Innehållsförteckning för May - June 2020 från RotorDrone Pro

CORPORATE DRONES Whether your company is considering adding a single drone or an entire fleet to help increase efficiency and productivity, you don’t want to miss our feature, “Ready, Set, Launch!” In it, Mike Morris of Skyward details 30 important items you need to know to help ensure your drone program is primed for success. From getting buy-in from executives to training and risk mitigation, this informative piece will ensure that your drone integration plan will be off to a successful start. A FARMER’S BEST FRIEND Drones and agriculture are a natural fit. How better to monitor the health and growth of acres of crops without having to do walk every row? But did you know that drones can also be used to spray fertilizer and pesticides, plant seeds, and…

UPS drone delivery subsidiary UPS Flight Forward (UPSFF) announced it would collaborate with German drone-maker Wingcopter to develop the next generation of package delivery drones for a variety of use cases in the United States and internationally. UPS chose Wingcopter, a transport drone pioneer, for its unmanned aircraft technology and its track record in delivering a variety of goods over long distances in multiple international settings. “Drone delivery is not a one-size-fits-all operation,” said Bala Ganesh, vice president of the UPS Advanced Technology Group. “Our collaboration with Wingcopter helps pave the way for us to start drone delivery service in new use-cases. UPS Flight Forward is building a network of technology partners to broaden our unique capability to serve customers and extend our leadership in drone delivery.” As part of…

The PowerEgg X from PowerVision marks a return to the sky for the Chinese manufacturer. Its original egg-shaped drone turned heads a few years back but never caught on in the market, and the company shifted its focus toward tethered, submersible systems. Now the “Egg” is back in the air with a new versatile design that offers substantial features and capabilities as a surprisingly affordable price. Read on to see if it lives up to all that potential. AT A GLANCE Model: PowerEggX Manufacturer: PowerVision Robot Inc. (powervision.me) Type: Aerial imaging platform Size: 683mm x 483mm Weight: 862g Assembly time: Less than 5 minutes Camera quality: 4K/60P video; 12MP still Price: $899 (basic); $1,249 (w/accessory kit) WHAT WE LIKE + Capable and full-featured at a budget price + Design shows…

My team at Extreme Aerial Productions currently consists of eight people, but it took a lot of trial and error to determine the exact qualities I was looking for in new hires. I now have a much better idea of the best way to interview candidates and the qualities to look for in new employees. If you’re looking for your first full-time drone job, keep reading to find out what potential future employers like me are looking for, and how you can best prepare for the interview process. CAMERA WORK & EDITING SKILLS While working in real estate photography as a solo entrepreneur, I quickly discovered I would need extra help to keep up with client demand. I needed someone who could support me as a pilot and camera operator…

PAY PAL ACCEPTED DRONE SCHOOL SKU: DSB001 | $9.99 This 73-page digital download is a collection of articles from RotorDrone magazine that will give you a better understanding of drones, from the basics of the aircraft to gear and gadgets, mastering flight, and troubleshooting tips. LEARN ON THE GO WITH DIGITAL DOWNLOADS! RotorDrone brings you the information you need to know, from getting started to battery basics to creating professional aerial videos and more. Get your most frequently asked questions answered by experts in the field! Prices start at only $6.95…

RotorDroneMag.com › Making Money with Ag Drones Who doesn’t want to earn spare scratch? We recently posted some videos showing how some are cashing in with drones in agriculture. In these terrific videos, the Roswell Flight Test Crew explores the use of agriculture drones with Dr. Gregory Crutsinger of Scholar Farms. An ecologist by training, Greg worked previously as a professor at the University of British Columbia before moving to Silicon Valley to advance the use of drones in agriculture. He was employed by 3D Robotics and Parrot before creating his own company: Scholar Farms. Th rough his company, he offers an online masterclass for drones in agriculture. Beyond simply capturing aerial photographs of fields, Greg stresses the importance of using data analytics to create actionable intelligence for farmers. Michael Gregory:…

A “pandemic drone” to remotely monitor and detect people with infectious respiratory conditions is being developed by the University of South Australia (UniSA) in partnership with a Canadian company. The drone will be fitted with a specialized sensor and computer vision system that can monitor temperature, heart and respiratory rates, as well as detect people sneezing and coughing in crowds, offices, airports, cruise ships, aged care homes and other places where groups of people may work or congregate. The UniSA team led by Defense Chair of Sensor Systems Professor Javaan Chahl, who holds a joint appointment DST, will work with Draganfly Inc., a North American drone technology company, to immediately start integrating commercial, medical, and government customers. Professor Chahl, working alongside Drs. Ali Al-Naji and Asanka Perera, achieved global recognition…

One of the traits that sets the PowerEgg X apart from any other drone on the market is that it has been designed specifically to work on land as well as in the air. Attachments that take the place of the limbs provide a strap for hand-held operations as well as a tripod mount. Both of these configurations are enhanced by the platform’s three-axis gimbal and artificial intelligence tracking capabilities. In addition, the PowerEgg X incorporates PowerVision’s patented SyncVoice technology, which allows the system to pick up audio from the microphone on your smart device and capture it alongside the video being recorded by the system. Again, this sounds like a gimmick but it actually works surprisingly well. Mount the PowerEgg X on a tripod and set it up to…

The biggest hurdle in becoming a recognized aerial photographer is exposure. Media companies can’t buy your product, if they don’t know that it’s available. You can only go just so far with Facebook. One way to gain exposure is with a team specifically tailored for mass media, and that’s exactly what Amazing Aerial Agency is all about. Amazing Aerial Agency is an “aerial only” photography and video agency, with one of the world’s largest and most beautiful aerial photography collections. The images are shot by award-winning photographers from all over the world. Currently there are over 15,000 photos and 5,000 videos in the collection. Many of the images are shot from perspectives rarely seen before, and highlight abstractions of the earth and oceans, people and wildlife. We reached out to…

The agricultural industry is no stranger to innovations. According to Grand View Research, the precision agriculture industry was valued at $4.7 billion in 2019 and had an expected Compound Annual Growth Rate of 13% from 2020 to 2027. As the world’s population continues to surge, the demand for food will continue to increase. With limited farmland and fewer people choosing farming as a career, the only hope for supply to meet demand is more efficient farming. Drones have been a part of this industry for several years and will continue to play an ever-growing role in maximizing farming outputs. Wise Guy Reports estimated the agricultural drone market in 2016 to have an approximate value of $434 million. They also projected a growth rate for the market of 38% over the…

Flying—like playing professional sports or performing surgery—is a perishable skill. If you don’t use them regularly, your abilities will degrade. That’s why athletes practice constantly and medical teams regularly take proficiency training. It’s also the reason why the concept of currency is embedded so deeply in the rules that govern aviation. As a private pilot, it isn’t enough that you pass the written test and complete your check ride. If you want to carry passengers, you must have completed three takeoffs and three landings in the past 90 days and be able to demonstrate that fact with notations in your logbook. In addition, you must complete a biennial flight review every two years. If you don’t fulfill these requirements, you are still a private pilot, but you are not current,…

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) wants drone recreational fliers who registered in the FAADroneZone.gov before December 12, 2017 to know that their registrations have been automatically extended until December 12, 2020. This happened because the National Defense Authorization Act for 2018 restored the FAA’s registration rule with respect to model aircraft and recreational flying. If you registered prior to December 12, 2017, and did not request to have your registration information deleted, the FAA extended the expiration date until December 12, 2020, which is three years from the rule restoration date. If you requested a refund of registration fees, you would have had to reregister again after December 12, 2017. Therefore, your expiration date would now also be December 12, 2020, or later. At this time you can retain your…

Gaining buy-in from your executive team is an essential first step that can make or break any company’s drone program. While a boots on the ground professional or a business manager is interested in new use cases, increased efficiency, hiring pilots, and processing data, your executives may not care about any of those things until you can prove the drones won’t increase your company’s liability. Your compliance and legal teams may be most concerned about ensuring that your flight crews will never violate airspace regulations, damage infrastructure, or infringe on privacy. As a customer success manager at Skyward, I have helped many businesses reinforce best practices for drone adoption and management, and I share some of my best tips for success in this article. At any complex organization, there are…

Everything about the PowerEgg X, from its price, to its features and PowerVision’s marketing for the platform, suggests that it has been created to bolster the capabilities of people who share their lives extensively on social media, and it is well-equipped to fill that role. However, I believe the company may be overlooking its potential as a platform for serious commercial and even life-saving missions. First, consider the weatherproof housing that is available for the PowerEgg X. There are only two other mass-market drones that offer IP ratings that make them suitable for all-weather operations: the DJI M200 series, which costs about $7,000 even before you add a camera gimbal; and, the Evolve 2 from XDynamics, which has not yet been released and will sell for $3,700. With the accessory…

The Parrot Anafi Thermal is the ideal drone for anyone looking to enter the thermal compatible market. This ultra-compact drone is made of remarkably sturdy plastic and comes ready to fly. This all-in-one professional solution is ideal for anyone looking to get into inspections, agriculture, utilities, and more. AT A GLANCE Name: Anafi Thermal Manufacturer: Parrot (parrot.com) Distributor: B&H (bhphotovideo.com) Type: Folding quad with dual video and thermal cameras Size: 6x6x4.5 in. (unfolded), 3.7x6x2.8 in. (folded) Assembly time: None Flight duration: 26 minutes per battery Camera quality: 4K HDR 21MP video and still; 21MP 10- to 40-degree thermal Price: $1,900.00 WHAT WE LIKE + Dual 4K HDR 21MP and thermal imaging cameras + Ultra-compact design + 180-degree tilt camera + Quiet flights up to 26 minutes long HIGHLIGHTS From the…

There are numerous drones on the market that work well in this sector. For this issue’s focus, I’d like to highlight the Parrot Bluegrass. This drone is worth a look for anyone interested in entering the agricultural space. While many of its competitors start in the $10K plus range, the Bluegrass is a complete package for $4.5K. The Bluegrass is an end-to-end solution and comes in a kit complete with everything you need. The drone is equipped with a Parrot Sequoia multispectral sensor and a 14 MP front RGB camera. The complete package includes the drone with its Sequoia multispectral sensor and controller, three batteries, charger, backpack, four extra propellers, radiometric calibration target, USB-A cable. A one-year subscription to both ParrotFields mobile app and Pix4Dfields software (desktop and cloud) is…