Drone Ban Update, Green Day Concert, FLIR, SkyeBrowse

Welcome to your weekly UAS News update. We’ve got five stories for you this week. We’ll discuss a drone ban update, a Green Day concert paused for a drone flight, a partnership between Flir and AirData, the use of a drone to recover a stolen vehicle, and SkyBrowse updates.

House Votes to Pass the Countering CCP Drones Act

The House has voted to pass the Countering CCP Drones Act. Representative Stephanie Bice stated during her speech that over the last seven years, the U.S. Government has confirmed that DJI drones are being used to collect information on U.S. critical infrastructure and pose significant risks to U.S. national security. However, the evidence supporting these claims is unclear.

The Countering CCP Drones Act was also passed with the House NDAA. Both bills still need to go through the Senate before landing on the president’s desk. Now is a great time to weigh in on this issue. Educate your senators and representatives, and if you’re having trouble with where to start, head over to the DA website.

Green Day Concert Interrupted by Drone

Green Day was rushed off stage this week after security spotted a drone in the stadium. Detroit Polisi confirmed the interruption was due to a drone and that the operator was located and detained. It’s unclear what drone was flying and how close it actually got to the band.

This event did not qualify for a stadium TFR, and to our knowledge, no TFR was in place. This brings up an interesting situation where a Part 107 pilot could legally operate a Category 1 or Category 2 drone over the stadium, even if security is not okay with it. We’ll keep you updated as more information becomes available.

Flir and AirData UAV Partner for Cirrus Flight Tracking

Flir and AirData UAV have partnered to provide Cirrus flight tracking. The Cirrus is a quadcopter made by Teledyne Flir with a 640×512 Flir Ion series sensor, designed for industry and public safety. The integration with AirData uses Cirrus’s offline log export and is not connected to the internet. For users of the Cirrus, AirData is a great tool for tracking aircraft flights, battery cycles, and determining what went wrong when things do.

Drone Assists in Recovering Stolen Vehicle

This week, Gaston County Police used a drone to assist in recovering a stolen vehicle and arresting three men who fled the vehicle after a car chase. The drone was utilized after officers lost sight of the vehicle when it drove into a soybean field. A Gaston County police officer, who is part of the drone unit, launched the drone to determine where the vehicle went. Once the police officers found the vehicle, they began to track down the suspects, locating them in the field. All three were taken into custody without incident. Great job, guys!

SkyBrowse Updates Free Plan to Light Processing

SkyBrowse has updated everybody on the freemium plan to light processing. This will increase the quality of all the models for users with free accounts. SkyBrowse’s program uses video instead of photos to make 3D models from nearly anything. You can sign up for free and start making models immediately. Models can be accessed on any device and can be easily marked up for measurement and shared as needed.

Vic Moss Shares Drone Job Advice

To wrap things up, check out this clip from Vic Moss sharing advice on drone jobs. He emphasizes the importance of understanding the environment, regulations, and the drone itself. His advice always comes back to “just do it, just make it happen.”

That’s all for this week’s update. Stay tuned for more UAS news next week.