Drone News – Week 2

This week, we continue to bring you the latest and most recent developments in the local and international UAV scene. With a number of new product launches by famous drone makers like DJI, as well as new breakthrough drone technologies, this booming industry indeed has nowhere to go but UP.

AUSTRALIA

1. Department 13 International will host a live demonstration of its flagship MESMER counter-drone solution, showcasing the non-kinetic drone mitigation technology to potential Australian customers and the capital markets stakeholders.

MESMER can detect, identify and mitigate either hostile or nuisance drones across a range of national security, defence or commercial applications. (November 2)

2. Serious air traffic safety concerns have been raised by aviation workers over plans to axe 900 jobs at Airservices Australia, the organisation controlling skies at the country’s major airports. (October 30)

INTERNATIONAL

1. With a price tag of $550/£440, Parrot’s Bebop 2 drone is aimed at budding pilots who want more than a toy, but can’t justify spending four figures and up on a flying camera. The problem with getting something in between, though, is you can’t expect all the features of more expensive drones. There are a couple of third-party mobile apps floating about that add auto-follow features to the Bebop 2, but today Parrot is updating its official FreeFlight Pro app with what it claims is the “most accurate and reliable” implementation around. (November 4)

2. Dubai Airports is conducting trials to create a tracking system to detect any nearby drone in a bid to stop the new technology disrupting flights. (November 4)

Twice in the past two months, Dubai International Airport, one of the busiest in the world, has had to be shut down because of a drone incursion. These shutdowns are serious events, costing hundreds of millions of dirhams per hour, disrupting dozens of flights and thousands of passengers. And all because of a small drone that someone flew into the wrong place. (November 2)

3. Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania have unveiled the world’s smallest self-powered drone, which weighs only 2.5 grams and is the size of a quarter.

The tiny drone is called Piccolissimo, after the Italian word for pocket-sized. The drone comes in two versions: the quarter-sized one, and a slightly larger and heavier one that is steerable. (November 3)

4. An all-new Inspire drone from DJI could be flying into view on November 15 (November 3)

5. DJI’s latest generation of the NAZA series, the N3 flight controller (launched early this week), is tailor-made for a multitude of hobbyist and industrial applications. Its robust flight control algorithm is ideal for controlling a broad range of industrial and DIY multirotor aircraft, providing professional stability. (November 1)

6. Earlier this year, DJI introduced its first ZenMuse camera with built-in 3.5x optical zoom. Now, the company has announced the ZenMuse Z30 camera with a massive 30x optical zoom that’s fully operational when attached to one of its aircrafts.

The ZenMuse Z30 is meant for professional and industrial applications at the moment, like inspecting wind turbines and cell towers, as well as scouting difficult locations for firefighters. It requires one of DJI’s more serious aircrafts to operate, but the Z30 has some of its most advanced image stabilization built-in to help accommodate all that focal length. it corrects yaw, pitch, and roll. (October 24)