challenge at a 3.84:1 payload-to-weight ratio with the Katana, a conventional single-rotor helicopter, and because nobody reached 4:1, the half-prize clause DroneXL reported last week cut every podium payout in two. The result says as much about energy density and American drone policy as it does about lift.

Haye KestelooAug 10

The grey fuselage of a Primoco UAV fixed-wing aircraft on the ground, marked with the Primoco UAV name and Deutsche Telekom's magenta T logos

Technology

Deutsche Telekom Puts A Cell Tower On A Drone In Czechia

Two Primoco UAVs took turns carrying mobile base stations over a Czech protected landscape, holding a 7.7 square mile coverage zone at up to 100 Mb/s on standard phones and standard frequencies.

Rafael SuárezAug 8

A yellow fixed-wing reconnaissance drone with a Ukrainian trident on its tail rests on a camouflage case in a field of dry golden grass.

Ukraine

Quantum Systems Paints Vector Drone Yellow to Dodge Hunters

Quantum Systems gave its Vector reconnaissance drone a yellow fuselage that blends into Ukraine's dry summer fields and a rear-facing thermal camera whose AI dodges FPV interceptors without waiting for the operator. Both ideas were published by nature first.

Rafael SuárezAug 5

A small white hexacopter weather drone climbs vertically against a clear blue sky, seen from below.

Drone Research

Meteomatics Weather Drones Give NOAA Forecasters New Eyes

Meteomatics and NOAA flew Meteodrones over Purcell, Oklahoma on July 30, profiling the lowest layers of the atmosphere on demand — the exact altitude band where tornadoes form and where balloons and satellites leave forecasters half blind. Switzerland has 10 sites and Norway is building 30. Oklahoma has one.

Rafael SuárezAug 5

Three DARPA Lift Challenge team members in red shirts carry a long tubular heavy-lift drone airframe across the grass field at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force

Technology

DARPA Lift Challenge Opens In Dayton With A Prize Rule That Plans For Failure

More than 90 teams are flying the DARPA Lift Challenge at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force through August 9, chasing a 4:1 payload-to-weight ratio for a share of $6.5 million. DARPA's own prize rules cut the top three awards in half if nobody clears 4:1, and the agency still has not resolved what the FCC Covered List means for the parts these American teams built with.

Haye KestelooAug 4

Technology

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