Industries

Zimbabwe: Drone spots people vandalising railway line

Security drone operations in Zimbabwe have recorded their first publicly proclaimed success, after four people were arrested for vandalising property belonging the National Railways of Zimbabwe; the country’s rail transport…

DJI drones spray 500million hectares of land

Their legal and business woes in the USA notwithstanding, it seems the year 2023 was another progressive one – at least on the agriculture front – for drone manufacturer DJI,…

The importance of 5G networks to autonomous applications

The below article from the smart people at telecommunications giant Ericsson outlines the important role 5G and its fast connectivity can provide towards the more effective application of autonomous things;…

SA government welcomes drone fishing ban ruling

It is the aftermath of a bruising battle for the legitimacy of using drone technology in angling and recreational fishing in South Africa and in this battle, the government won,…

South Africa: Drone fishing lobbyists lose Supreme Court Appeal

The final verdict is now in; and it is not good news for drone fishing enthusiasts in South Africa: using drones for recreational fishing is now really banned in the…

Birds attack drones patrolling New York beaches

We have held this suspicion for some time, but latest developments in New York have now erased all doubt: birds are jealousy of drones. Yes, they are and don’t you…

Drone exposes extra marital affair

Stranger things are no longer strange anymore in this world, it seems. We have lived through times when a drone was used to search for love; so perhaps it was…

Drones, AI and mining surveys

Drone services company RocketDNA is going places, leveraging the data capturing capabilities of its xBot ecosystem, which is centred around the automated capabilities of the drone-in-a-box systems. We have written…

DJI ban section off US Senate version of defence bill

There has been an interesting development in the moves by the United States congress to ban Chinese drone maker DJI from offering its drones and related commercial services in the…

Drone as First Responder trials for UK police

In a ground-breaking first for first response drone operations in policing in the United Kingdom, drones have been deployed to monitor festivities at the Isle of Wight music festival, held…

US’s Drones for First Responders bill: Implications for first responders

The fallout from DJI and other Chinese drones’ imminent ban from the US commercial drone market rages on, with first responders in the country decrying the pandemonium that is likely…

Flyability adds asset management to list of things the Elios 3 can do

We know we have previously covered how drone technology is applied to warehouse management, with Nokia’s drones seemingly have a hold on that segment of the market. Well; apparently Flyability…

Low altitude aviation and the future of sustainable energy systems

Kudos to Drone Industry Insights for choosing to discuss energy efficiency and sustainable, climate-friendly energy resources in today’s article. As more and more countries open up the lower atmosphere for…

Medical drone operation launched in Ireland

Having made tentative forays into the Ireland healthcare logistics space last year, it seems drone company Wing and its UK partner Apian have been encouraged by their initial prospects, and…

DJI’s letter to US Congress

We think they do have to try, if only it may be for record purposes; but we do not think that the people at the forefront of fighting DJI’s ban…

Florida man arrested for shooting at drone

CLERMONT, Florida, USA – A Florida man has been arrested after he allegedly shot a Walmart delivery drone in Lake County, rendering it inoperable, deputies said. Dennis Winn, 72, faces…

Eswatini launches full medical drone operation

Remember in December when we reported that the government of Eswatini, in collaboration with the Luke Commission, had joined the medical delivery drone bandwagon and was feeling its way around…

JoUAV launches revamped PH-20 drone

Chinese drone maker JOUAV has announced the launch of a revamped version of the PH-20 multi-rotor unmanned aerial vehicle, a an enterprise drone system designed to enhance the efficiency and…

DJI’s US ban: drone maker fights back

From China comes news that Chinese drone maker DJI unsurprisingly not amused by the US federal government’s move to ban the company’s drones from operating on US soil. Citing an…

What the DJI ban means for drone-based public safety and law enforcement drone programmes in the US

As the fallout ignited by the looming ban on DJI drones from operating in the US continues, a public safety non-profit organisation has sought to appraise hundreds of its members…

DJI ban bill passes US House of Representatives

Well; the results are in from the Unites States House of Representative vote on the National Defence Authorisation Act (NDAA), a bill which authorises funding for the Department of Defence…

Drones in the construction industry

Today’s article from drone research professionals at Drone Industry Insights looks at drone technology in the agricultural industry. The original was published here. Following the in-depth look at drones in Energy and drones…

DJI ban bill faces vote

As Chinese drone manufacturer DJI awaits the fate of its life in the United States, as a bill to ban the drones will be put to a full vote in…

Flying Labs Namibia’s quest to modernise drone regulations

We think it is understandable that entrepreneurs in the drone services industry would love it if all aviation laws were aligned in a way that favours drone users at all…

First drone delivery tests in Mt Everest

We should have known when pictures first leaked in China of a drone hauling solar panels up a mountain that DJI did not have the tidier side of delivery by…

TikTok ban spooks DJI

The passing into law of a bill potentially banning Chinese addictive social media app TikTok by the US Congress is giving fellow Chinese addictive drone manufacturer, DJI, sleepless nights. In…

Amazon secures BVLOS approval from the FAA

Every time we see a press release pop up with a hopeful update about Amazon’s Prime Air drone project, it is really difficult to report objectively without your mind jumping…

The future of cargo delivery; according to Drone Delivery Canada

For cargo drone company, Drone Delivery Canada – which recently merged operations with Volatus Aerospace – the future of cargo delivery is not doing away with conventional means of transport…

JoUAV launches new hangar system

Chinse drone manufacturer, JoUAV has launched the second generation of its drone nest solution, and below is more information about the new product’s features; which has been supplied by the…

Rectron’s investment into South Africa’s drone industry

South African information and communication technology distributer Recton, which is a DJI reseller in the country, is keen to make its mark in the local drone space, having spent close…

State of the drone market: China

When it comes to innovation in the manufacturing side of the commercial drone industry, China is the capital, the hub, the heartbeat, the nerve centre, the Mecca of all things…

Drone Delivery Canada, Volatus Aerospace merge

American drone technology and services distribution company, Volatus Aerospace thinks the commercial drone industry is now ripe for the next stage of growth, which the company reckons can only be…

Most popular drone applications and industries

The analysts and commercial drone research company Drone Industry Insights have released an accounting of the most popular industrial applications for drone technology in 2024. We have reproduced the report…

Proposal to increase tariffs for Chinese drones in the US

WASHINGTON (Originally published by Reuters) – A group of House Representatives from the Republican Party in the USA on Wednesday proposed legislation that would hike tariffs on Chinese-made commercial and…

Delivering medical supplies… for livestock

When you think of drone-based technologies in agriculture, the first thought that may come to mind may be DJI and its Agras repertoire of sprayer drones, and XAG and its…

Giant crop spraying drone from Brazil

It has been six years now since aircraft systems manufacturer Volocopter teased the VoloDrone as its 200kg-capacity solution for large scale autonomous crop spraying at an agricultural exhibition show in…

Kenya Flying Labs helping with recovery efforts after deadly flooding

Many of us would be aware of the humanitarian situation developing in east Africa, where flooding due to heavy rains has resulted in the death of at least 420 people…

EHang in successful passenger drone flights in UAE

Passenger and cargo drone making company EHang feels it has moved the world closer to the movement of people by drones, after it completed the first pilot tests for passenger…

Nigerian drone start-up gets capital injection

Today we are celebrating with Integrated Aerial Precision (IAP), a Nigerian drone-based precision agriculture start-up that has received a helping of €45,000 investment injection. This is a massive shot in…

New tethered drone solution for the US market

Today we are talking tethered drones; the kind of drone technology that has not gained the popularity it deserves yet; most because DJI has not made one yet. Tethered drones…

Wing, Apian to launch medical drone operation in London

We guess when one is backed by a tech behemoth the size of Google, success comes with the territory. Or it does not: because Amazon’s Prime Air project – with…

Partnership to expand public safety drone programmes in the US

If you are a security or public safety professional looking for information on the best practices to make drone technology work better in your industry, then this could be important…

Zimbabwe holds another successful drone light show

The world-renowned majestic waterfalls at Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe were bathed in an illuminating glow last week, as hundreds of little drones made light patterns that celebrated the best of…

DJI Agras T50 and T25 released for worldwide market

Commercial drone manufacturing giant DJI has finally released its DJI Agras T50 and T25 model of agricultural drones for the worldwide market, with the T50 becoming the company’s new flagship…

Zipline has completed 1 million commercial deliveries

It might have been unremarkable in its simplicity but when Zip 856 made a landing to deliver two bags of IV fluid from Zipline’s distribution centre in Ghana’s Western North…

The rising importance of drone certification in drone legislation

Today, the research professionals at Drone Industry Insights have chosen to tackle the elephant in the room: Drone technology regulation and legislation. We know there are times when drone laws…

DJI joins the energy game with Portable Power Stations

Coming more often than we’d love to, there are times in our lives when we are outdoors and we need power. Perhaps we can be working on a project and…

State of the drone market: Nordic countries

Drone research company Drone Industry Insights’ preliminary analysis into various world drone markets this time makes a stopover in the Nordic countries. Let’s see where the opportunities lie for drone…

DJI releases the Avata 2

World leading commercial and civilian drone maker DJI has released the second version of its Avata model of first-person view (FPV) drones; and, judging by its online reception, it seems…

Precision Aerial planning biggest drone show in Africa

Last year in September Zimbabwean drone services start-up Precision Aerial stole the Zimbabwe Agricultural Show – the country’s biggest exhibition fair for local and international companies. Well; the did not…

Wingcopter seeks type certification in Japan

German delivery drone maker Wingcopter just got lift off in Japan. The company has just announced that it has received approval for the opening of the type certification process of…

Another training school for the South African drone landscape

South African drone services company UAV Aerial Works has expanded its portfolio to include remote pilot licence training. Which makes sense; because having in been the drone game for nearly…

US insurers using drones to spy on homes

There is a certain feeling of de javu you get when you read that an average Joe Bloggs took their drone out and abused it to break the law. We…

Drones, AI in asset management and monitoring

Artificial intelligence. We guess are valid arguments to be made on both sides with regards to this latest disruptive technology, which is promising to make previously cumbersome or dangerous tasks…

Botswana opens drone assembly and testing centre

Botswana has just taken another step further down the road towards drone self-reliance, with the opening of a drone assembly and testing centre in Palapye, about 272km northeast of the…

First drone-in-a-box contract for RocketDNA

Fresh from acquiring their remote licence to operate box-based automated drones in Australia, a multi-national data collection company has found a partner in the country to finally set their xBot…

DJI Docks 2nd drone box

Chinese drone maker DJI is ramping up its drone box game with the release of the DJI Dock 2, the company’s second iteration of its drone-in-a-box solution. And unlike the…

Wing, DoorDash break into Virginia

Step by steady step, delivery drone technology is spreading across the USA, as it looks like delivery drone maker Wing and online food ordering and delivery platform DoorDash are becoming…

Spain in pilot tests for drones in accident assessment and smart mobility

In news that should be cool for insurance services, municipalities and smart mobility solutions providers everywhere, Spanish smart mobility services company Serveo and Telefónica Tech have announced the successful completion…

PrecisionHawk has folded

While we are here leading the cheers for all the big established companies, the start-ups and the entrepreneurs working hard every day to propel forward the commercial drone industry, we…

Medical drones for Kenyan county

There will be another player on the Kenyan delivery drone space after a Korean drone making company received approval for a pilot project from the government. Narma, a spin-off company…

Drones for Ghana’s election?

The last time drone technology made its face on Ghana’s electoral landscape, it was the proverbial knight in shining armour for the electorate in the country’s eastern region. That was…

State of the drone market report: India

Today, our favourite researchers at Drone Industry Insights are in India, the land that named a drone after one of the most famous faces in world cricket. Being China’s neighbour,…

About drones in policing and public safety

After years of promises, false take-offs, failed trials and a few frustrations, it seems the integration of drone technology in African police organisations is beginning to take shape for real….

State of the Drone Report: South Korea

With globally renowned drone manufacturing and drone services companies that include DJI, Autel, Yuneec, Terra Drone and many others, it is safe to say Asia is the home of the…

The impact of drones in the fight against post-partum haemorrhage mortality

Yesterday, we took a peek back with drone logistics company Zipline, to check the year they have had since the launched medical drone logistics in partnership with the Bayelsa regional…

One year later: medical drones in Bayelsa, Nigeria

We love a peek back. Especially if it involves drastic improvement to a state of community health and well-being that was not there before. This past month, American drone logistics…

UK: Drones help arrest three men for hare hunting

Police drones helped catch three men who were trespassing on private farmland in rural Cleveland in the UK last week. The drones were part of a night operation conducted various…

Irish drone delivery company expands into another town

DUBLIN – Irish delivery drone company Manna Drone Delivery will be expanding its operations into Blanchardstown, following the partnership deal signed with a local fast-food chain. Manna has announced that…

About investment into drone companies

After years of exponential financial injections, investment in drone technology companies across the world seems to be slowing down, according to the below report from Drone Industry Insights. It could…

Formula Drone on the Cards?

Okay; we do admit that was a bit click-baity. We know there is a already a drone racing league going on somewhere in the world (although it does take place…

Another drone solution to capture warehouse data

With drone technology steadily making its way into warehousing, it seems Nokia has found some competition. Austrian mobile data capture and data insights company Anyline has released its own drone…

South African drone start-up to speak at Flyability’s User Conference

Indoor and confined space drone maker Flyability’s annual user conference will have an African flavour this year, with Darryl Epstein, managing director drone-based civil engineering start-up Delta Scan, set to…

Drones for municipal operations in South Africa

Prospects for drone integration in South Africa’s public service operations took a turn for the better in this week, with the introduction of operations in the provinces of Gauteng and…

State of the drone market: Agriculture

Commercial drone industry research company Drone Industry Insights’ report on the state of the drone market in agriculture is out; and we are going to dive straight into it. Trigger…

Drones and sewer inspections

Swiss company Flyability – the makers of commercial drones for data collection in confined spaces – have nuggets to share with regards the benefits of drone technology when applied to…

Swedish award for drone market platform founder

We are celebrating with global drone market platform Globhe today, whose founder Helena Samsioe won the Women in Business Network Innovator of the year Award in Sweden last night. Helena…

Rogue drone hampers fire-fighting efforts in New Zealand

Over 100 firefighters, 28 fire engines, fourteen helicopters, two planes, as well as rescue workers were still battling strong winds yesterday to put out the fire that broke out in…

Delta Scan and the Johannesburg explosion

We know we have covered this before, but it is still a matter of national pride that South African inspection engineering start-up Dela Scan has made it to the case…

Elios 3 underground in Brussels

In the below case study, a company took Flayability’s Elios 3 drone under the city of Brussels in Belgium, in a massive project to help the city become smarter. An…

Tanzania to use drones for mineral exploration

We translated this breaking story from Swahili, and the software returned with text that identified a drone as a bee plane. Which gave us a smile of course Because, for…

South Africa: Cape Province gets licence for agric drones

After it broke new ground by being the first government organisation to obtain a Remote Operator’s Certificate (ROC) of any kind for its search and rescue operation in the Table…

New LiDAR solution from Wingtra

Leading remote sensing drone maker Wingtra has just announced the launch of a new LiDAR solution to go with its series of drone models. The Swiss company claims its new…

About UAM, RAM and AAM

As drone manufacturers, service providers, aviation authorities and related stakeholders continue with their groping efforts in their attempts to finger the pulse on the best ways to integrate drone technology…

State of the Drone Market: North America

Continuing with its coverage of regional and national drone markets across the world, Drone Industry Insights has decided to open with new year with a glimpse (and they do insist…

Drone Chick in Europe – and we’re all cheer for it

Africa’s favourite drone chick is going to fly the African flag in Europe. And we are all here for it. Kim James, the director of South African drone services company…

LeiferMichel spreads to DIY products

Looks like we might be celebrating the constant milestones by Wingcopter and partner’s LeiferMichel project for some time yet. Just last week, the project partners announced that they had received…

The drone space in 2023

The guys at research company drone Industry Insights are back for the new year; and their first item on the agenda is to… Look back at the old year. And…

Behold the MS Droni!

Yes. You read that right. Indian drone maker Garuda Aerospace has made its name producing drone for the enterprise market in the country. But for cricket legend Mahendra Singh Dhoni,…

Policing drones: Nuggets from DJI

The following article is a reproduction of an article from a small drone manufacturing company out of China. The company is called DJI and you may have heard of it….

Trials at UK’s first drone-friendly harbour

The UK has its first drone-friendly harbour. Delivery drones have been flying over the Falmouth Harbour in the past week, as part of the ship-to-shore flight trials carried out by…

RocketDNA’s 2024 Drone Industry Outlook

We like the fact that – despite the company’s heavy focus on serving industry skewed towards drone applications in remote sensing – RocketDNA actually has an eye out for the…

DJI’s (umpteenth) clarification on data security concerns

You feel this is a story that will never go away. Which we sadly admit is a tacit acknowledgement of our bleak outlook on the possibility of a future where…

DJI launches DJI Modify for survey professionals

World leading commercial drone manufacturing company DJI has released new software for survey professionals, to go with the drones that have made to collect data in the survey and mapping…

Successful drone delivery trial for Indian Institute

Having made significant progress into the usefulness of drone technology in the agricultural industry, it seems the next target for India is medical delivery. And on that front, the All…

Saving drug overdose victims with drones

We have reported incidents before of drone technology being used to save the lives of heart attack patients via the timely delivery of defibrillators to the scene; rather than sending…

First (official) medical delivery by drone in China

For a country that is so dominant in drone technology – to the point that DJI alone accounts for almost three quarters of the drone market – it is surprising…

Drone Professional 4 now out

Just leaving this plug out here for a bunch of our friends in the drone industry that contributed to the latest edition of the Drone Professional anthology. The book is…

Wingcopter’s LeiferMichel project continues to grow

The LeiferMichel project in the Michelstadt districts in Germany continues to grow from strength to strength in the new year, with a further extension into the new year, and non-prescription…

Breakthrough in research to save multicopters from crashing

Our wise advice? Please make sure that your drone does not get entangled in a knotty situation that will leave it with a dead rotor. Because chances are, you will…

Underground mapping with the Elios 3

The below case study was taken from Flyability, whose drone, the Elios 3, was used to survey and map out the old workings on a mine in New York USA….

DJI cargo drone set for worldwide release

When news broke that DJI were adding a delivery series to their inventory of unmanned aircraft systems, we went high and wide to bring you the story – even when…

Drone Delivery Canada’s DroneCare route gets BVLOS greenlight

Canadian cargo drone maker Drone Delivery Canada’s new year wish has come true, after it was granted the greenlight to operate beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) flights on a…

Long Read: Drones in border management operations

Our friends at JOUAV are back with nuggets on the effectiveness of drone technology in border management operations. The insights are well worth your time. The evolution of border patrol…

Long Read: LiDAR vs Photogrammetry in 3D mapping

The below article – a brilliant look into the application of LiDAR and photogrammetry in remote sensing – was supplied by JOUAV, a drone manufacturing company based in China. We…

Cyber security tests for UTM

With companies and smart people working hard to ensure that unmanned aircraft systems share the lower atmosphere safely with other aircraft, a Japanese company has just announced cyber security systems…

Wing expands into second city in Texas

Lewisville, TEXAS – If you forget eggs at the store or just need a quick treat from the cookie aisle, you may be able to get it dropped off at…

EHang completes passenger drone tests in China

Happy new year, everyone. Fancy a trip around a tourist area in an unmanned aerial vehicle? Well; 2024 could be your lucky year: Chinese drone maker EHang – fresh from…

Company confirms success in high-altitude drone-based wireless communication systems tests

SoftBank Corp, the Japanese company that makes high altitude drones has confirmed that its tests for stratospheric wireless communication systems have been successful. This should be further good news for…

Indian drone company to work with local university

Keen to have the country take control of the drone value chain from design to the final sale, Indian drone manufacturer Garuda Aerospace has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with…

Measuring the impact of Zipline’s medical drone operations

The below research article is a plug for the contribution Zipline has made to healthcare delivery infrastructure of the countries in which it has established operations. These countries include Rwanda,…

Zipline lands in the UK

A UK-based healthcare logistics company has roped in the logistics efficiency of Zipline’s drones to significantly expand its national Health Service (NHS) program to deliver medical supplies to hospitals, GPs…

EHang scores partners in UAE

In their bid to break into the Middle East drone market and expand their brand into the region, Chinese passenger drone maker EHang Holdings has joined the Smart and Autonomous…

Avy wins Dutch business award

This year’s awards season is a really good one for drone start-ups. After the recent exploits of Delta Scan in South Africa and Wingcopter in Germany, Dutch drone logistics start-up…

Matternet flies into Germany

Swiss drone logistics company Matternet will soon be flying its delivery drones in the heart of Berlin in Germany. Th small parcel drone developer has announced that it has been…

Wingcopter is Germany’s start-up of the year

Our congratulations today go to Wingcoper, the drone logistics start-up, for winning the 2023 Gründerszene Award 2023, the most prestigious award for German startups. Wingcopter develops delivery drones focussed on…

State of the drone report: South Africa

Finally. In a way, the opening statement below from Drone Industry Insights is just a fact: there are very little headlines about the commercial African drone space, if at all….

Ethiopia extends medical drone trials

The consortium that was working on a delivery drone pilot project in Ethiopia has been so impressed by initial results that it will be doubling up flights in the coming…

Medical drones: Eswatini enters chat

The Kingdom of Eswatini has entered the drone chat, and will be following the footsteps of other southern African nations like Malawi, Mozambique and Botswana that have established successful drone-based…

Airbus seeks to set up high-altitude drone base in Kenya

When it comes to drone technology, East Africa is aiming for the stratosphere. They did it in Rwanda recently, when the courtship that was announced in 2020 took a huge…

JOUAV launches new multipurpose UA

Chinese industrial drone maker JOUAV has released a new multi-purpose industrial drone, the PH-20, which the company hopes will raise the level in industrial applications. According to the manufacturer, the…

Drone tech and elephant conservation in Kenya

An American species preservation company has partnered with a wildlife conservation organisation to use drone technology to track elephants in Kenya. Texas-based Colossal Biosciences, which describes itself as a de-extinction…

Bundesliga club to deliver fan merchandise with drones

Remember the LeiferMichel Project? That pilot project where German drone logistics company Wingcopter is working in collaboration with the Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences (Frankfurt UAS) to deliver groceries around…

Drone fishing back in the headlines

So the debate for and against the use of drone technology in South Africa rages on. After the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE) reminded stakeholders that there…

US city to test drone delivery

It is always a good thing when drone technology gets a chance to excel anywhere in the world, especially when it comes to helping disadvantaged communities. And so it is…

Perfecto for Percepto

… as FAA awards company national waiver for one pilot to simultaneously operate multiple drones Drone-in-a-box solutions provider Percepto has just seen its latest licence in the US get sexier,…

Ranking the drone manufacturers

The article below from the good people at Drone Industry Insights is their polite way of reminding the world commercial drone manufacturers exist in the world – outside of the…

Drone start-up to represent Africa at world tech competition

Congratulations are in order for civil engineering technology start-up Delta Scan, which won the African leg of the Start-Up World Cup Pitch Competition at Africa Tech Festival that played out…

Just how many flights have all commercial drones in the world completed?

We have read how Zipline, the leading drone logistics company in the world, has boasted about its well over one million flights worldwide. By comparison, Wing – another drone logistics…

Hands on with the DJI Dock

It is one thing watching a video of the DJI Dock at work, or reading what it can do. But physically laying your eyes on one and watching up close…

Drone Delivery Canada forays into the US

…as cargo drone company completes pilot drone logistics project in Michigan Canadian cargo drone company Drone Delivery Canada is looking to expand its operations into neighbouring USA. The company has…

Dronamics signs deal to accelerate Black Swan production

Cargo drone company Dronamics has started laying the groundwork for a joint venture with the UAE’s Strategic Development Fund (SDF), which could see the construction of serial production plant for…

New vertiport systems galore

We know drone technology has changed the game when it comes to every other industrial application. We know because our friends at research company Drone Industry Insights have released countless…

Ondas signs deal to manufacture drones in Africa

Ondas Holdings, the parent company of drone nest service providers, Airobotics and American robotics has announced the signing of a memorandum of Understanding with a Moroccan company, which could see…

Drones to monitor methane emissions in Angola

Angolan petroleum company Sonangol and its French counterpart TotalEnergies will be soon be deploying drones around Angolan oil fields to help keep tabs with the clean energy initiative that the…

US start-up begins shipment of new public safety drone

BRINC, the American manufacturer of drone technology for public safety, law enforcement and first response operations has announced the release of the LEMUR 2, a drone which the company touts…

State of the drone industry report: Spain

Drone Industry Insights’ preliminary national and regional analysis of the commercial drone industry takes us to Spain today, and the initial results look promising. Spain’s drone market is blossoming. The…

EHang establishes UAM centre in Spain

Chinese urban air mobility (UAM) technology company EHang Holdings has wasted no time in honouring the Memorandum of Understanding it signed with a Catalunya-based Spanish international airport and announced the…

Big day for Africa at global women’s awards ceremony

It was a great day for women in the African drone space last week, as many of them got just rewards for their sterling work at the seventh Annual Women…

New app to help farmers understand best conditions to fly agric drones

Researchers at the University of California, Davis, have found a solution to help industry professionals, especially those in agriculture, with the best possible conditions to deploy drones onto crop fields…

RocketDNA makes Drone Industry Insights’ 2023 rankings

RocketDNA must have breakthrough history written in their DNA After recently breaking new ground as the first drone services company to obtain the licence to use the DJI Dock system…

Counter-UAS technology: Kasperky enters chat

Hello everyone! It has been a minute, and we missed you all while we were away. An in that short while we were gone, there has emerged this report from…

Amazon to launch MK30 drone, open new delivery routes in US, Europe

Online retailer Amazon’s Prime Air division has finally released its flagship MK30 drone, and we have to say it looks… distinct. We are wondering whether it was its quest for…

Rwanda’s drone-based internet project takes off

Well, well, well. Some stories come back at you just like that; and it would feel like it was a gazillion years ago that you reported on them. And so…

New tech for BVLOS flights for first-response drones

Airspace security provider Dedrone has launched DedroneBeyond, a system designed to enable law enforcement and emergency services to carry out drone operations beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) during first…

New data collection software and hardware for the Elios 3

There is no doubt that the Elios – a sturdy drone by Swiss manufacturer Flyability – has changed the game when it comes to inspections in confined spaces. This could…

State of the drone industry: DACH region

Our expert researchers at Drone Industry Insights have released their latest instalment of their regional and national outlook, and this one is focussed on the DACH region. This is the…

Drone logistics start-up Jedsy to work with top German healthcare operator

It is a dream that has been five years in the making and this must be a very proud moment for Herbert Weirather, Mirko Cesena and the folks at Swiss…

It’s raining cash for fire-fighting start-up

Think of a problem; there is probably a drone to solve it. Drones have made a lot of previously dangerous operations safer; have collected more reliable data, have brought healthcare…

Tanzania Flying Labs and land regeneration in Dodoma

Touched by the prospects of a bleak future that await children and youths in the Kongwa community in Dodoma, central Tanzania, Tanzania Flying Labs (TFL) are forging ahead with efforts…

Nokia introduces drone-based warehouse management technology

Having grown up during the heyday of the Nokia 1100 and 1110 – two of the best-selling cellular phones of all time with a combined 500million sales between them; and…

Malawi to expand drone use in wildlife conservation

We understood that Malawi has been forging ahead with initial efforts to introduce drone technology into wildlife conservation in recent years. Now, seeing as the government has announced plans to…

State of the drone industry: Focus on UK

In their continuing series of a closer scrutiny into how the drone industry is faring in specific countries and regions, researchers at Drone Industry Insights have lifted the lid of…

Zimbabwean drone start-up excels in local tech challenge

Our congratulations and best wishes are in order for Zimbabwe Flying Labs. The fledgling drone and robotics services enterprise has been shortlisted as one of the top ten start-ups in…

South Africa’s Drone Diva Programme founder dies

The South African drone industry was engulfed in tragedy at the weekend, following the death of Kelebogile Olivia Molopyane, the founder of the Drone Diva Programme, last Friday. She was…

Fore creatives: hail the new DJI Mini 4 Pro

World leading drone maker DJI has released the DJI Mini 4 Pro drone, a 249gram machine, which the manufacturer says is perfect for creatives. Below is the press release issued…

South Africa’s Drone Diva program returns

It is September, and it is time for the next batch of drone divas in South Africa to take their posts. To recap for the uninitiated, South Africa’s Drone Diva…

Skydio launches the Skydio X10

American enterprise drone maker Skydio has released the Skydio X10 as their latest offering for the enterprise market. It is a machine the manufacturer is really keen to make sure…

BARS on UAV Aerial Works’ shoulders

Do you understand how much military and police services people love their bars? Of course, it would be hard to understand if you have never been a member of the…

Rwanda deploys drones into environment protect efforts

…to use drones locally designed and made by local start-up It looks like Rwanda is realising that there is a drone for every problem. Well; not every problem of course;…

FAA extends Remote ID deadline day

Saturday, 16 September 2023 would have been the day when all drones flying without Remote Identification would be deemed to be flouting the laws of the land. But now commercial…

AgEagle drops new eBee drone

AgEagle, the parent company of the eBee drones has announced that its newest drone issue, the eBee Vision is now available for order, following its launch a couple of months…

RocketDNA obtains licence to operate DJI Dock in South Africa

Remember how, just a few days ago, we were patting RocketDNA on the back for obtaining the regulatory authority to operate the DJI Dock in Australia? Well; the drone services…

About commercial drones in Colombia

They already have a Flying Labs representative among their midst, so Colombia must be doing something right in their contribution towards the drone industry in the global south. It is…

Airobotics gets FAA Type Certification

We guess the US Federal Aviation Administration was feeling really generous at the Commercial UAV Expo held in Las Vegas this past week. Fresh from handing out Beyond Visual Line…

UPS, uAvionix get the FAA’s BVLOS blessing

Two US companies will be flying drones far and wide after the Federal Aviation Administration granted them licences to conduct beyond visual line of sight flights. Package delivery company UPS…

DII’s drone barometer survey is out

The results of Drone Industry Insights’ 2023 Drone Barometer Survey are out. And here is the long and short of it – a few more people are finding employment in…

Getting ahead: Of Latin America’s resilient delivery drone industry

As in Africa, there are countries in Latin America that are beset by transport challenges; a situation that has given an opportunity for drone technology to thrive, especially in the…

Zambian drone start-up completes exploratory flights

A Zambian drone start-up is today basking in glory after completing a successful exploratory mission using drone technology in north western parts of the country recently. Zanifi Enterprise Limited –…

Drones and the art of spraying fruit crops in South Africa

A South African drone services start-up is backing agricultural drones to soon overtake manned aircraft and other conventional means as the best crop spraying option to deal with the menace…

Farmers, govts warming up to agricultural drones, says DJI

In 2015, Chinese drone maker DJI opened DJI Agriculture, a department solely dedicated to providing drone-based solutions for the agriculture industry. Since then, the company has been making unmanned aerial…

When to use a drone for crop spraying

… and, maybe, when not to? For those farmers and agriculture professionals still thinking of whether or not to choose drone technology to replace traditional crop spraying methods, the article…

RocketDNA gets licence to set the DJI Dock free

What would you do when you become one of the first companies in the world to purchase DJI’s inaugural drone-in-a-nest system, the DJI Dock? Set the little beats inside free…

Drone start-up’s special day working with trans-national sugar company

We have only heard of the Dangote Group by word of mouth. Apparently, it is a modest holding company in West Africa that is involved in energy, agriculture, logistics and…

Parachute system for the DJI M30

It was the M350 a few weeks ago; today it is the M30. Autonomous systems parachute services provider ParaZero continues to its solution to the most popular industrial drones from…

GLOBHE, UNICEF, mapping out flood-prone areas in Malawi

Countries in Southern Africa – particularly those close to the Indian Ocean – have suffered devastating loss of lives, property and untold damage to infrastructure, owing to unwelcome annual visits…

How much does a successful security drone programme cost?

The article below was written by Bertus van Zyl; drone technology professional and Managing Director at UAV Aerial Works, a top drone services provider in South Africa. The company runs…

Aerobotics launches new precision agriculture platform

South African precision agriculture software provider Aerobotics is looking to make further inroads into the US market with the release of its Aeroview platform, which will come as part of…

State of drone investment in 2023

One of the big reasons why we love to present reports from research company, Drone Industry Insights as they are is that they always give us a sober analysis of…

Wingcopter demoes drone delivery before Kenyan president

A couple of months after announcing a partnership to deploy drone technology in the delivery of medical supplies across select countries in Africa, German drone logistics company Wingcopter and fellow…

Counter drone technology… for prison facilities

Innovation. Thinking outside the box. That is what 424 drone sightings near your prison facilities can do for you. And so it is that the Department of Corrections in South…

DJI enters cargo drone game

Any of you guys remember a story we carried a few months ago, where a Chinese solar installation company used a drone to transport solar panels 300metres from the foot…

I love you 1,000…

…USA elderly couple makes history with over 1,000 drone deliveries to their Virginia home By March this year, drone logistics services provider Wing had completed its 300,000th flight. And those…

French police debut drones at stadiums

Usually when we report a drone sighting in the vicinity of a sports arena, it is because a naughty drone user is trying to get a peek on the action…

Drone industry outlook 2023

Our ever-analytic pals at Drone Industry Insights have released their latest take on the direction the drone industry has been taking in 2023. It is going up. But what we…

Setting the stage for autonomous delivery

As autonomous package delivery moves beyond the nascent stage, industry and government leaders should focus on a regulatory and industry-level changes to speed worldwide adoption, according to Arrive, an Indiana,…

Parachute system for the DJI M350

Israeli-based commercial drone safety systems provider ParaZero has released a parachute system specifically for DJI’s latest enterprise model of drones, the M350 RTK. Which is just as well, because that…

On this Women’s Day in South Africa…

Today’s Drone of Reason is a no-brainer: August 9 every year is Women’s Day in South Africa, a day which derives its superpowers to the women’s marching protest in 1956;…

Largest agric drone ever gets commercial licence

Looking at it with just an eye test, the drone does look like a huge bird with massive wings protecting a really long thin line of spray metal beneath them….

The state of drone regulation in 2023

Researchers at Drone Industry Insights have released their analysis of the state of drone regulation in 2023, and below is their report. Drone regulations are structured so that binding aviation…

Gambia makes play for medical drones

A delivery drone recently made a successful delivery of medical to a health facility in The Gambia recently, in a first for the country that could kickstart the onset of…

DDC cargo drone gets licence to fly over people

Canadian cargo drone maker Drone Delivery Canada’s new drone has been declared fit enough to fly over people in the country. DDC has just announced that Transport Canada – the…

Introducing advertising drones

Now that unmanned aerial systems have proved their worth for commercial operations world, the race is now on for the next industry where drone technology’s value will be realised. Drones…

Do drones need parachutes?

Today we’re gonna talk drone parachutes. You know, those pieces of material that are practically the airbags for drones – you hope they never get to flap open; but want…

Enter the DJI Air 3

The world’s biggest drone maker DJI has released a new drone, the DJI Air 3, the successor to the Air 2S whose aerial imaging prowess the manufacturer claims are enhanced…

Agric drone for mango farmers in Cote d’Ivoire

As a parting short for their three-year partnership with mango producers in Cote d’Ivoire, the Germany Federation of Export Trade donated a DJI Agras T40 drone to the farmers’ representative…

Drone flies in to clear Joburg explosion mystery

A local drone company has flown into to assess the trail of destruction left by the massive explosion that ripped through Lilian Ngoloyi (formerly Bree) Street in Central Johannesburg last…

Botswana forging ahead with Drones for Health

Readers may remember the story we broke in May 2021, that the Botswana government, though its health ministry, was working with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the Botswana…

Zimbabwe government purchases agric drones

It might go quietly now, but in the future, the drone industry might look back at July 17 2023 as the day the gods smiled upon it, and its luck…

The challenge of rethinking drone technology in Africa

We love this – questions about drone technology in Africa are moving beyond just the hype to the hard yards needed to scale up drone operations in every facet of…

Drone researcher asks… What is an typical drone company?

We are so hurt. We feel betrayed and let down and disappointed and upset and saddened and… everything that dispirits a person’s soul. We thought the guys over at Drone…

DJI creates US drone lobby alliance

The world leading drone manufacturer is literally fighting for its life on the US market. DJI – whose Chinese roots are threatening to render its already precarious existence in the…

Botswana hops aboard the Flying Labs drone

It is the seventh drone and robotics services franchise in Southern Africa, the 21st in Africa and the 40th in the world. WeRobotics has just given birth to another baby;…

Rocketmine scores South32 deal

Deta Drone International has rebranded again. The drone services company is now known as RocketDNA. It chose to announce its new name alongside a new contract signed with mining giant…

One thousand lives saved by drones

Drone manufacturer DJI’s interactive rescue map, which plots areas where drones have played a starring role in rescuing human life, has now passed the 1,000 milestone. The latest statistics compiled…

Drone at your cleaning service

It is just like the headline says – it seems like cleaning services are steadily emerging as yet another niche market for which drone technology is finding a home. Drone…

The future of drone pilots

Perhaps it is something that needed saying – and now somebody has said it aloud. Just a Remote Pilot Licence is not enough to give somebody a rewarding career in…

Chennai police adds drone unit

We are in India again today, where the Greater Chennai City Police (GCP) has launched a Police Drone Unit, which a first for the police service in the country. The…

Indian company rakes in thousands of agric drone orders

The Indian government introduced measures to protect the growth of its fledgling drone industry by banning all civilian drone imports in 2021 – and now it seems those protectionist policies…

Rigitech lands perfect offshore delivery method

Working with their partners in Denmark, delivery drone manufacturer Rigi Technologies think they have arrived at a novel way of delivering small packages at offshore sites. Well; it is not…

Suspected drone grounds flights at OR Tambo

South Africa had a suspected case of a drone disturbing flights at a major airport this week. This Thursday, local airline Fly Safair announced that its flights from OR Tambo…

First drone pilots for South African police

It might be slow steps, but the South African Police Service is moving in the right direction as far as integrating drone technology into police operations is concerned And last…

Drone business training for African start-ups

In a continent where the technology still has a lot of ground to cover, it is heartening to note that stakeholders in the drone industry are working round the clock…

US man arrested for drone voyeurism

When it comes to drone offenders, we guess it takes all kinds. Here we have covered criminal activities involving drones, which have ranged from drones flying over sports stadiums, carrying…

Drone Delivery Canada gets BVLOS licence

Is it BVLOS licence award season in North America? It was Percepto and Valmont a few days ago. And today is Canadian drone maker Drone Delivery Canada’s turn to announce…

Drone completes longest flight on US soil?

Good times are certainly on a roll for beyond the visual line of sight flight missions in the USA at the moment. While Percepto was yesterday celebrating its acquisition of…

Percepto gets FAA waiver, and more capital

Fresh from receiving a nationwide waiver to operate unmanned aircraft systems on critical infrastructure sites from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), autonomous drone inspection and monitoring solution provider Percepto has…

Leonardo intensifies research into drone integration

Italian aerospace, defence and security company Leonardo has revealed that it is working on a research project where drone technology will be safely integrated in busy airspaces alongside other airborne…

UK industrial BVLOS flights go live

It looks like drone flights beyond the pilot’s visual line of sight are moving out of prescribed corridors and into the public arena in the United Kingdom. This, after Boeing-backed…

EHang flies between islands for the first time in Japan

For the first time since they entered into Japan, autonomous aerial vehicle maker EHang have seen their passenger drone fly between two islands. The company has just announced its flagship…

DroneUp, Spleenlab working on precise package landing software

At a time when there has been interesting debate about last inch delivery methods on the drone delivery market today, another has popped up, with a promise for precise, inch…

Drone deliveries for Norway

After introducing themselves to the world via their game changing effectiveness in medical delivery, it was just a matter of time before delivery drones branched out into general parcel delivery….

Israel conducts cargo, passenger drone tests

Passenger and cargo UAVs have taken off in Israel for the first ever time, as part of initiatives to test the feasibility of integrating drone technology as part of public…

Rocketmine earns the BARS

Drone services provider Delta Drone International – through its Rocketmine South Africa and Rocketmine Australia subsidiary operations – has announced that it has achieved the Basic Aviation Risk Standard (BARS),…

Impact of Chinese drone bans in the US

It is a reality of the world we live in today that there is very little to no love lost between the USA and China; a situation that has spilled…

Wingcopter, Siemens to deliver medical samples in Africa

German drone logistics company Wingcopter will be expanding its medical delivery operations in Africa, after signing a partnership agreement with fellow German medical technology company Siemens Healthineers. Announced today, the…

Nominations open for women in drone tech global awards

Nominations are now open for Women And Drones’ annual Global Women in Emerging Aviation Technologies Awards. Now in their seventh year running since 2017, the worldwide awards seek to recognise…

Dronamics’ dream come true

Like the kids of today would say; find somebody who commits to you like the Rangelov brothers committed to getting the Black Swan cargo drone soaring into the skies. Or…

Swiss drone maker enters US market

Swiss drone maker RigiTech will introduce its drone logistics solutions to the US market via a partnership agreement with Arizona-based healthcare transport solutions provider, Spright. The partnership will see Rigitech…

How have the drones optimised how we work?

Just how useful has drone technology been to various industrial applications? We do know how military grade drones have changed and are continuing to change the face of warfare forever….

Black Swan takes flight

(Spoiler Alert… it was white) Exactly a year ago today, cargo drone company Dronamics was flying in seventh heaven after being the first middle distance drone company to acquire a…

France trying out medical drones

Healthcare providers in France are looking at investing in delivery drone technology, and Dutch drone maker Avy was there recently to help show them how it will work. In recent…

Autel Robotics’s new drone nest

Autel Robotics, one of the biggest drone makers in the world, has entered a new player into the game of drone nests. The Chinese company recently launched the EVO drone…

DJI launches Matrice industrial drone

The world’s biggest industrial drone manufacturer, DJI, has launched yet another new drone; this time on the Matrice range. The new DJI Matrice 350 RTK (M350RTK) is supposed to be…

About that last-metre delivery question

Drone technology has worked out the equation of getting packages to where they are needed in record time. But the question still remains on how do you actually get a…

Globhe to work with UNICEF in Malawi

Globhe Drones, the world’s biggest drone-for-hire platform recently signed a deal with the United Nations Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) in Malawi that would see the former providing drone services in…

Drones on the stock market, Part 3

So; how have the drone companies and drone services providers listed on stock exchanges been performing in the past year. The good people at research company Drone Industry Insights have…

Wingcopter’s 40 million reasons to smile

German drone logistics company Wingcopter’s mission to deliver medical supplies to needy remote parts of the world as well as other small packages has just received 40 million reasons to…

DroneDeploy’s community projects in South Africa, Malawi

Last year, drone services company DroneDeploy helped train at least 40 young South Africans on how to fly drones and use them to collect data The project was part of…

SA company to speak at world construction event

South African engineering services company Delta Scan will be in Italy next week, where they have been invited to showcase their drone-based solutions in infrastructure inspections. The company’s managing director…

Zipline secures more US partners

Over the last few years, we have come to know Zipline as a drone logistics company that made its name delivering medical supplies, first in Africa; then back at its…

Drones in another rescue mission in Western Cape

There is never a dull time for the drones in the employ of the emergency services department in South Africa’s Western Cape Province. There are the Table Mountains in the…

SA drone company scores training partner

South Africa’s air traffic management body, the Air Traffic Navigation Services (ATNS) has decided to lend a hand in the push for the growth of the drone industry in the…

Drones port at Antwerp

As drone technology continues to make strides in various industrial applications, drone patrols have been introduced in the port area of the Belgian city of Antwerp. Launched on May 5,…

French company releases new drone

French drone company Azur Drones has released the second generation of its Skeyetech model of industrial autonomous drones, which it says is set to take precision drone missions at premises…

The importance of medical drones to remote communities

Non-Governmental health care organisation VilageReach’s Global Technical team Director Tapiwa Mukwashi recently went on a canoe ride in the DRC, a journey which gave him a practical appreciation of the…

Nokia drone solution get European certification

Remember Nokia? They used to make some really popular cellular phones out of Finland in the nineties and noughties; their Nokia 1100 still holds the record as the best-selling phone…

Drone tech, security and countering drone threats

Police in north China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region have busted a syndicatethat was using a drone to smuggle gold nuggets into the country. Xinhua quoted the public security bureau of…

Drone training schools in Africa

We have been getting a lot of enquiries from readers who wish to know where they can get training for various occupations in the drone space. So we have listed…

Drone Industry Insights’ 2022 UAV stock performance report

Our friends at Drone Industry Insights have released their latest report for publicly traded drone stocks for the year 2022. But as they reiterate below; this is just their educated…

DJI’s Mavic 3 Pro is for storytellers

Industrial drones are mostly about data collection; and one of the most important data collection implements that can be saddled on a drone is the camera. So DJI went on…

Skyports and Advanced Aerial Mobility

The below article, which first appeared in International Airport Review, is an interview with Skyports’ Sanjay Suresh, General Manager APAC, Skyports Drone Services, and Pedro Cascales Dominguez, Senior Vertiport Planner….

Wing spreads into Queensland

Wing, the drone wing of mega conglomerate Alphabet (they own Google so… yeah) must be praying that there are no ravens in Queensland, Australia. At least we think the company…

Drones doing the heavy-lifting on solar power construction projects in China

We have seen drones that run on solar energy. We have witnessed drones doing the cleaning, inspection and monitoring on solar farms across the world. But have you seen drones…

Skydio joins the Flying Labs family

American drone manufacturer Skydio will be joining technology non-profit organisation WeRobotics and its worldwide Flying Labs family as a technology partner. And here is the why part: around 2015, WeRobotics…

Introducing drone technology to banana plantations

It is good news for banana producing countries in Africa; especially those in west and central Africa. Agriculture technology company XAG – the manufacturer of the XAG agricultural drone –…

Made for Hollywood: DJI’s Inspire 3 is here

Drone maker DJI has released its third iteration of the Inspire drone range, which it says is actually a perfect movie-making camera mounted on a drone. And just to reiterate…

Drone start-up finds new way to inspect solar farms

A South African drone services start-up says it has found a new way to inspect, monitor and maintain a solar power plant. Cape Town-based Integrated Aerial Systems (IAS) specialises in…

Drone rescues lost hikers in Table Mountain

By now, we figure there are a lot of people who are really grateful that the Western Cape Government Emergency Medical Services department in South Africa endured the rigorous Remote…

Amazon’s drone dream deferred. Again

We were all hopeful when online retailer Amazon announced that they were finally going to get their drone delivery wing, the Amazon Prime Air, finally off the ground. In the…

South Africa drone queen’s efforts get rewarded

South African drone technology entrepreneur Queen Ndlovu was recently honoured as a recipient of the inaugural Charlotte Maxeke African Women Leadership Award for her contribution towards drone innovation in the…

Globhe drones keeping tabs with school construction projects in Lesotho

The government of Lesotho has roped in the help of drone technology to keep track with school construction projects in rural parts of the country. Started in 2022 with funding…

Harnessing the power of drones for Africa’s future

The below article was taken from africanDRONE, an organisation that seeks to empower drone entrepreneurs in Africa by networking them together into a self-help association that can share resources and knowledge….

Drone technology and bridge inspection

The below article was taken from Skydio. As our infrastructure continues to age, it becomes increasingly important to find innovative ways to inspect and maintain it. One technology that has…

Countrywide drone deployment in Rwanda’s malaria fight

Having joined other African countries that include Tanzania, Malawi and South Africa in using drone technology to fight malaria, the Rwandan government has been happy with the work the drones…

Protecting 2024 Olympics from drone attacks

Hosting a large sporting event may be spectacular for watchers and economic boom for the local population, but the security challenges they pose are vast. Especially in this age of…

Drone company scores deal with Canadian government

It seems like Canadian drone technology company Drone Delivery Canada will be going really mainstream this time. The drone manufacturer has just announced that it has signed a deal with…

Latest on investment in drone technology

Our friends over at Drone Industry Insights have released their drone investment report for the past year. Although not doing so at a rate as exponential as it has done…

Zipline’s new baby: It’s quiet

We know babies cry. A lot. It is an adorable proof of live that a parent loves to hear. But this new baby from Zipline does not make a sound….

Wingcopter researching on hydrogen power

German delivery drone developer and operator, Wingcopter; and Hamburg-based aviation research faciluty, ZAL Center of Applied Aeronautical Research have announced a partnership that will see them exploring the potential of…

Another drone disturbance at Dublin Airport

The situation at Dublin Airport in Ireland is getting ridiculous – or serious, depending on how you’re looking at it. For at least the fifth time in recent weeks, flights…

Drone to collect data at nuclear and radiation sites

The came up with indoor and underground drone solutions for inspecting claustrophobic spaces in a way safe for the humans involved. Now, indoor drone manufacturer and services provider Flyability have…

UTM provider’s new model to demonstrate the skies of the future

Unified Traffic Management (UTM) technology provider Altitude Angel, will premiere a new generation of simulation modelling which the provider says “puts the airspace manager at the very heart of the…

Passenger drone complete flight in Japan

Oh, hi there at EHang! It has been long. What is up with you? Apparently, the Chinese drone maker is making progress in its quest to be the world’s first…

XAG drones expand into Thailand

Keen to push the dominance of DJI in the agricultural drone space, fellow Chinese smart agriculture technology company XAG’s drones will soon be testing themselves on the Thai agriculture space….

Drones as first responders

Because of the heartbreaking Turkish and Syrian disaster brought about by the resent earthquake in these two countries, we figured this might be the time to look at how drone…

Crop spraying drones on a vineyard

The case study below from our friends at XAG shows the results that returned when the effectiveness of crop spraying drones was tested on a vineyard New Zealand. As wine…

Home delivery for diabetes drugs in Rwanda

If you are a Rwanda citizen, there could a drone on your doorstep soon. Well; not exactly on your doorstep – Zipline does not do that. We all know the…

Start-up dreams of first drone port in central Europe

Plans are afoot for the first ever drone helipad in central Europe – and a logistics start up want to be the first to deliver the drone landing port in…

Policing drones for Gauteng, South Africa

Sometimes you just have to laugh. It might sound incredible, but we can assure you that even before we started perusing the State of the Province Address document for South…

New drone training school for South Africa

As the drone economy continues to take strides in South Africa, another drone training school has surfaced on the local market. Rectron Drone Academy is set to open its doors…

FIXAR explores Brazil market

They have been to South Africa and to Kenya on the African market. Now Latvian drone maker FIXAR is taking their trade into Brazil. Brazilian aviation company Helisul Aviação has…

American airline to purchase cargo drones

Middle distance cargo drones may be the latest phenomenon on the delivery drone market, but it seems they are here to stay. After early noises made by cargo drone pioneering…

Skyports’ vertiport plans for Dubai approved

It seems like the city of Dubai is leaving no stone unturned in the race to become the first city in the world to fully integrate drone technology into its…

Airobotics ventures into the UAE

Drone maker Airobotics – a wholly owned subsidiary of Ondas Holdings – has announced a deal with UAE-based Sky So Transport of Goods to provide drone delivery services across the…

Drone delivery trials for northern UK

Medical drones are set to expand into the Northumberland region in northern UK, after the Civil Aviation Authority approved a pilot project to take off from February 13. The Northumbria…

Drone services company Globhe joins recovery efforts in Turkey

Swedish crowd droning organisation Globhe has joined the humanitarian community in Turkey and is involved with the search and rescue efforts currently underway in the country. By now, we’re sure…

Suspect arrested in Dublin Airport drone incident

Remember this story we covered a few days ago about a drone idiot (or a number of them since this happened multiple times) who flew his drone into the airfield…

Regulatory breakthrough for US drone company’s autonomous operations

American drone services provider Percepto recently announced that the US Federal Aviation Administration will be treating the former’s autonomous drone operations as normal drone activity, which neither needs a human…

Agric drone competition for Kenyan youth

They have been to Zambia, to Nigeria; and to Zimbabwe recently. And now Global Air Drone Academy will be entering Kenya with their mission to promote drone technology among the…

About that Advanced Air Mobility…

Today’s analysis from Drone Industry Insights is about Advanced Air Mobility. Basically, it is about the integration of passenger and cargo drones into busy urban skies and the freer atmospheres…

New year; same drone idiot problems

There are times when you have to feel sorry for serious drone users out there who just want to use the welcome technology of drones for the greater good. Professionals…

Delta Drone ropes in partner to expand European and African reach

…While Draganfly spreads into India Delta Drone – the France-based parent company of African drone services giant Delta Drone international has just announced that it will be distributing drone-based Appliances,…

Drone regulations outlook 2023

Yea; we know we’ve been away for a while. Perhaps we need to apologise for that, but… maybe some other time. Happy new year everyone. While we were away, our…

VoloDrone passes another test

Since their drone went on display at an agricultural exhibition show in Hannover in 2019, drone and urban air mobility services company Volocopter has been dropping titbits about their flagship…

Investing in the drone business

Africa might not be there yet when it comes to the design and manufacturing side of things; but it will always take some of the credit for providing a good…

Second Drone Strategy for EU

When it comes to expanding civilian drone operations within its member countries, the European Union is leaving no stone unturned, and all we can do in Africa at the moment…

Dronamics gets funding to expedite Black Swan rollout

Rising cargo drone company Dronamics’ mission to disrupt middle distance cargo delivery just go a shot in the arm. Two point five million shots in the arm to be precise….

Zipline, Aerodyne dominate DII 2022 drone rankings

Research company Drone Industry Insights has released its top drones for the delivery – and keen followers of the drone technology will be little surprised to learn that it is…

New Mavic 3 Multispectral tailor-made for precision agriculture

Another day; another drone from our Lord and Saviour, DJI. The drone manufacturing conglomerate’s agriculture wing has launched the DJI Mavic 3 Multispectral, which the company says will be the…

Drone tech players among TIME’s 2022 best inventions

Mama; the made it! Three organisations that work with drone technology in their operations have made the grade for TIME Magazine’s 200 best inventions for 2022, an accolade which recognises…

Nigeria police force adds drone pilots

Ahead of next year’s elections, the Nigerian police force has ramped up aerial support for its officers on the ground, with the addition of more pilots for both manned and…

Fuel partner for Dronamics’ mid-range cargo drones

One of the arguments raised for the cause of drones joining other aircraft in the lower skies has been that the little tin birds are environmentally friendly as most of…

No-drone zone for Leicester during Diwali

It is a testament to how wide civilian drone use is becoming when policing authorities have to issue a warning for people NOT to bring their flying toys to a…

Second batch of Drone Divas graduate

Tshwane-based non-profit Africa Beyond the 4th Industrial Revolution (AB4IR) has just completed the successful education of its 2022 cohort of students in the Drone Diva Programme. Started last August, the…

Bringing crop spraying drones to Brazilian farmers

Chinese precision agriculture solutions provider XAG is working farmers in Brazil to spearhead the adoption of drone and related robotic technology in the industry. In the below article, the company…

Taking drone delivery to rural Germany

Drone manufacturer and services provider Wingcopter are taking their delivery drone solution to the rural communities of their homeland of Germany. The Weiterstadt-based start-up has teamed with the Frankfurt University…

Drone leads rescue for stranded hiker in Cape Town

A search and rescue drone and a helicopter worked in tandem to rescue a hiker lost in the Table Mountains in Cape Town yesterday. This collaborative rescue effort was undertaken…

New EU draft makes it easier to sue drone manufacturers, users

Today, drone AI and robotic technology manufacturers will find out a new European Union law will impact their pockets if any of their products causes harm. Reuters reports that individuals…

DJI’s Mavic 3 Enterprise is out

Chinese drone maker, DJI, has released the enterprise series of its Mavic 3 model of drones, which can apparently fly for 45 minutes. Below is what the manufacturer had to…

DJI moves into new home in China

Fancy working in a suspended high-rise building? After six years scattered around various buildings in Shenzhen, China, DJI workers have finally returned home following the completion of the drone company’s…

3D printing drones: just like the bees do it

Their name was inspired by the sound made by bees – and now there is a challenge to make drones actually work like bees do. Researchers at two learning institutions…

Drones to map land in Sierra Leone

The magical little birds seem to have worked wonders in Zanzibar. So why not take them to Sierra Leone? The country’s parliament is working with the University of South Denmark…

More rogue drones at US sports events

The scourge of dirty small tin birds is threatening to become hard to govern in the US sports arena. It is barely two days since we reported that two men…

Two US men arrested for flying drones above sports events

Kids, this is why we have hardware and software to counter the activities of people who abuse drone technology to gain criminal ends. Two men have been charged with federal…

Dutch company releases new drone model

Dutch drone manufacturer DeltaQuad has started the public beta phase for their new drone model, the Evo drone, which boasts of a dual payload capacity and can stay up to…

Deploying drones to the volcanoes

The below article was written by Fiona D’Arcy and originally appeared in The Conversation. Fiona is a PhD candidate in Earth Sciences at McGill University. Volcanic eruptions cannot be predicted…

“Peeping drone” that wasn’t…

Well; you have to imagine mishaps like this will happen when drones are deployed to work around people’s homes. A woman in Collier Country in Florida, US last week called…

Drones and mine waste storage facilities inspection

In the aftermath of the Jagersfontein flooding disaster, where the tailings dam wall collapsed and mining waste sludge flooded a nearby residential area in South Africa’s Free State Province, we…

Embraer purchases stake in drone company

Brazilian aerospace company Embraer has drunk the Kool Aid on drone technology. The company has announced its arrival on the drone technology stage through the purchase of a minority stake…

Drone docking infrastructure start-ups merge

American drone mailbox pioneer Valqari has acquired IDU Group, a UK-based start-up that develops smart integrated infrastructure necessary for autonomous drone docking and delivery. In a statement, Valqari said the…

XAG takes the P100 to Vietnam

Chinese industrial drone maker XAG are taking their P100 agricultural drone to the world, and they were in Vietnam recently. Below is the manufacturer’s account of how the sojourn went….

Rigitech, Zing join the DLE family

The Drone Logistics ecosystem family is growing nicely, with the 46th and 47th additions walking through the door in quick succession in recent weeks. Interestingly, the newest members are both…

DJI drones now Remote ID-compliant

Drone manufacturing company DJI has announced that seven of its drone models have been approved for compliance with Remote Identification mandates as required by the Federal Aviation Administration in the…

Drones, 5G and agriculture

There must be some breakthrough solutions telecommunications technology giant Ericsson sees in the combination between drones and 5G network technology. The company has been working with various partners to expedite…

Jagersfontein dam collapse: drone deployed to scene

An engineering services company has deployed drones to help piece out events that led to the collapse of a tailings dam wall in Jagersfontein, South Africa. The government confirmed that…

Global boom in drone patents

Step by step, the use of drone technology in various settings seems to be gathering pace, if the number of patents granted in the last year is anything to go…

Drone sighting disrupts flights at Glasgow Airport

We really wish we did not have to report this; but we’re afraid we have news about a suspected drone trespasser case. Again. This time it happened at Glasgow at…

China debuts solar-powered high altitude drone

Not to be outdone by Airbus’ Zephyr and HAPSMobile’s creations, China has developed its own high altitude solar-powered drone. Developed by state-owned conglomerate Aviation Industry Corp of China, the Qimingxing…

Medical drone deliveries take off in Kaduna

Finally, the state of Kaduna in Nigeria can rightfully boast of a fully-fledged drone-based medical logistics network in operation. After first shaking hands on a partnership with drone logistics company…

Matternet gets licence for commercial flights in the US

American drone delivery company Matternet is celebrating today because its drones have been declared fit for commercial operations. The California-based developer of the world’s leading urban drone delivery system announced…

Scotland moves closer to medical drone network

A consortium led by AGS Airports in partnership with NHS Scotland to deliver what will be the UK’s first medical distribution network using drones has launched its next phase. CAELUS…

Drone camp for underprivileged kids in Zimbabwe

Many readers will remember the Global Air Drone Academy (GADA) as a drone training institution that has been working with the American Embassy to conduct drone technology bootcamps in Zambia…

Swoop Aero joins WEF’s Global Innovator community

Australian drone logistics start-up Swoop Aero is now a World Economic Forum-commissioned global innovator. The Queensland company – which charted a path in Africa delivering medical supplies in countries that…

Indian hospital to use drones for organ delivery

An Indian hospital has partnered with a drone company to launch an operation to use drone technology to transport human organs. Chennai-based private hospital MGM Healthcare made this revelation at…

Opportunities for insurance industry against drone intrusions

Stakeholders in the drone industry do understand that flying drones into places they are legally not supposed to be is a nuisance the industry can really do without, given how…

Drone spying on homes in California neighbourhood?

Proponents of drone technology know that one of the reasons why regulatory authorities have been hesitated to have drones flying over people in public places is because of fears over…

Start-ups partner for drone-based solutions in Zambian construction industry

A Zambian technology company is set to bring some excitement to construction sites in the country. Alstralz Technologies Limited plans to introduce drone-based data collection to construction projects in Zambia,…

Zipline, Jumia partner for package deliveries in Ghana

Perhaps for the first ever time since it set its foot in Africa, the Zips from drone logistics company Zipline will be transporting packages not remotely related to medical supplies….

Wing CEO on the future of drone delivery

The CEO and former CTO of Alphabet’s drone subsidiary Wing, Adam Woodworth recently spoke to journalists, analyst, author and speaker John Koetsier on his company’s vision for drone delivery, on…

Drones for Kenya’s tea plantation

Kenya Airways’ drone technology subsidiary, Fahari Aviation, seems to be making up for lost time. Launched just a year ago, the drone services company has been all over the country,…

Errant drones disrupt traffic at Madrid airport

Madrid (SPAIN) – Small wonder that an airport in the USA has contracted a counter-drone technology company to permanently deploy its software and hardware and be on the lookout for…

Drones in real estate

Did you know that there is money to be earned as a drone photographer in real estate? Our experts at DJI reckon there is a niche for aerial drone photography…

UK teenager rescued by drone

Police in Nottinghamshire, UK, last Thursday flew a drone in search of a teenager who had called the police in distress during the night. The vulnerable teenager was located by…

Deploying drones to monitor traffic in Nairobi

Kenya Flying Labs has joined hands with a Swiss partner to test a new drone-based solution to monitoring congestion in urban areas. In a report, the Kenyan custodian of WeRobotics’…

SA Flying Labs takes drones to Alex

Today we are crushing on QP Drone Tech, custodian of the Flying Labs network in South Africa, which recently spent time with the young women in the high-density township of…

Drones trigger precipitation for heat-stricken Sichuan, China

The heatwave in China’s Sichuan province is persisting so badly that the government has deployed drones to seed rain clouds to try and trigger some form of precipitation. China news…

Your Avata is here…

Here is what DJI have to say about their new product, the Avata Drone and its accessories, the DJI Goggles 2 and the DJI Motion Controller. DJI, the world’s leader…

Drone-based proposal to promote tourism in Zimbabwe

A Zimbabwean drone technology entrepreneur has proposed a drone-based solution to promote the country’s tourism. Tatenda Mafara (far right in the main picture), the proprietor of Iron Mask Aerotech lodged…

Namibia adds drones to Windhoek policing operation

Namibian police have deployed drones to help fight crime in the country’s capital Windhoek as the city faces an upsurge in criminal activity. This is according to regional police commander…

Considerations on integrating drones into urban airspaces

With many urban settlements in the world making plans for the introduction of unmanned aerial vehicles in their airspaces, an analyst has made the plea for more research and wider…

Zimbabwe dreams of agric drone response centres

A few days ago, we covered this story about the Nigerian government making plans to invest in drone technology to supplement to its efforts against border crimes in the country….

China sets roadmap for drone industry

They have some of the biggest drone companies in the world – now it seems China wants the supporting infrastructure for drone technology to show for it. Reuters has reported…

Nigeria to deploy drones along the border

From deploying drone technology in healthcare logistics, the Nigerian government has now revealed plans to use the small unmanned aerial vehicles to combat crimes along the country’s borders. According to…

DeltaScan to inspect flooding damage in KwaZulu Natal, SA

The province of KwaZulu Natal in South Africa sustained heavy losses of life and destruction to property in infrastructure, following days of heavy rainfall in the area in April this…

Taking the South African drone economy to the next level

The below article originally appeared on IT-Online and was written by Dean Conde, UTM lead at iOCO Digital. A Johannesburg-based subsidiary of technology services giant, EOH, iOCO is an information…

Delta Drone International, Assmang extend contract

Global drones-as-a-service provider, Delta Drone International Limited (DLT) will stay on as the drone surveyor of choice for South African mining giant Assmang Proprietary Limited’s Khumani Iron Ore Mine, after…

DJI’s Drone Industry Report, 2021

DJI has released its 2021 industry report for agricultural drones. It is a really good read, and we reproduce it below. Industry Background From “plant protection drones” to “agricultural drones”…

Zipline to work with NASA

It usually is the case that the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is the consultant of last resort when it comes to most things aviation. That’s presumably because NASA…

Zim drone academy gets greenlight for BVLOS training

Seems like the first drone training school to legally open its doors in Zimbabwe has broken new ground again. Harare-based Drone Solutions Academy (DSA), the first school in Zimbabwe to…

New mobile anti-drone solution from Dedrone

American smart airspace security company Dedrone has launched what it says is an all-in-one kit that offers comprehensive drone detection, tracking, and identification capabilities (DTI) on the go. To be…

Zimbabwe drone stakeholders converge

Having warmed up to drone technology at the first ever drone conference held in Zimbabwe last November, Zimbabwe will converge in Harare again starting today to discuss latest development in…

SA issues first delivery drone ROC

The brainchild that Jonathan Louw conceived has finally, finally seen the light of day. We know every Remote Operator’s Certificate issued by the South African Civil Aviation Authority (SACAA) is…

Is the US warming up to delivery drones?

Well… the results are in – and people do not hate drone deliveries as much as originally feared. At least those polled in the US – the largest drone market…

Mapping out the land in Zanzibar

Thanks to the data collection exploits of drone technology, the process of titling land on the Tanzanian archipelago of Zanzibar is progressing at a rate faster than would have been…

Revisiting drones in construction

The construction industry has carried the tag of being the most technology-shy industry ever. Somehow, professionals in the industry love working with their bare hands, as they do the comfortable…

Unlocking the real value of drone technology

Debate has been swelling up within drone industry circles on the place of human pilots along the drone value chain. Informal conversations with drone services providers have indeed revealed the…

Counter-drone systems at Qatar World Cup

We know drones have been used to keep an eye out on any sign of trouble at the Cannes Film Festival in France; have monitored large gatherings in Toronto, and…

New drone and drone nest in town

There is now a new drone and drone docking station combo in town to rival the best in the game. Coming from Shenzhen in China – which is also the…

Prosecution looms for SA drone law offenders

Unauthorised drone in South Africa has not reached the levels of this Gatwick Airport incident yet – but there have been times where drones have flown into areas where they…

Dronamics enters deal to accelerate drone production

Having landed deals with various airports and other related docking partners in Europe, middle distance drone logistics company Dronamics is now working to ramp up production of its Black Swan…

UK to open world’s biggest drone superhighway

The drone corridor that started out as a trial in Reading last year under Project Xcelerate must have worked a treat for the – because the UK government has been…

About those fire-fighting drones

We love to follow the latest trends in the application of drone technology in various industries. And the more we here from experts, drone manufacturers and Original Equipments manufacturers themselves,…

Zipline to start delivering in Washington, US

Zipline’s wings on drone logistics in the US continues to grow, with the latest landing being in Washington. It has been announced drone logistics company Zipline will be partnering non-profit…

Dedrone to expand global operations after $30m investment

San Francisco-based smart airspace security provider has pledged to grow its global operations and team, after raising $30million in investment funding. The company announced that it had closed $30million in…

Assessing the impact of drones on healthcare delivery

Of late, discussions on the future of drone technology in logistics seem to have returned to the fore, no doubt egged on by an announcement by Amazon that the online…

SA university lends drones for marine research

The School of Engineering at Nelson Mandela University in South Africa has given unmanned aerial support to researchers studying marine life in the Indian Ocean. The support has been in…

Tips for drone services start-ups

Drone expert Callum Holland has shared the below nuggets for entrepreneurs hoping to crack the code in offering drone services to clients. Callum himself has run a drone services business…

Airobotics joins the Ondas family

Israeli autonomous drone developer Airobotics will be joining the Ondas family of companies. This was revealed through an announcement made by the parent company Ondas Holdings – a provider of…

SA govt gazettes private security drone regulations

Any person hoping to offer drone services for the security industry in South Africa must be registered as a security service provider according to the requirements of the Public Security…

NHS to deliver cancer drugs by drone

We are in the UK today, where the National Health Service (NHS) in England will be trying drone technology to bring chemotherapy drugs closer to patients, as announced by the…

Zipline spreads further in the US

… Company launches operations in North Carolina Fresh from being declared a proper airline, drone logistics company Zipline could not wait to try out its newfound wings in North Carolina,…

In defence of delivery drones

Harrison Wolf is a drone technology optimist. Now the Director of Global Aviation Policy at leading drone logistics company Zipline, Mr Wolf has been in the drone industry for over…

Drone use in manufacturing

With the drone global market having an expected worth of 15 billion US dollars by 2022, it seems the industry will soon be expanding into another niche market soon –…

When in Namibia…

Of course, you have to do what the Namibians do. The Namibian Drone Academy has shared some very useful information about tourists wishing to fly drones while visiting Namibia. We…

EHang enters partnerships in China, Europe

Keen on expanding its operations to become the leading autonomous aerial vehicle supplier in the world – especially for passenger transportation and logistics – manufacturer EHang has joined forces with…

How to thermal: Insights from DJI

This will be a bit of a long read; but it is from the experts. DJI Enterprise has shared pointers on how to use thermal imaging with drone technology, and…

Drones to inspect construction projects in Kenya

Unmanned aerial vehicles could soon be flying over construction sites in Kenya on government missions to check whether construction companies are following the law when doing their work. This follows…

About those drone jobs…

We know that the drone industry is a growing industry worldwide, with commercial applications for drones that are taking over tasks that we may not have imagined before. But where…

US carrier to test 5G network on drones

Chicago, US – 5G. Yes. That fifth-generation mobile networking connectivity that was met with so much noise at its introduction solely because… … of its origins. But we are not…

Passenger drones for tourism in China

Guangzhou, CHINA – In China, the government is making efforts to incorporate passenger drone technology into the country’s tourism industry, and passenger drone maker EHang is set to be one…

Wingcopter to expand operations

Weiterstadt, GERMANY – Drone services start-up Wingcopter just got loaded; and will use its new-found wealth to expand its drone delivery services globally and ramp up production of its new…

Drone software for fire fighting

A South African security start-up has joined forces with a Danish software company to work on drone-based solutions to fight fires in the southern African country. Cape Town-based Arcanum Africa…

EU plans for drone technology in public safety

The European Union is working hard to find the rightful place of drone technology in various applications, including public safety. In the research article below – which was funded by…

SA govt promises drones for policing ops

The South African government has revealed that it is in the process of procuring drones for the South African Police Service’s (SAPS) policing operations in rural parts of the country….

Zimbabwe power distribution company obtains ROC

A Zimbabwean parastatal has become the first company in the country to acquire a Remote Operator’s Certificate in the country. The Zimbabwe Electricity Transmission and Distribution Company (ZETDC) will be…

Drone-in-a-Box market set for growth

Perhaps we should have guessed when DJI announced its own drone nest earlier this year, but research now confirms that the Drone-in-a-Box market is set for a boom in the…

Kenya opens drone haven

Kenya’s national airline Kenya Airways (KQ) is stepping up its drone game. Through its subsidiary Fahari Aviation, KQ has launched the first drone testing and training facility in Kenya –…

Quantum-Systems, Propeller Aero combine software for aerial surveys

Denver, USA – There is a significant development for the survey and mapping industry today, after Propeller Aero and Quantum-Systems announced that they would be combining their respective technologies to…

In her own words: Drone Diva Programme graduate speaks

Tshwane-based non-profit organisation Africa Beyond the 4th Industrial revolution (AB4IR) is playing its part in bridging the digital divide in South Africa by empowering communities through technology, innovation and incubation….

Amazon to try drone deliveries again

Amazon need another shot at the primetime. Nearly ten years after promising the world that they were going to shake the last mile delivery sector by their game changing drones,…

Calling the drone industry to action

We reproduce the below article from drone technology expert Callum Holland, which we can only conclude is a toast to players in the drone industry who are not afraid to…

Drone-based solutions for cassava production in Cambodia

Our experts at agricultural drone services developer and provider XAG made a stopover in Cambodia on their world tour to bring drone-based solutions to precision agriculture. Below is an account…

FIXAR launches long range, multi-purpose industrial drone

Latvian drone company FIXAR Global has released a autonomous new long range eVTOL drone, the FIXAR 025, which it says was made with large-scale missions for commercial and industrial applications….

Zipline unveils aircraft detection system

San Francisco, US – One of the age-old criticisms for the integration of unmanned aerial systems into busy airspaces or over people and buildings has been that the drones cannot…

Rocketmine lands deal with Australian mining giant

Rocketmine is really going places in the drone world. Now a subsidiary of Australian Stock Exchange-listed Delta Drone International, the drone services company with South African roots has signed on…

Swoop Aero’s Remote Operations Centre

Fresh from having their drone logistics Remote Operations Centre (ROC) approved by the Australian civil aviation authorities, drone logistics company Swoop Aero are aiming to spread their wings further into…

Kaduna’s medical drone project takes off

Kaduna, NIGERIA — It took over a year to get here, but finally a Zip has made its first medical delivery in Nigeria’s northern state of Kaduna. The Kaduna government…

Drone training opportunity for people with disabilities in SA

An African information technology giant has teamed up with two drone companies in South Africa to equip people living with disabilities with skills in drone technology. EOH, which is one…

Kenya set to launch drone logistics network

Three drone logistics companies have come together to launch a drone logistics networks in the east African nation of Kenya. Australian medical drone services company Swoop Aero, Kenyan air logistics…

When the Avy Aera made a stopover in Benin

…working with authorities to expedite medical drone logistics Remember the story we covered a while back about how the Benin government was trying drone technology to curb maternal mortality in…

Drones set to deliver mail in India

In a world in which countless methods of sending mail electronically and instantly, there are still people and organisations that insist on sending messages on pieces of paper wrapped in…

EHang to enter the Thai drone market

Guangzhou, CHINA – Chinese autonomous aerial vehicle technology company EHang Holdings has announced a partnership agreement with a Thai conglomerate to help the drone company penetrate the Thailand drone market….

Pointers on drone use in livestock management

We are used to unmanned aerial systems in agriculture flying over our farms, their containers laden with liquid spray to be applied over crops. If not spraying, the drones are…

The case for – and against – drone fishing

We do remember that the subject of drone fishing is a hot one in South Africa right now, following the ban on the use of drones during fishing expeditions by…

Walmart in DroneUP scale up

Walmart and DroneUp are scaling up package delivery operations in the US. It seems the US retail giant has been very happy with package delivery trials it has been conducting…

Dronamics gets licence to deliver today

London, (ENGLAND); Geneva (SWITZERLAND) – Middle distance cargo drone developer and operator, Dronamics are in seventh heaven today after finally obtaining the licence to deliver today, as their tag line…

Drone logistics group adds family member

Dubai, UAE – The Drone Logistics Ecosystem family is growing. This time the worldwide network for a unified global delivery drone ecosystem has welcomed Dubai-based Microavia, to work with the…

Wingcopter bags WAPP partner for Sub-Saharan Africa

Accra, GHANA/Weiterstadt, GERMANY – German drone delivery pioneer Wingcopter says it is working on deploying thousands of delivery drones into the Sub-Saharan skies in the coming five years. At least…

New confined space drone from Flyability

Lausanne, SWITZERLAND – Flyability, the Swiss maker of confined space drone technology has released the Elios 3, the third offering in the company’s Elios range of drones. We know we…

High school student develops poacher detection technology

By 2016, Kruger National Park was ready to give up on drone technology. Starring at the decimation of their rhinoceros and elephant population in the face, parks and wildlife officials…

Behold, the VoloIQ cometh

Redmond, Washington (USA); Bruchsal, GERMANY – VoloDrone. VoloCity. VoloPort. VoloConnect. All these transport and infrastructure systems belong to German electronic Vertical Take-Off and Landing (eVTOL) aircraft manufacturer Volocopter and very…

TotalEnergies to use drones to detect methane emissions

Paris, FRANCE – We know we have been harping on for a long time about how drone technology is important as an implement for the oil and gas industry without…

History as South African company launches locally-made survey drone

We know we should have done this a long time ago, but… well… better late than never at all. We would like to celebrate with South Africa’s Premier Mapping Africa,…

Cultivating trust in autonomous drone systems

It is a question that has kept many an aviation regulator all over the world awake at night. How to keep the lower skies safe in the face of an…

WeRobotics adds technology partner for its Flying Labs

Redwing has drunk the Flying Labs Kool Aid! The Indian cargo drone maker was announced yesterday as the latest addition to robotics technology non-profit WeRobotics’s growing list of technology partners…

UK company to open 50 drone routes for mail delivery

Eighteen months ago, Royal Mail – the leading provider of postal and delivery services in the UK – embarked on an ambitious project to deliver mail and packages to remote…

DJI drops the Mini 3 Pro

Today is DJI Mini 3 Pro Day. The world’s biggest drone maker DJI has just announced the release of its much-anticipated drone in the smallest range – the DJI Mini…

IAP: Changing precision agriculture through drone technology in Nigeria

One of the biggest reasons why drone technology has been quick to take root in Africa has been the maximum and quick gains garnered at a fraction of the cost…

Construction drones: next level roof analysis

After three long days of flashing smiles, mixing handshakes and pandemic-friendly elbow bumps, and talking about their vision for the future of roofing, John Kiesel and Ryan Resides could finally…

Adding drone precision to rice farming

The experts from agricultural drone manufacturer, XAG have shared the below use case, where their drones are helping rice farming efforts in Vietnam. Dong Thap, VIETNAM – As the monsoon…

EHang asked to conform to US rules for public companies

Guangzhou, CHINA – It seems like it is squeaky bum time again for Chinese drone maker EHang and its shareholders in the USA. Less than a week after EHang’s filing…

Cleaning drones to get 4G and 5G connectivity

Sprayer drones. The world has a handful of those now. There are fire-fighting sprayer drones that can fly 600 metres in the air to jet extinguishing foams at a fire…

Gun-smuggling drone crashes into tree in Canada

There is really no limit to what people can do with drones, is there? Whether it is legal or illegal, sometimes you have to marvel at the creative ways people…

Swoop Aero to launch drone docking system

Christchurch, NEW ZEALAND – We know it might be a completely useless detail – but the first thing that came to mind when we got this news was that Swoop…

Drone applications in agriculture

From senseFly Drones are fast becoming a crucial tool in agriculture, but how do you know if they are the right choice for your business? Olivia Soares de Camargo, Customer…

US drone company gets greenlight to operate with no pilots on site

Waltham, Massachusetts (US) – The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has granted its approval for autonomous drone services company American Robotics to expand its automated technology where its drones can fly…

Top industries for drone applications revealed

So; which industries have taken drone technology like a duck to water? Many might be tempted to ask this question, as if the answer were completely straightforward. However, defining the…

New mobile drone detection system from Dedrone

San Francisco, California (US) – American smart airspace security company Dedrone recently launched its first portable drone detection unit. Called DedroneRapidResponse, the mobile unit can detect, identify, locate and analyse…

Big drone-in-a-box deal for Percepto in Florida

Austin, Texas (US) – Autonomous drone inspections services provider Percepto has announced that its will be deploying its autonomous industrial drones to monitor Florida Power & Light’s (FPL) substations and…

First ever vertiport opens in the UK

Over in the USA, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has identified the creation of vertiports for electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) planes as one of the important pillars for…

Step-by-step: The growing importance of medical drones

We all know what medical drones have done to communities in Africa that badly needed medical supplies to be delivered in time to save lives in locations that are usually…

Three more inductees into the Flying Labs Network

It is the year 2022, and WeRobotics are still relentlessly pursuing their mission of establishing flying labs hubs in as many countries as they can; the latest three Flying Labs…

Mozambique kicks off Phase 2 of Drones for Health Project

Maputo, MOZAMBIQUE – Mozambique can legitimately claim that it is the first country country in Southern Africa – or indeed one of the first on the whole continent – to…

Zipline lands in Japan

San Francisco, California (US), Goto (JAPAN) — For the first ever time in their lives, the Zips are in Japan. And that is because the flagship medical drone logistics company,…

India greenlights drone-spraying for 477 agric chemicals

When it comes to drone technology at least, it seems the Indian government is putting its money where its mouth is. After recently announcing that it was going to ban…

The journey so far: drone technology in Africa

Now and again, somebody comes up with a comprehensive accounting of the journey travelled by the drone industry in Africa so far, where it is now; and where it is…

Ramjack acquires underground drone company, Inkonova

Johannesburg, SOUTH AFRICA – South African mining technology company, Ramjack Technology Solutions has announced its acquisition of Swedish underground robotics technology company, Inkonova AB. A mining technology systems integrator and…

Investing in drones on the stock market

Thinking of investing in drone technology? Should be a bummer for you then, that you cannot buy shares for DJI at any stock exchange whatsoever. But there are drone companies…

South Africa bans drone fishing

A high court judge in South Africa has upheld the ban on drones and other motorised devices from angling expeditions, in a blow to the fortunes of a section of…

Ultrasonic inspection drone lands in South Africa

A South African industrial drone services company is hoping to define the game in local and regional structural inspection by introducing comprehensive autonomous robotic systems when inspecting above ground storage…

Medical drone companies converge in Malawi

For the sheer and lone reason that the country is fast becoming the home of the medical drone in Africa, we have to profess our love for Malawi. Admittedly, it…

UK body proposes rule change following drone crash

In a development that could affect drone operations in the UK, the Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) has recommended that the local civil aviation authority revises its visual line of…

Wing’s Texas operation goes live

After several months of testing, working with residents and business owners in an area of Dallas, Texas in the US, delivery drone maker Wing has finally declared itself ready and…

FedEx to test cargo drones

Memphis, Tennessee, UNITED STATES – Another drone company will be exploring the middle-distance cargo drone space very soon. And in doing so, the company will usher FedEx’s turn to join…

New solution for crop-spraying drones

A chemical company has developed an adjuvant which it claims will help the crop spraying efforts of drones by stabilising their liquid contents so they will not drift from their…

Flapping the Wings in Helsinki

Wing, the drone subsidiary of technology conglomerate Alphabet (whose companies include Google), has made a landing for the first time in Europe. The small package delivery drone company, which made…

Volansi unveils VOLY 50 mid-range cargo drone

San Francisco, UNITED STATES – It seems the drone industry has noticed a niche in middle distance logistics, which has seen a mini scramble for the manufacture of cargo drones…

Free State University’s R11million grant for drone-based geological research

The Hans Merensky Foundation (HMF) has awarded R11million (about $760,000) to South Africa’s University of Free State, which will go towards drone-based geological imaging research programmes at one of its…

Wingcopter drones to deliver off shore

Berlin, Weiterstadt, Cologne/Bonn, GERMANY – Having long been appreciated for the unmanned autonomous capabilities of its small cargo drones in lands foreign, Germany drone maker Wingcopter has found a way…

Insurance and the drone industry

We all love drones, for all the interminable reasons they have made the work load bearable in various industrial and humanitarian operations. You can literally pick any story on this…

Opportunity for SA youth in Alexandra

Let’s not waste time more time with a speech – if you are a youth resident in Alexandra Township in South Africa, then you could be one of 50 young…

Itochu joins Wingcopter’s APP

Weiterstadt, GERMANY/Tokyo, JAPAN — German drone delivery company Wingcopter is spreading its roots deeper into Japan. After securing a partnership with local airline All Nippon Airways (ANA) and funding from…

Rotterdam to explore U-Space possibilities

Rotterdam, NETHERLANDS – Following hot on the successful wheels of the Hamburg U-Space trials, the Port of Rotterdam in the Netherlands will soon be starting its own pilot project to…

Terra Drone raises $70million

Japanese drone services company Terra Drone Corporation just got 70 million more reasons to smile. The Tokyo-based company – which as offices in Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe and South America…

Swoop Aero to fly with Skyports, BD Rowa

Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Australia-based drone logistics company Swoop Aero has grown from strength to strength, working with partners within and outside governments to provide lasting healthcare…

South African pilot wins DJI’s #ChoosetoFly campaign

Congratulations to Liezl MacKenzie from Cape Town, South Africa who won this year’s Choose to Fly campaign by DJI. A GIS Technician at the Western Cape Department of Agriculture, Liezl’s…

DJI to launch own drone nest

It has been long in coming, but finally DJI has confirmed that it will be dropping its first drone box. Set to be available for purchase in the last quarter…

DJI’s M30: The baby that Matrice and Mavic made

It was all about the payload when DJI finally unveiled its new flagship unmanned aerial vehicle for enterprise users yesterday. As earlier rumoured, the new DJI Matrice30 drone is like…

Drones to assess progress along the Great Green Wall

It looks like crowd-droning pilots under the wings of Globhe are about to get really busy, at least in Ghana. The drone services provider has just scored a major partnership…

Police drone flies into domestic row

A drone was sent out to help iron out a potential domestic dispute at a public area in Birmingham, UK on Monday. Yes. That is what drones can do when…

DJI to release foldable enterprise drone?

Amid a swell of leaked images suggesting the imminent arrival of a foldable industrial drone, DJI has announced that it will be holding a product event on March 21 this…

Two more droneport partners for Dronamics

London, UNITED KINGDOM – Middle distance cargo drone maker Dronamics is really eager to make up for lost time; and hence; the company is covering up a lot of ground….

Bringing margnalised communities into the 21st Century

A youth organisation in Cape Town, South Africa is opening up possibilities for young people in the Cape Flats area in the city by introducing them to the world of…

Inside India’s dream for a wholly local drone ecosystem

The Indian government recently went ahead with a ban for all commercial drone imports, instead hoping the local industry would be enough for all drone-based needs for the local market….

Drones and wildlife conservation

This is a brilliant article about drone the enormous work drones are doing in wildlife conservation. It was written by Kathryn Hulick and first appeared in Science News for Students….

Malaysian company to purchase passenger drones from EHang

Guangzhou, CHINA – At a time when autonomous passenger vehicles are still looking for their place in the unmanned aerial systems space, passenger drone maker EHang has scored a partnership…

Drone technology and energy infrastructure

The use of drones for energy infrastructures is and will continue to be the leading market for drone technology throughout the world. This is due to both the societal importance…

The world of passenger drones

Passenger drone manufacturers are promising to give us personal air transport without the need for a pilot. It almost feels like the flying cars we’ve all wished for at one…

Zimbabwean drone training school opens doors

Precision Drone Training, the pilot training wing of drone services start-up Precision Aerial Zimbabwe is now officially open for business. The start-up last month received certification from the Civil Aviation…

Protecting your airspace from trespassing drones

Following reports that a political leader in South Africa has opened a police case after he spied a drone suspiciously making rounds around his home, and the pleas from the…

Plea to respect birds during nesting season

It should be a sad day when a government is forced to appeal to the conscience of its people to respect the rights of wildlife; but such is the world…

Volatus purchases stake in Delta Drone

Volatus Aerospace, an international provider of drone solutions has just announced that it will be purchasing a 20 percent stake in the South African operations of the Delta Drone Group,…

Rocketmine partners Quantum Systems

Munich, GERMANY, and Johannesburg, SOUTH AFRICA — South African drone-as-a-service company Rocketmine has joined aerial forces with German drone developer Quantum-Systems in a strategic partnership that will help the drone…

More drones for Germany’s busy airspace

Frankfurt/Langen, GERMANY – Apparently, Germany seems to have liked the results and related recommendations from the U-Space sandbox trials conducted in Hamburg last year – so much that the country…

First ultracold package delivery for Swoop Aero in Malawi

Melbourne, AUSTRALIA and Lilongwe, Malawi – We are celebrating with medical drone logistics company Swoop Aero, which has scored a first in Malawi by successfully delivering Pfizer COVID-19 vaccines. And…

More drone-based efforts to fight malaria in Zanzibar

Health authorities at the Tanzanian archipelago of Zanzibar are doubling on their drone-based efforts to fight malaria in the region, following hot on the heels of similar efforts last year….

Could machine learning make agricultural drones better?

Of late, there has been a flurry of road shows by agricultural drone resellers in southern Africa, who are keen to see the spread of drone technology into farms in…

Court orders Virginia man to lose drone

He thought he could have fun taunting fire fighters with it A USA man will lose his drone after he pled guilty to using it to taunt police fire fighters…

Growing research into telehealth drones

It seems rural USA has drunk the Kool Aid in as far as investing in telehealth drones is concerned. And it is a good thing for rural citizens the world…

New player enters the medical drone game

Mirko Cesena can personally testify that he has had fun flying racing drones in championship drone racing all over the world, and indeed he had with small manned aircraft too….

Drones and fire-fighting efforts

Yesterday, we had an account of how drone technology can be valuable in heavy rain and flooding situations; their most recent helping hand coming in the aftermath of the cyclones…

In his own words: Drone start-up in the eye of Cyclone Ana

We have previously covered Dumisani Kaliati here as one of the many success stories from the African Drone and Data Academy in Malawi. And we also covered him in a…

Drones and Cyclone Ana’s aftermath in Malawi

The United Nations Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) in Malawi is working with a drone training school and drone start-ups to determine the actual scale of damage caused by Tropical Cyclone…

The Zipline journey: next stop; Kenya

Kisumu, KENYA – For drone logistics company Zipline, the year 2022 must be the year of expansion. We have barely caught our breath after news that the medical drone services…

Avy makes at stop in Benin

Cotonou, BENIN – It looks like Dutch drone company Avy’s medical drones will soon be traversing the Beninese skies, following the latest round of pilot tests to bring health care closer…

Investment in drone industry continues to grow

We are worried; and we believe it is for a good reason. Maybe worried a strong word at this point in time, but we are certainly concerned. As you will…

FAA in tests to integrate drones into national airspace

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in the USA says it will soon begin field-testing new drone-traffic-management capabilities to expedite the integration of unmanned aircraft systems into the country’s National Airspace…

Pilot training school gets the green light in Zimbabwe

A Zimbabwean drone services start-up is basking in glory this morning after it acquired official certification as a Remotely Piloted Aircraft System (RPAS) pilot training school from the national regulator….

Regulations and drone use in Southern Africa

Morning one and all. We are in southern Africa today, where an official with the Civil Aviation Authority of Zimbabwe (CAAZ) had remined the country’s citizens that the CAAZ is…

India bans drone imports

With immediate effect, India has banned all commercial drone imports into the country. You heard that right. India’s Directorate of Foreign Trade said in a notification on Wednesday that it…

FIXAR fixing demos across southern Africa

Keen to make significant inroads into the Southern African drone market, Latvian drone maker FIXAR – through its authorised resellers in the region – has embarked on a roadshow campaign…

Integrating drone technology into busy airspaces

We all know how hard it is to predict what a human mind get do; and we are looking at the people who abuse drones for criminal and nuisance purposes…

The scourge of tropical cyclones in Southern Africa

Another summer. Another tropical cyclone. And another. Yet more people dead and thousands displaced from their homes. Southern Africa has really not been lucky with tropical cyclones in many a…

Grounding errant drones

We have been covering too many articles about drone abusers of late; and we feel it is only natural to remind people out there that there is technology that is…

Zipline adds new state to growing sphere of influence in Nigeria

Yenagoa, NIGERIA – American drone logistics company Zipline is spreading its wings further into Nigeria. After successfully launching medical drone delivery operations in Kaduna and Cross River states last year,…

Wingcopter partners with Peru Flying Labs

Lima, PERU – Fresh from signing a bumper deal for their new flagship Wingcopter 198 drone with a USA company, drone delivery maker Wingcopter have just landed in Peru on…

Man arrested for flying drone near Swedish king’s palace

The industry does have a label for these people: drone idiots. People who intentionally take a drone – a good piece of technology in its own right – and fly…

Brazil to test drone seeding in reforestation efforts

A university in Brazil has partnered with a local drone services company to integrate drone technology in efforts to restore forests in the country. The Federal University of Parana, the…

Delta Drone International divests from ParaZero

Barely two years after Delta Drone South Africa and ParaZero Technologies merged to become Australian Stock Exchange (ASX)-listed Delta Drone International, it seems the two can no longer live with…

Celebrating Swoop Aero’s Madi

Today we celebrate the work of Madison Jeffery, the Malawi-based Flight Operations Manager at drone logistics company Swoop Aero who recently received Women and Drones’ 2021 Women to Watch (WTW)…

Wingcopter opens new hub in Malawi

There was a flurry of activity on a piece of land just outside Ntchisi District Hospital in central Malawi in the past few months. A group of construction workers gathered…

A guide to Point Clouds in drone surveying

We love the below guide from Heliguy for survey professionals, which we believe survey professionals will find really useful when choosing a drone and data capturing implements during survey operations….

Wingcopter enters $16million deal with Spright

Weisterstadt, GERMANY – It is a good start to the new year for German drone delivery pioneer Wingcopter, which has just announced a new multi-million commercial agreement with a USA-based…

Brentford vs Wolves: Drone stops play

Play at a Premier League match was suspended for a significant amount of time at the weekend, when a drone materialised out of nowhere to spook everyone in the stadium….

Growing the drone logistics family

The global community of public and private entities working towards the achievement of a unified sky in the drone logistics ecosystem has just welcomed a new member into global network….

Crashing into middle-distance cargo logistics

Perhaps it was just providence that the Black Swan was born amid a snow storm on International Civil Aviation Day last year – the unmanned cargo aircraft is here to…

2021 – The year of managing expectations?

Below is the voice of the experts at Drone Industry Insights taking stock of what the year 2021 brought for the drone industry. What did the news reveal about the…

SOS to help fight poaching at South African national park

An environment and wildlife conservation organisation is seeking to raise funds to purchase a drone to help in the fight against poaching at a national park in South Africa. Animal…

Drone solutions for precision agriculture

When it comes to feeding the world’s ever-growing population, farmers deserve all the help they can get. To get the best out of every inch of farmland, modern farmers are…

Drones and firefighting operations

In the aftermath of the fire that gutted part of the library at the University of Cape Town last May, drones flew in to assess the damage. The data captured…

LiDAR technology and drones

American industrial drone maker Microdrone recently showcased the LiDAR capabilities of their new drone, which the Mississippi Department of Transportation (MDOT) is using to improve efficiency and safety in the…

New autonomous precision agriculture solutions from XAG

Chinese precision agriculture solutions provider manufacturer XAG has released a new set of agricultural drones, which it believes will help farmers worldwide take the next step in precision agriculture with…

Drone technology in the classroom

From Scott Buell, Founder and CEO, Drone Legends Every time something new, innovative or high-tech comes into the picture, the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) community gets excited. Because…

Crowd-droning and the fight against malaria in Malawi

Malaria has been a deadly scourge of a disease, especially to citizens of low-income countries. Transmitted through the bite of the female Anopheles mosquito, malaria was responsible for the deaths…

EHang launches 5G-enabled drone port in China

Guangzhou, CHINA – Drone manufacturer, EHang has partnered with the Guangzhou Development District Communications Investment Group (GDDCI) to launch the first ever 5G Intelligent drone port at the Innovation Park…

Canada: Enforcing the law from above

Toronto Police’s drone programme taking policing to new levels Imagine growing up in the Roaring 20s — a time when automobiles had recently replaced horse-drawn carriages and families gathered around…

Fighting Yellow Fever in the DRC

The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) government joined hands with non-profit organisation VillageReach in 2020 to launch the Drones for Health Programme, in which drone technology would be used to…

Drone helps save cardiac arrest patient in Sweden

A drone has helped save the life of a Swedish man who suffered a cardiac arrest recently. The 71-year-old resident of Trollhättan in the Vastra Gotaland region in the western…

Drone technology in 2021

On its outlook, 2021 was a year which we hoped that one thing that had dragged our lives back in 2020 would finally be on its way to hell.  …

African drone start-ups’ contribution to earth observation

It was a good end of year for Astral Aerial Solutions and a few other drone-based start-up companies that scored big at the 2021 Africa Africa Earth Observation (AEO) Challenge….

Marijuana-laden drone crashes into home

Imagine getting an unwanted and equally unsolicited present for the holiday season. That was exactly what a Mansfield, Ohio (USA) resident got last week, when she had something crash outside…

Drone Technology and Tactical De-escalation

Lt. Will Huddler is an 18-year law enforcement veteran at a large metropolitan police agency in the southwest United States. He has led the investigations of over 30 officer-involved shootings…

Counter-drone operations

At the Security Drone Conference held in Johannesburg, South Africa recently, Sam Husseini, Regional Sales Director for Middle East, Africa, and Turkey at airspace security company Dedrone gave a comprehensive…

Latest DJI ban escalates data security war between China and USA

Another year ending – and DJI has been added to yet another list by the federal USA government, looking to clip one more rotor on the world’s biggest drone maker’s…

Medical drones set for Namibia

Namibia has drunk the Kool Aid. The southern African country has become the latest in the region to introduce medical drone deliveries to help meet its healthcare obligations for its…

Introducing the telehealth drone

Scientists in the USA are building a drone that will make house calls – just like a real doctor. Yes. You heard it right. We have had drones that deliver…

Integrating drone and gunfire sensor technology

What if a drone company joined its technologically innovative forces with a gunfire locator service? The answer to that is one we are going to get in good time now…

Swoop Aero celebrates two years in Malawi

… extends stay in the country until 2024 It seems we are spending an awful lot of time with Swoop Aero these days. But it is a good thing. We…

Swoop Aero to operate in Queensland

Melbourne, AUSTRALIA – Just like American company Zipline, Melbourne-based drone logistics company Swoop Aero cut their teeth in medical drone logistics on the African airspaces. The Australian delivery drone services…

Parrot’s ANAFI Ai drone now available for pre-order

French-based drone company Parrot, the leading European manufacturer of unmanned aerial systems has announced that its new drone, the ANAFI Ai is now available for pre-order, ahead of its release…

New breed of humanitarian drone on the cards

Nagoya, JAPAN – We know we are crazy for what drone technology can do next, but this from a Japanese auto parts maker is really next level. Aisan Industry, a…

Suspect triggers own arrest after shooting at police drone

…admits to a spate of recent burglaries in the area. They have an adage in Zimbabwe, which says; if you are getting jumpy at every speck of dust falling from…

Protecting wildlife with drones

Engineers from the University of Southampton, and conservationists at Marwell Wildlife in the UK have successfully tested the use of drone technology, as a new approach to assisting wildlife conservation…

New era for medical deliveries in Sierra Leone

An Australian drone logistics company has entered into a strategic partnership with a UK-based humanitarian drone organisation for air logistics services in Sierra Leone. Based in Port Melbourne in Victoria,…

Solar-cleaning drone on the way

Petah Tikva, ISRAEL – Perhaps the smart people at drone-as-a-service companies like Rocketfarm will no longer need to be so creative with lines of code and hardware modifications anymore when it…

Zipline moves into Cote d’Ivoire

It seems American drone logistics company Zipline’s little medical Zips are leaving quite a solid footprint on the healthcare systems of many African countries. It has been exactly five years…

Avy’s new Aera of drone response networks

This is a personal opinion: we think Avy designs some really beautiful drones. Most folks would remember Avy as the Dutch drone maker that partnered with the Botswana government to…

Plans to zap malaria in Sao Tome

They are more famous for their drone-in-a-box solution for mainly security and policing operations, but Israeli autonomous drone manufacturer Airobotics has decided to combine efforts with Zzapp Malaria to fight…

About those Bee Vee LOS flights…

When starting out using drones for your business, it’s important to know their capabilities — and limits. Sometimes, limitations are not technological, but legal. Operating drones Beyond Visual Line of…

Polish city kicks off UAM tests

First Estonia, then Germany. Now it is Poland’s turn. The European Union’s nearly €4million Single European Sky ATM Research Joint Undertaking (SESAR-JU) – a massive project aimed at unlocking the…

Zimbabwe disaster response body gets drones

We are sure the it was already in the works, but surely it cannot just be a coincidence that – barely a week after the first ever drone conference in…

Zipline, Walmart, launch regular medical deliveries in Arkansas, USA

They have been to Rwanda. They have been to Ghana. They have been to Nigeria. Maybe now it is time Zipline made an impact in their own home country. And…

Mapping and surveying complex environments

Latvian drone and drone software company FIXAR has been out testing its flagship outdoor drone, the FIXAR 007 on a number of use cases in land surveying and mapping. The…

Drones for disaster response in Mozambique

Mozambique’s national disaster management agency and the University of Portsmouth are working with international partners on research into the effectiveness of drone technology for post-disaster search and rescue missions in…

LiDAR, drone technology and the industrial revolution

Machines are performing more and higher-level functions with each passing year, and with greater autonomy. But autonomous or not, for many of these machines to operate effectively and safely, they…

Rocketfarm drone surveys solar farm

Many farmers – and anybody familiar with the name would – remember Delta Drone International’s Rocketfarm as a precision agriculture solutions company whose speciality is offering drone-based data to agriculture…

Ziplines delivers Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines in Ghana

Medical drone logistics company Zipline are not new to delivering COVID-19 vaccination in Africa; Ghana in particular. When the COVAX Alliance vaccines were first distributed in Ghana last February, Zipline…

XAG releases set of agric drones onto the world market

Guangzhou, CHINA – Not to be outdone by DJI’s unveiling of the latest Agras drone, which seems to have taken the agriculture industry by storm, Chinese drone maker XAG has…

Protecting drone technology from bad people

We all understand that technology usually comes in to make tasks generally easier for humans and plug the gaps that handicapped them from achieving human, economic and social progress before…

Risking your life to rescue your drone

We do not know if it is because some drones are really expensive, or if it is just because their owners cannot imagine a life where they are separated from…

The DJI Mavic 3 is here…

Sadly, we have not yet laid our hands on the new DJI Mavic 3 to make independent reviews yet, so for this one, we will rely on the testimony of…

Academy gearing for drone boom in Namibia

As drone technology takes off in Namibia, a training school in the country hopes it has done enough to take advantage of the anticipated drone boom, ready with comprehensive solutions…

Zipline set to cover the whole of Ghana

Drone logistics company Zipline is going places in Ghana. The west African country is set to be only the second on the continent to have countrywide drone based medical deliveries,…

Drone technology and the route to sustainable supply chains

The combination of the COVID-19 pandemic and worsening climate change have strained supply chains past their breaking point, and the challenge of resiliency and access to life-critical goods is more…

Parazero spreading its safety systems across the world

Kiryat Ono, ISRAEL – Parazero Safety Systems is a company on a mission. To put a suit of armour around all drones globally so they are safe to operate at…

Drone technology and fly-on cover cropping

This one is for all you innovative farmers out there looking to try out new ways to conserve their farm lands. It is a testimony by Ohio, USA farmers who…

Namibia looks to drones to fight illegal fishing

The Namibian government has confirmed that it is looking into the possibilities if deploying drone technology to combat illegal fishing in the country’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). In a statement,…

Getting smarter: the growth of Artificial Intelligence in drone technology

The article below offers some really great insights about how drone technology is growing to be a really smart and game changing technology whose continued development is set to change…

Most advanced vertiport yet?

SINGAPORE – A Singaporean aerial mobility company has launched what it claims will be the most advanced drone docking station for autonomous drone operations yet. With offices in Singapore, Austin…

Japan scaling up UAM trials

It seems Japan is now upping the stakes as it bids to find ways to safely integrate drone technology in its airspaces. The country has roped in an unmanned traffic…

Volansi working on niche drone delivery market as race scales up

American cargo drone maker Volansi are the only company in Africa whose drone delivery service does not involve medical supplies. Their work in Senegal, where they acquired an operating certificate…

DJI’s US woes persist

…FCC Commissioner wants the company the company’s wings clipped afresh Washington, USA – Suffice to say the USA does not like China at all. We do not wish to bore…

Plan to use drone to rescue dogs trapped by volcano

La Palma, SPAIN – There are dogs trapped by lava on the Canary Island of La Palma in Spain, which erupted a few weeks ago and led to people being…

FIXAR in India

FIXAR wishes to fix India’s drone problems. The Latvian drone maker and services provider is set to bring its unique drone-based solutions to the Indian market, after signing an exclusivity…

Zimbabwe set for first ever drone conference

Zimbabwe is set to hold the first ever conference on drone technology, which has been scheduled for Harare this November. Organised by the Drones4Good Network in collaboration with various industry…

Israel prepares its skies for commercial drone boom

Airforce veterans in drone powerhouse Israel are translating their know-how to the delivery of sushi and ice-cream, as companies tap their expertise to avoid collisions in increasingly crowded skies. On…

Drones to help with uranium exploration in Niger

Delta Drone International (DDI) will be trying out its new surveying and data capture technology in Niger, after the international drone-as-a-service company won the rights to tag alongside a Canadian…

The importance of security drones for businesses

Yesterday, we chronicled the journey in the young life of a young American start-up who – in three short years – has changed the game for tactical response to dangerous…

Azur’s drone-in-a-box set for Africa

Security and facility services company G4S had entered a partnership with French security drone company Azur Drones that will see the former distributing the latter’s Skeyetech drones across the Africa…

Drone start-up scores major capital injection

At age fourteen, he dropped out of school to take up internship at Mclaren. That was seven years ago. Now, 21-year-old Blake Resnick’s drone company has just scored a coup…

Man arrested after drone lands on police car

Davisboro, GEORGIA – Sometimes you cannot help but chuckle Because you just could not make this stuff up, even if you tried. We imagine this suspect couldn’t help but chuckle…

Drones detect illegal breweries in India

Homemade illicit breweries got a surprise of their lives yesterday in Vadodara, Gujarat State in Western India, when they suddenly found their hideouts surrounded by police – who had used…

Another day, another drone shot down

An inspection mission ended tragically for a drone in the USA recently, when it was shot down allegedly by a local resident. The drone – a DJI Mavic 2 Pro…

Spanish police to try EHang drones

Guangzhou, CHINA – Chinese drone maker EHang will be working with the Spanish National Police to explore potential use cases for drone technology in emergency and security missions. The two…

Preserving the Harare wetlands

Fresh from celebrating their sixth birthday alongside their siblings across the southern hemisphere, Zimbabwe Flying Labs have stepped in to help remap the wetlands in the country’s capital, Harare, which…

Drone trials at UK port

British telecommunications network provider BT has announced the successful completion of an automated drone trial at the Port of Southampton in partnership with Associated British Ports (ABP) and RoboK. The trial demonstrated a…

The hidden costs of instant deliveries

It is just a fact of our lives today that instant gratification drives how we consume almost everything. We want our news delivered now; the food we have ordered to…

Tips for using Search and Rescue drones

Of course, they are from DJI; the company makes some of the best Search and Rescue drones there are in the world. They have shared with us some pointers on…

Solving land disputes in Gabon

A drone services start-up is using its drone expertiseto solve land disputes in an informal settlement in Gabon’s capital city of Libreville; and probably saving a lot of lives in…

New York drone corridor to test 5G networks

A consortium in the USA will be bringing 5G network technology to New York’s drone corridor, in a bid to fast-track the state’s position to the top of the world…

Unitrans Africa adds to its drone fleet

Multinational company UNITRANS are stepping up their precision agriculture game in Africa by purchasing a fleet of the biggest sprayer drones that DJI has to offer. The new fleet of…

FIXAR’s multi-purpose drone and its service to agriculture

A few days ago, we reported that Latvian drone company, FIXAR had developed a black box technology for its multi-purpose outdoor drone, which would will vastly improve traceability and accountability…

Wingcopter transports blood samples in Germany

Greifswald; GERMANY – It has not so much been charity begins at home with many successful medical drone logistics enterprises today, as they have had to travel thousands of kilometres…

Delta Drone International scores deal with Corteva

International drones-as-a-service company Delta Drone International has scored a major coup for its agricultural drone business after signing with one of the world’s biggest agricultural conglomerates in the world. The…

Latvian company introduces black box for its drones

A Latvian drone company may have made the first black box for a drone. Starting this month, FIXAR – whose drones are designed for various enterprise applications – says it…

Ravens declare war on drones in Australia

With all these developments about the drone industry working with other stakeholders to safely integrate drone technology in the busy airspaces of world cities, one would think all the relevant…

ADDA, Alti-UAS awarded for humanitarian excellence

Today we pay tribute to the Malawi-based African Drone and Data Academy and South Africa’s Alti-Unmanned Aerial Systems, which were recently named among the winners for this year’s XCELLENCE Humanitarian…

2021 Drone Photo Awards winners announced

A poisoned river (yea; we did a double take too, and went back to read it again: the river is in Romania), a turtle trudging back to water and a…

Plans to integrate drones into Shenzhen airspace

Guangzhou, CHINA – If anybody needed convincing about the place of drone technology in the world, the recent efforts by major economies to find ways of integrating autonomous aerial vehicles…

Zimbabwe Flying Labs resume outreach drone workshops

They say for anything to endure in this world, it has to be so inspirational that the next generations will be willing to take it up. Actually, we have absolutely…

Drone dumps jail-bound contraband onto school grounds

Somebody somewhere in Brunswick County, Virginia in the USA is infinitely driving their head into a wall in frustration after a drone lost its bearings and dropped its contraband in…

Creating new super heroes for children in the Global South

We all know how much children love comic books and superheroes, right? So much that some humans who started reading comic books as children never stopped reading, to the extent…

First vaccine delivery by drone completed in India

Hyderabad, TELANGANA – India has joined the medical drone logistics bandwagon. On September 11 this year, people gathered at a site in Vikarabad, about 74 kilometres outside Hyderabad bore witness…

Free drone training for first responders in the USA

In remembrance of the September 11 attacks in the USA twenty years ago, and in recognition of the work done by first responders as the first line of saving people…

Turning the wheels of innovation; the VillageReach way

The VillageReach president, Emily Bancroft is right – it might be sound like a tired cliché, but necessity really is the mother of all invention. Ms Bancroft feels it is…

Avy’s fire fighting drone project enters second phase

Regular readers of this modest blog will remember the story we covered of Dutch drone maker Avy – known today for its delivery drone project in Botswana – venturing into…

Another drone made in Niger takes to the skies

Nigerien drone maker and drone services provider Drone Africa Service has launched its second made-in-Africa drone – the T-250 Iris. Having grown up crazy with the idea of building planes…

Ericsson and Vodafone to use drone-based inspections on network sites

Swedish networking and telecommunications company, Ericsson are working with Vodafone UK to speed up network planning and site upgrades through a pilot test project that will use drones and LiDAR-based…

All hail the new Loki

No. Not that Loki. We know he is a god and loves ruling and all… but we don’t do that here. Here we mean the Loki, a new type of…

IAS and the growth of drone technology in agriculture

We are sure most of you will remember the recent coverage we did of Cape Town-based drone services company, Integrated Aerial Systems (IAS) being named among the 50 winners of…

5G networks and the future of drone technology

If you think drone technology is indispensable for some industries today, just wait until it is fitted with the superpowers of 5G network technology. In words of simple syllable, it…

Expanding medical drone operations in the DRC

It was just a test drive when they started three years ago, but apparently, medical drones have been so good for the healthcare efforts of the Democratic Republic of Congo…

Drones as first responders? They work

Remember the story we covered last year about Canadian drone company, Drone Delivery Canada announcing that it had made successful trials to use drone technology as a first responder in…

Another drone delivery project for Uganda

Public health officials in Uganda have launched a pilot project to test drone technology in transporting COVID-19 samples in Northern Uganda. Called The West Nile Medical Drone Project, the pilot…

First vaccine delivery by drone in the USA

It has taken them a few months to get here, but the USA have decided to follow Africa’s example, and might have made its first ever COVID-19 vaccine delivery with…

Drones to aid traffic management operations in Spain

Fresh from confiscating a mid-range cargo drone that was being used to smuggle narcotics out of Morocco, Spanish law enforcements authorities are apparently keen to prove that the problem of…

Drone technology and the construction industry

For some, the construction industry is a notoriously slow adopter of technology. In recent time, the most exciting technological development to disrupt the industry may have been 3D printing only;…

Police drone crashes into small plane in Canada

A Canadian pilot instructor and his student are lucky to be alive after a police drone crashed into their small aircraft – a 1976 Cessna 172N – a couple of…

Drone technology in agriculture, construction and environmental conservation

Gleaned from Commercial UAV News, this article was written by AgEagle CEO, Brandon Torres Declet, who looks at the prospects of drone technology in three industries – agriculture, infrastructure and…

Investment vehicle to fund technology-based security initiatives in Africa

A civil society organisation dedicated to using technological approaches to fight crime and improve security in Africa has just had its efforts boosted by an over $1million capital injection from…

Qualcomm avails flight platform to make your drone as smart as the Ingenuity Mars helicopter

This one goes out to all the smart people in Africa who are leading the race to make the first perfect drone made in Africa. We know we already have…

Botswana opens drone training centre

Apparently the Botswana government has woken up to the potential drone technology has for its economy. They launched a delivery drone service in collaboration with Dutch drone maker Avy just…

Kenya looking to lead UAM race in Africa

Our report last week about delivery drone operations catching a cold in Europe because Amazon Prime Air and DHL sneezed generated a bit of push back from stakeholders on social…

Citywide drone boxes for Dubai Police

While some countries still squint suspiciously at drone technology and choose to tread carefully when it comes to integrating unmanned aerial vehicles in their airspaces, police in the United Arab…

Opportunity for young South African women to join drone industry

We do not know whether they were inspired by American drone professional Desiree Ekstein, whom we know as the original Drone Diva, but Africa Beyond the 4th Industrial Revolution (AB4IR)…

Mozambique launch drone pilot project for cashew production

The Mozambican government has found itself with an interesting problem. For years, the government and stakeholders in the cashew farming industry have been trying to enumerate the exact numbers of…

Security drones and job security

Security drones have been good to humans. Well… most of them anyway. They have saved lives. They have saved people from dangerous situations. They have implored people to be careful…

EU injects €15million into anti-drone project

Fourteen members of the European Union have pledged members of the European Union have pledged €15million into the Joint European System for Countering Unmanned Aerial Systems (JEY-CUAS) – a body…

Swoop Aero releases the Kite

The question of whether it is a plane or a bird has been answered. It is a kite. No; really. We are serious. Or rather, Swoop Aero are serious; because…

Wingcopter makes another step forward in the US medical drone market

Denver, COLORADO — Wingcopter is growing from strength to strength as a medical drone logistics company of note in the world Having started out just four years ago as a…

DJI gets patent for drone-in-a-box

Here is something you don’t get to read every day – DJI are behind the technology curve when it comes to base stations for drones. It is true. The Chinese…

Drones assessing the scale of destruction and looting in Durban

 As life in South Africa – already severely hamstrung by COVID-19-induced lockdowns – struggles to return to a semblance of normalcy following the violence and looting of July 7, drone-based…

De-mining drones gaining more traction

Twice now, we have written about how drone technology has been deployed to clean up in two African countries looking to erase the tragic remnants of civil war. We have…

Friday bits from around the world

Morning, one and all. Just a few bits and pieces on the drone front this morning, before you dash off your rest of the day. Our biggest titbit this morning…

The journey so far – cargo drones in Africa

…according to Denise Soesilo One of the founders of Outsight International – a consulting and project management company for the humanitarian and development sector – Denise Soesilo is a world-renowned…

$2million sought for healthcare operations

Two non-profit organisations that are helping with drone-based health delivery in Malawi and Mozambique are still hoping for well-wishers to help raise the $2million needed for full scale operations this…

Drone crush of the Week: Zimbabwe Flying Labs and Integrated Aerial Systems

We know it took them a lot of guts, man hours and fumbling through the dark to get to where they are today. And before you say it, we know…

The future of delivery drones

Spoiler alert… it is bright. The World Economic Forum has clearly warmed up to the arrival of drone technology as an economic force on the world stage. Now the world…

All DJI drones still unsafe, Pentagon says

WASHINGTON – Last month, we carried a report from The Hill, which narrated the existence of a Department of Defence report clearing some old model DJI Drones from suspicion as…

Cultivating community trust in humanitarian drones

Humanitarian drones have been the most common way of introducing drone technology in most communities in the Global South. The drones have been mostly used for purposes like disaster response…

Drone company to secure vaccination centre in South Africa

Following the mayhem in South Africa last week, whose violent riots saw the deaths of 337 people at the last count, and the destruction and looting of millions of dollars’…

New software algorithm flies drone faster than humans

Are drone pilots already being made redundant before their careers even begin? For the first time ever, an autonomously flying quadrotor has outperformed two human pilots in a drone race….

Delta Drone’s ISS Spotter at the Cannes Film Festival

For two weeks – from July 6th until the 17th – Cannes was a hive of activity once more, as the Cannes Film Festival returned following a year’s sabbatical, enforced…

Florida man shoots down police drone in the USA

Seems like we are on the drone crime beat today. We have just reported on the news of a Japanese fella who might be the first to be arrested for…

Crime of the Day: Japanese man nabbed for drunk droning

Call it what you will – Droning Under the Influence (DUI), Droning While Drunk (DWD) or drunk droning – but it is an offence in Japan, and one man has…

Man loses drones to looters in South Africa

The violent protests that characterised South Africa in the past week may have gone quiet for now, but they left a hole in the heart of one man in KwaZulu…

EHang firefighting drone passes quality tests

Chinese drone manufacturer and technology platform EHang has declared that its fire-fighting drone has passed examination by China’s qualifications authority and is now ready to douse fires in high rise…

Gang use drone to traffic drugs into Spain

Spanish authorities say the drone is a Chinese product, although they have not named its manufacturer. It is a really large Vertical Take Off and Landing (VTOL) autonomous aircraft, with…

Spotlight on DeltaScan

While industry players are having a hard time haggling with aviation authorities safely integrate drone operations into urban skylines, the situation is quite different when your company flies its drones…

Malawian drone start-up picks up e-mobility prize

A Malawian drone and robotics start-up has become one of the five inaugural winners of the E-Mobility Innovation Call award, after shrugging off competition from over 100 other hopefuls from…

Drone technology and the protests in South Africa

It has been a trying few days for business owners, mainly in South African townships, who have had to helplessly watch as their business premises got torched or ransacked amid…

Optron enters deal to supply GPS-denied drones across Africa

There will be fully autonomous drones flying into GPS-denied environments in Africa soon. This, after American robotics company, Exyn Technologies announced a partnership with Optron, a geospatial technology supplier in…

UTM company, Altitude Angel, makes foray into South Africa

One of the world’s leading unmanned traffic management companies is coming to South Africa. Altitude Angel, the company that is working hard towards the establishment of the first dedicated commercial…

Search and rescue drones for missing dogs

Many people in the drone world might be aware of DJI’s interactive map that plots places all over the world where drones were directly involved in the saving of a…

Benin celebrates Drone Day

It may have taken them five years to arrive at the party, but the drone community in Benin was very proud to join the rest of the world in celebrating…

UK regional police department to expand drone contingent

They used them once. They used them twice. They used them three times – and now they want everybody in police uniform to use drones in every policing operation. Of…

More drones for demining operations

It seems the idea of drone technology clearing landmines is not really a far-fetched one, after all. Following our report a few weeks ago about how a humanitarian organisation, Humanity…

Making technology work in the security industry

Security of persons. Security of property It was the hottest topic at the Drones and Unmanned Aviation Conference this year. And of course, it had to be. As Kim James…

Wingcopter in Malawi to stay

German drone manufacturer and services provider Wingcopter, has underlined its commitment to improving health delivery in Malawi, by unveiling the second phase of its project to speed up medical deliveries…

Drone companies and the quest for medical delivery in Africa

It was just the thing you would have loved to see on a lukewarm Johannesburg mid-morning whose tepid sunshine you were likely never going to feel, because you were going…

User fined for abusing drone in the UK

A drone industry insider in South Africa has warned that people who misuse drones in the country that they risk legal troubles, following the arrest of a drone user who…

Search and Rescue drones to get voice-detecting superpowers

It is not about drones lurking in the sky on the lookout (or is it a listen-out) for telltale human voices screaming into the void, before stealthily moving for the…

Four days until #DUACon2021

It is looks set to be a really important week for the drone community in Southern Africa, with the Drones and Unmanned Aviation Conference (dubbed the DUA Con) just four…

Start-up using drones to inspect wind turbines in South Africa

South African drones-as-a-service provider, Integrated Aerial Systems have added their voice behind the use of drone technology for inspection operations, having personally tried them on wind turbines recently on the…

South Africa Flying Labs catching them young

They may have officially come to life only in March this year, but South Africa Flying Labs – the latest offspring from WeRobotics’ family of start-up drone and robotics service…

Intermap to work with Idronect on medical delivery in Africa

Geospatial content and intelligence solutions provider, Intermap Technologies has announced the successful integration of its NEXTView platform with the Idronect Unmanned Traffic Management (UTM) system to support a medical delivery…

Volocopter still perfecting the VoloDrone

Munich, GERMANY – It has been a bit since we last mentioned the VoloDrone, Volocopter’s cargo drone which was supposed to be a game changer in various industries, but chiefly in…

Drones making demining safe in Chad

We know we vowed right from the off that we would never write about war drones here; reason being we are against war and we believe there are far too…

Drone, robotics technology and the African child

The continent of Africa might have missed out on many development opportunities over the course of history, due to various reasons beyond its people’s control – slavery and colonisation being…

Hundreds of birds were nesting a in nature reserve. Then a drone crashed…

Authorities in the USA are hoping to identify the operator of a drone that crashed in a nesting area for elegant terns, scaring off 2,500 birds and making them flee…

When crashing your drone into a volcano is worth it…

Apparently, you can never put a price on a good shot. At least that is according to the philosophy of Joey Helms, a Chicago-based filmmaker who flew his brand new…

Drones stepping in to fill the transport gap in Africa

By Aiga Stokenberga; Economist, Transport Global Practice; World Bank Group; and Maria Catalina Ochoa; Senior Urban Transport Specialist at the World Bank Group Transport and logistics links in Africa remain…

Drone technology and the law in Rwanda, Tanzania

The following article, which first appeared on ICT Works, analyses the trajectories of drone technology development in Tanzania and Rwanda – two of East Africa’s leading countries when it comes…

Some DJI drones cleared for use in the USA

Some welcome news for DJI in the fight for security clearance in the USA. The world’s leading commercial drone maker has been going back and forth with the federal government…

The eruption at Mt Nyiragongo

About twelve kilometres away from Goma – the capital of Northern Kivu Province in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) – lies an unpredictable neighbour. A mountain with a penchant…

Drone-based STEM education for Zimbabwean kids

Drone-based STEM education has made its first landing in Zimbabwe. This follows the launch of the Drone in STEM Education project by local drone services company Zimbabwe Flying Labs, which…

Zipline retires the ‘Robin’ drone generation

You could say it has been another normal week in Ziplineland, the American medical drone logistics company that has found a home in Africa. On one hand, the company celebrated…

About drone-in-a-box and other commercial drone applications

Two hundred and thirty-seven. That is the number of applications drone technology can do for humans now, as found out by research company Drone Industry Insights recently. “Remember when the…

Cloud-zapping drones: yeah; why not?

Up until around the year 2015, the first question you got when you mentioned the word drone was probably, what does a drone do? Fast forward six years later, and…

Ethiopian start-up joins the medical drone race

Meet Avion, an Ethiopian start-up on a mission to change the fortunes of medical delivery beyond just Ethiopia. Founded by three friends who say they just started scribbling their ideas…

Dubai policing drones nab thousands for petty crimes

Just to show that drones work in policing operations, we share the below story, courtesy of Al Bayan newspaper. We are aware there could be some issues of privacy to…

Drone helps catch suspect in South Africa

Watch as a drone help catch a suspected burglar who had tried to break into the premises of a South African company recently. The drone belongs to Drone Guards, a…

Ehang back with new passenger drone

The last time we covered Ehang, the Chinese autonomous aerial vehicle (AAV) technology platform company was reeling from rapidly declining stocks at the market, following an unfavourable report from a…

A voice from above

Remember just this weekend we were saying no drone is a wrong drone when need arises? This, after Beninese drone services company, Global Partners used a DJI Matrice 300 to…

New educational drone from DJI

World leading drone maker DJI’s newly installed education division has unveiled a new product for students to have fun with in the classroom. It is called the RoboMaster TT Tello…

Bridging the healthcare delivery gap in Africa: The story of VillageReach

The problems of health care delivery in Africa have for long been a conundrum that has become a study in itself. From a dearth of health care facilities to the…

South Africa hoping to locally manufacture drone components

A South African government official has reiterated her country’s commitment to winning the tech race, through local production of some technology products, including drone technology components. During her annual budget…

UNICEF Namibia looking for partners for medical drone deliveries

The United Nations Children’s Emergency Fund must be thanking their lucky stars every day for drone technology. For drones have proved instrumental in the organisation fulfilling its wish to avail…

South African mine to add parachutes to their drones

There will be accidents involving drones on premises and other sites where drones will be deployed. But those accidents will not be because of lack of care on the drone…

Delta Drone spreads into Namibia

Multi-national drones-as-a-service provider, Delta Drone International has opened a training facility in Namibia, where it says it will now be able to deliver advanced drone operations training for enterprise companies….

Cape Town fire aftermath: drones fly in to assess the damage

The Cape Town resident watched helplessly as the fire swooped on his home, turning everything in its path into ash and cinder. The fire had raged all day, engulfing South…

French court to referee security drone patent war

You know a bone is really good when two dogs are willing to start a fight over it. Maybe that did not some right. Because, when has a bone ever…

Bird counting with Senegal Flying Labs

Given developments in the drone space in Senegal in recent time, one would be forgiven to think that officials no longer need a lot of convincing to make use of…

Delivery drones set for Uganda’s islands

The delivery drone wave is sweeping into Uganda. This after the government authorised pilot tests for unmanned aerial last mile shipment of mostly HIV medicines to the 67,000 people in…

RigiTech, Flying Labs in bid to kickstart medical drone logistics in Senegal

Foundiougne, SENEGAL – Swiss delivery drone logistics company RigiTech are serious about stamping their footprint on the African aerial delivery space for a long time to come. In the month…

Drone enters fray in Argentinian soccer rivalry

As another quadcopter forces heliport to temporarily shut down in South Africa The greatest rivalries are always found on the soccer field. Or what Americans call soccer, but the rest…

New surveillance drone on the African market

George, SOUTH AFRICA – Enterprise drone solutions provider, TerraCam will be adding JOUAV drones to its collection of aerial drone solutions offered to mining clients in Africa looking to secure…

Partnership deal to transform African agriculture

Drone technology has been identified as one of the important modern digital implements that can be used by young Africans and women to improve food security on the continent. This…

Rocketmine, RigiTech conduct drone delivery demos for health sector in South Africa

For a country that might have been the first on the continent to recognise the potential of drone technology in medical deliveries, it is astounding that South Africa still has…

AerialMetric cargo drone completes longest flight yet

Madagascan cargo drone maker AerialMetric have just completed a 225-kilometre-long medical drone flight in Northern Madagascar – the longest cargo drone flight in Africa to date. Of course, Astral Aerial…

TerraCam drones to the world

Most folks in South Africa woke up to the reality of drone technology around 2015, when its applications to various commercial ventures were beginning to attract regulatory attention. But for…

Kenya Airways partner Skyports to launch drone services

London, UNITED KINGDOM – Airline company Kenya Airways has signed a memorandum of Understanding with British advanced air mobility (AAM) company Skyports, which will see the two exploring the possibility…

Fighting malaria in Africa

Some grim statistics to commemorate this year’s April 25. It is World Malaria Day last Sunday; and Africa has not covered itself in glory when it comes to fighting the…

Wingcopter unveils new delivery drone

Wingcopter has unveiled a new bird today. It is called the Wingcopter 198, a successor to the Wingcopter 178, which was released two years ago. Not that there is anything…

Youth drive to promote drone technology in Africa

The article below follows the story of young drone entrepreneurs who are part of the AfricanDRONE Youth Scholar, a World Bank-support programme that promotes the use of drones on the…

Delta Drone International expands services to African mining giant

After announcing last month that they had partnered with an unnamed African mining company to use drone technology for security purposes on said mining giant’s premises, global drones-as-a-service provider Delta…

CUAASA warns of unauthorised drone activity amid Cape Town blaze

The Commercial Unmanned Aircraft Association of Southern Africa (CUAASA) has reminded drone owners to adhere to the legal parameters of drone operations, following the emergence on social media of a…

New USA drone rules go into effect

Washington, USA – The new unmanned aerial systems regulations in the USA – which were finalised at the end of last year – went into effect yesterday, April 21, 2021….

Delta Drone Group to expand dronification of private security industry with latest merger

The Delta Drone Group seems like it will stop at nothing to stamp its mark across the world when it comes to drone services. Following last year’s merger with Delta…

VillageReach looks back on a tough year

2020 marked the 20th year in which VillageReach has been operating in Africa – and it was by far the toughest they ever faced. The non-profit organisation – launched in…

Medical drones being cool

Here is a customary video of Zipline being cool in Africa and raising the flag for all medical drone delivery operations all over the world. The American drone logistics company…

Drones and utility infrastructure inspections

One area in which drone technology has proved its usefulness since it arrived on the scene has been in the way it has made some jobs safer for humans, who…

Calling on you, drone family…

Morning all. A bit of a heavy one to start today. We have a dream for the story of the drone in Africa. Not the war drone, no. Africa has…

Ingenuity flies. On Mars

A drone has flown on Mars. For the first time. Ever. Yea; we know they will claim it for themselves and say it is a helicopter. But the commands to…

How not to use a drone: kids scare of nesting eagles in Canada

Kids; this is not how you use a drone. Because incidents like this one are why some aviation authorities still look at drone technology with suspicious eyes. Reports from the…

Blazing the drone trail with Suzanne von Rauenstein

Suzanne von Rauenstein used to fly helicopters. She still does to be honest. But these days most of her time is spent behind the controls of a drone, as she…

What happened to the drone industry during the pandemic?

It is now official – the year 2020 was terrible for humans. It was great for drone business. With the benefit of hindsight, we know we would have done a…

The focus is on the camera: DJI’s Air 2S is here

Seeing as we have not laid our hands on the new DJI Air 2S yet (your fault DJI), we will have to take DJI’s words on it for now. Which…

Beninese drone start-up pressing ahead with precision agric solutions

Beninese drone services start-up, Global Partners Sarl is forging ahead with its efforts to bring small holder farmers into the 21st century through precision agriculture services centred around drone technology….

Wingcopter takes delivery drones to Japan

Tokyo, JAPAN – Wingcopter are taking their medical delivery drone to the world. The award winning German eVTOL drone manufacturer and drone services provider has announced that it has partnered…

SA wildlife conservation trust hits ground running following RPAS certification

Organisation to use drones to drop flappers on power cables in bid to save birds Three years. That is what it took for the Endangered Wildlife Trust to obtain their…

Drone Diva Desi to address the Drones Conference

The 2021 edition of the Drones and Unmanned Aviation Conference – set for June 24 and 25 in Johannesburg, South Africa – is pulling out all the stops to ensure…

Drones and the construction world

When thinking about tech-forward industries, construction is likely not the first sector to come to mind. The industry has been notorious for its historically pedestrian uptake of modern technology, remaining…

ADDA alumni blazing own path in Malawi

At the Africa Drone and Data Academy (ADDA) – the first and to date the only school in Africa dedicated to teaching African youth about drone technology – they do…

Drones on patrol in Kruger National Park

“If you look at the elephant and rhino population (in national parks in Africa; you will realise that) if we do not do something soon, these animals are going be…

Lessons from humanitarian drone operations in Africa

We are still with the ground-breaking report, compiled by the collaborative efforts of the World Economic Forum and consulting company Deloitte, and while we covered Deloitte’s input yesterday, today the…

Kim’s take on security drones in 2021

Reproduced below is the ‘Drone Chick’ Kim James’ take on drone technology in the security industry in South Africa. You know those kind of drones – the ones that keep…

Drones to patrol SA roads

South African motorists should not be surprised to see drones flying over highways soon. The country’s Road Traffic Management Corporation – a state owned enterprise charged with ensuring safe road…

Zim revenue collector to use drones to curb smuggling

Zimbabwe’s revenue collection body, the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority says it has will set aside US$2 million to purchase drones that will be used to help curb smuggling and other illegal…

Zimbabwean agric drone start-up happy to be flying over fields again

The last time they were out, the maize crop in Zimbabwe was just a green shoot feeling the sun’s warmth for the first time and barely a few centimetres above…

South Africa Flying Labs is born

Then the Lord said unto Flying Labs; “Go forth into the world and multiply.” And so they did. We know the above quote is in there somewhere in the bible,…

Wingcopter glides in for SA drone conference

German delivery drone maker and drone solutions provider Wingcopter has joined an all-star cast of experts who will share their experiences at 2021 edition of the Drones and Unmanned Aviation…

Wanted: One smart person to build open-source hexacopter for scientific needs at UCT

Get this right; we would have done it ourselves; we know we are smart enough for it. Just that – as much as we love coding – we hate science…

Drones surveying damage to the West African coastline

None of the drones being used to map out the scale of land degradation on the west African coastline have yet to endure the drowning ordeal this legend had to…

Altitude Angel’s new UTM platform to integrate drone presence in airspaces around airports

It’s been a bit long since we wrote about the angel of the skies, Altitude Angel. That wait is now over. The British provider of Unified Traffic Management (UTM) solutions…

Avy testing their drones for wildlife conservation

We have known the fixed wing drones of Netherlands-based Avy to take to the skies as a means to deliver medical supplies to whichever health centre needs them. Now we…

Drones and their place in dangerous working environments

An Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) investigation into an accident where a Squirrel helicopter struck a powerline pole and crushed to the ground, killing the pilot in the process –…

FPV drone flies over boiling Iceland volcano

A volcano that has been sleeping peacefully for the last 800 has blown its crater in Iceland – and a drone was there to capture some incredible video footage of…

In conversation with Sonet Kock

Sonet Kock knows the law. Especially as it applies to drone technology in South Africa. Bottom line; you wanna listen to Sonet talking drones. The founder of AviComply, a consulting…

Special commemorations for World Down Syndrome Day in Nigeria

Just like the cellular phone changed the world forever, it would be really great if drone technology left no person behind in its meandering march towards indispensability in our everyday…

Drones helps locate lonely child

We all know the physical toll the coronavirus pandemic has inflicted on the world, claiming over 2,7million lives from the nearly 124million who have caught the virus so far. We…

Kenyan drone services company makes history

Kenyan cargo drone services provider, Astral Aerial Solutions has made history by becoming the first drone solutions provider in the country to get the elusive RPAS Operator’s Certificate from the…

Uganda Flying Labs try hand on livestock management using drones

Remember those good old days of our fledgling boyhood lives in rural Africa? Days filled with youthful exuberance innocence, which we spent flapping like fish in the natural pools, formed…

EHang to build eco-friendly vertiports in Europe, Asia

Guangzhou, CHINA – Despite looming class action lawsuits and prevaricating stocks on the market, autonomous aerial vehicle (AAV) manufacturer EHang is forging bravely ahead with expansion plans, announcing a partnership…

The case for medical drones in Africa

Morning folks. Today our attention has been drawn to a report from Zimbabwe, in Southern Africa where NewZWire reports that the government has so far failed to scratch the surface…

Swoops Aero scoops humanitarian gong in Australia

The guys at drone logistics company Swoop Aero have been good in 2020. As a result, the drone Santa in Australia where the company’s headquarters is based, saw it fit…

Applications open for new students to drone and data course at ADDA

The African Drone and Data Academy in Malawi is now open for new applications for the sixth intake for its Certificate for Drone and Data Technology (CDDT) Level 1. Offering…

Valqari partners with QuickLoadz to perfect last inch drone delivery

Athens, Ohio, USA – They may not yet be as in vogue as most drone delivery companies have become, but Chicago, USA based smart drone delivery station start-up Valqari are…

Analysing the data team behind life-saving drone flights

Keller Rinaudo, the CEO of fast-growing drone logistics company, Zipline could not have said it better: “All our customers really care about is whether something goes from point A to…

Women and the drone world

The drone business might have started as just a hobby for most men, but for many women, the journey has not always been that rosy. Yet, full with the knowledge…

The women of Flying Labs on International Women’s Day

For the past six years, humanitarian robotics non-profit organisation WeRobotics has been working really hard to empower local drone start-ups with the right tools for them satisfy all contracts, local…

DJI has not caught a cold in the USA yet – but for how long?

We all loved Romeo Durscher as the face of public safety drones during his time at DJI. Then – terrified of losing such an influential voice at time when the…

How has the DJI ban in the USA affected business?

We know that – with a projected $2,3billion share of the global market (according to Valuates Reports) – North America is the biggest commercial drone landscape in the world. And…

Wingcopter invests in Intermap’s terrain data software

Denver, USA – With research into urban air mobility and beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) flights gathering pace in Europe and the USA – the biggest commercial drone markets…

Western Cape drone rescues another hiker

Another day; another person rescued thanks to the drone unit at the Western Cape EMS in South Africa. Maybe opening up a page on this website strictly dedicated to the…

One-tonne World War II bomb detonated in Exeter, England

Some residents who live in the city of Exeter in Southwest England last week had a fleeting experience of the horrors of the second World War when they had to…

Lonely at the top: women and drone technology in Zimbabwe

When drone technology gained cult popularity with a small racing community in Harare, Zimbabwe around 2016, Diana Banda was of the pioneer drone racers to don the goggles and get…

Introducing the DJI FPV

Do you remember those alien fighter jets in the movie Independence Day? The new DJI FPV (first person view) drone looks like a miniature version of that. Not that it’s…

WFP seeks global cooperation on humanitarian drones

Rome, ITALY — The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) with support from the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) is stepping up global co-operation on the use of…

World trade body urges Africa to stay abreast with new technology

The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) has warned against the potential of emerging technologies creating a greater digital divide, alienating lower income countries – especially those in…

Update: Missing woman found

The search for Mrs Colette Eksteen, the Stellenbosch women who went missing in Table Mountain last week, ended in tragedy, when her body was found by the Western cape Emergency…

COVAX vaccine lands in Ghana; with Zipline ready for last mile delivery

The first global shipment of free COVID-19 vaccines, to be distributed to low- and middle-income countries under the World Health Organisation-supported COVAX programme – have touched down at Accra International…

Wanted: delivery drones that can fly 300km

The World Health Organisation and VillageReach’s DMs are open. The world health body and VillageReach, an international non-profit organisation that seeks health care delivery solutions for every person on earth,…

Western Cape drone unit called in to help… again

The drone unit from the Western Cape Emergency Medical Services have been called in to help again, this time with finding a lady who is assumed to have wandered into…

WeRobotics secures more funds for STEM education in Global South

And WeRobotics has gone and done it again. We think it is allowed to run out of superlatives to applaud the lengths the non-profit drone and robotics humanitarian organisation is…

Show me your drone: In conversation with ADDA’s first graduate

We are sure there will come a time when the African Drone and Data Academy in Malawi will be the Harvard of Drone training in Africa, and people will walk…

Delta Drone dives into Zambian agriculture with Rocketfarm

Following the merger of drone-based mining and agriculture solutions provider Delta Drone South Africa drone parachute manufacturer ParaZero into Delta Drone International, the company’s drive to go even more widely…

Trouble in EHang paradise

Chinese drone maker fends off fraud allegations You could say something had to go wrong for the EHang fairy tale. The Chinese passenger drone manufacturing company had everything going for…

Women blazing the GIS industry with drone technology

Perhaps it was a good thing that Women and drones decided it was time they stretched their reach to other parts of the world outside the organisation’s home base in…

Anti-poaching drone on the horizon

Robert Miller loves wildlife. So much that he is building a drone to protect wildlife from poachers. The Cape Town, South Africa based software engineer is working on a project…

Update: NASA’s Perseverance makes safe touchdown on Mars

203 days ago, on July 30, 2020 in Cape Canaveral Space Force Station Florida, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) largest and most advanced rover yet – the Perseverance…

UAV set for historic Mars landing

We know this might have nothing to do with Africa but (in Spider Man’s voice, just after he was snapped back to life and reunites with Mr Stark for the…

Wingcopter hops on board as Flying Labs’ wingman

Weiterstadt, GERMANY – The future of delivery drones in Africa just got a little brighter. Maybe not the whole of Africa yet, but at least in the eighteen countries that…

High time the African Union gave drone technology the real chance it deserves

We have a bone to chew with the African Union. Five years after the then AU Commission chairperson, Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma appointed a panel of really smart people (they…

Drone helps save hiker on Table Mountain, Cape Town

It is February 15 today; exactly two months to the day the Western Cape Government Health’s Emergency Medical Services’ Drone Rescue Project were finally granted a Remote Pilot Aircraft Systems…

Now you can fly a drone without GPS

The way it normally works with drones in flight is that, when you want to determine your drone’s location; track its movement or help it navigate from one place to…

PrecisionHawk partners with American Tower for drone-based tower inspection solutions

Raleigh, North Carolina, USA — It is understandable if engineers get antsy about having to climb the dangerously dizzy heights of cell towers for whatever reason (we know the reasons…

The 2021 drone horoscope: Africa edition

We all know what the year 2020 was like to all of humanity. We were all happy and looking forward to the start of another year – then just like…

Women and Drones Trailbazers chat: Zethu Gumede

From KwaZulu Natal with love. It is Zethu Gumede in the spotlight this week, in the latest instalment of Trailblazing Women on Women and Drones . A native of Kwazulu…

Drones lead landslide rescue efforts in biggest drone operation in Europe

Around 4AM in Norway on the 30th of December last year, a hillside gave way in the village of Ask in the Gjerdrum region in eastern Norway, about 30 kilometres…

DroneDeploy, Corteva launch another drone-based solution for farming operations

San Francisco, USA – If anybody needed more proof that drone technology does work in agriculture, then they have to look no further than Corteva Agriscience. The worldwide supplier of…

Another European project for drone integration into urban airspaces

There are so many drone-based urban air mobility projects that SESAR is involved with right now that it might crack your head just to try and keep track of every…

Drones to track off-road criminals in Solihull, UK

Police in the West Midlands town of Solihull in the United Kingdom are deploying drones to parks and public spaces in the hope of catching off-roaders wreaking havoc in parks…

Leading African drone professionals in conversation

They do not waste time, do they? Just a few days ago, Women and Drones announced the launch of its first international chapter in Africa; and today, the Women and…

Drones, 5G and smart cities

With drone technology making nothing of a necessarily miraculous rise in the past year, largely thanks to the need to feel the gap left by the imposition of lockdown restrictions…

Fancy yourself some pilot lessons? Try Pretoria University

Having completed a merger recently between Delta Drone South Africa and ParaZero Safety Systems to become Delta Drone International, the company is now quickening its steps towards offering world-class drone-based…

Kaduna State, Nigeria, gets the Zip codes

Kaduna City, NIGERIA – The Zips are flying into Nigeria. Well; at least only in country’s north western state of Kaduna for now; yesterday the Kaduna State government announced that…

Women And Drones Africa launched

It seems Louise Jupp has pledged not to catch a wink of sleep until every citizen of Africa is holding a drone, a book about drones, or – at the…

NASA to research on drones’ impact on society

We all know how just how many organisations are right now involved active tests to see how drones can be integrated into the really busy airspaces or urban areas, right?…

Charis UAS dreams of a drone manufacturing plant in Africa

Kigali, RWANDA – When people hear about drones and Rwanda, the first thing that comes to their mind is… not Charis UAS. It is Zipline actually, the American medical drone…

Drone Professional 2 is here

The first book did so well, that is shattered all the expectations that its anthologist had set. So – following this overwhelming success – Drone Professional 1 editor Louise Jupp…

Medical drones to cover more ground in DRC

Kinshasa, DRC – following a successful two-year trial period, the government of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) – in partnership with VillageReach, a non-governmental organisation concerned with delivering primary…

South African drone spraying start-up gets special licence

Maybe the 20s will be the decade of the drone after all, at least in South Africa. Only a few months after granting the Western Cape government the legal rights…

The 2021 drone regulations landscape

Ever since drone technology started making solid inroads into the mainstream commercial and industrial operations, the laws governing them have been correspondingly revolving. In some parts, the regulatory changes have…

Sprayer drones for Mondi’s forests

An innovative silviculture contractor in Mpumalanga, South Africa is pushing the frontiers of technology, turning to drones for pre-planting sprays as one of the many ways to modernise forestry in…

Maybe its time for XAG to lend a few drone to the locust fight in the Horn of Africa?

In news that should surprise no one, agricultural drone manufacturer XAG has discovered that drones can be an answer to the virulent locust plague that has the Horn of Africa…

Wingcopter gets $22m funding to expand operations

Weiterstadt, GERMANY – Wingcopter just got loaded. The German delivery and humanitarian drone maker has secured a $22million investment, which will be injected into furthering the development of drone-based logistics,…

WeRobotics to work with WHO and the Gates Foundation on medical drone deliveries

International humanitarian organisation, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will be funding WeRobotics, with a view to expand the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) understanding and use of drone delivery. This…

Hobby drone today; commercial enterprise tomorrow…

Do you have a fleet of one or more drones which you are so crazy about you cannot stop playing with them every chance you get? They are your new…

Altitude Angel joins consortiums for UK, EU Urban Air Mobility

It has been a busy day for the folks at Altitude Angel. Not only has the UK-based Unmanned Traffic Management solutions provider joined another consortium to expedite the arrival of…

Drones to help map out small scale cashew nut farms in Benin

COTONOU (BENIN) – International non-profit developmental organisation, TechnoServe and technology platform Alteia have announced a partnership agreement that aims to improve cashew farming in rural Benin, through the use of…

Scared to enter the sewer? Roll in the caged drone!

Swiss drone manufacturer Flyability surely knows a thing or two about drones in hostile environments. From their inaugural GimBall – which rolled away from the 2015 Drones for Good in…

Niger’s Kountche has big plans for West African drone community

It is not every day that you find a former president’s grandchild staying in the national headlines for reasons that have nothing to do with politics and scandal; for most,…

FAA approves first fully autonomous commercial drone flights in the USA

MASSACHUSETTS – They might be mean to Chinese made drones, but the Federal Aviation Administration in the USA seem to be warming up really well to drone technology; at the…

Ethiopian government signs MOU with private drone tech players

The year is 2013, and Ethiopia has just signed a historic Memorandum of Understanding with drone technology stakeholders in the country, which will enable government and the private sector to…

A Cadillac passenger drone? It could happen

So, let’s take some stock on passenger drones. We have the VoloCopter and the EHang as the most prominent autonomous ait taxi models actively trying to bring their products onto…

Humanitarian drone evangelist resurfaces at Auterion

He is far removed from the poster boys of boy band members and movie stars of yesteryears, but to the drone world, Romeo Durscher is the face of humanitarian drones…

Sony flies into the drone space with the Airpeak

Usually, when you hear the word Sony, you rightly associate the word with sturdy electronic products like televisions, sound systems, video and digital cameras; mobile phones and the play station….

The 2021 drone horoscope

Kevin Sartori, co-founder of drone software company, Auterion has his, as well as world leading drone professionals’, outlook for the drone industry in the new year. By building an open-source…

New EU drone regulations come into effect in 2021

With the USA adding regulations that would require remote identification on drones and relaxing the need for waivers on drone flights over people during the night, the European Union has…

Mixed reactions to the FAA’s new drone regulations

On December 28 last year, the United States’ Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) had a present for commercial drone operators in the country – they can now fly drones over people…

Catching them young in Benin, Zimbabwe

Two African humanitarian drone franchises – Benin Flying Labs in West Africa and Zimbabwe Flying Labs in Southern Africa – have taken the challenge of introducing drone technology lessons to…

Group to explore drone traffic opportunities in EU cities

We know the people of the United Kingdom opted to leave the European Union community and go it alone as an economic entity in Europe – and this was probably…

Cattle-herding drone?

In her presentation at this year’s DJI Airworks 2020 Conference, South African based drone professional, Louise Jupp gave her opinions on how drone technology could be harnessed in livestock farming…

Merry Christmas from DronesRAfrica

Wishing you a very Christmas from all of us at DronesRAfrica, and hoping that the day bring happiness to you and your loved ones. And if you got a drone…

UK Drone Corridor trials set for summer, 2021

The rest of the world is set to witness just how a drone corridor will work in real life, after the United Kingdom Research and Innovation institution (UKRI) – which…

One last kick in the teeth for DJI from 2020

Chinese drone maker added to US entity list that bans it from importing US tech without express permission It really would not be 2020 if it did not end with…

New agriculture drones from XAG

GUANGZHOU – Chinese agriculture technology company XAG have announced the launch of a trio of agricultural drones and related software technology, which they are convinced will make life easier for…

Western Cape EMS finally gets a certificate

It has taken three years to get here, but the Western Cape Heath Department’s Emergency Medical Services (EMS) finally got their own Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS) Operating Certificate delivered…

Drones in 2020

2020 It has been a bit challenging as a year, hasn’t it? What with the global pandemic that sneaked upon humanity and set all its plans for the year awry….

Endeva’s Wakanda Beyond Challenge to tackle African drone issues

After calling for applications from expert organisations and individuals to bring forward their solutions to the drone policy conundrum in Africa, the Inclusive Innovation 2030 (ii2030) has returned with what…

Passenger drones for Austria, Singapore

GUANGZHOU – Chinese autonomous aerial vehicle manufacturer, Ehang’s quest to lead the global drive for autonomous taxis has received a major European boost, when the company acquired a permit to…

Delta Drone SA, ParaZero complete merger

The announcement has been long in coming, but Delta Drone South Africa – a drone-based aerial mining solutions company – has finally completed its merger with Israeli drone safety systems…

Top humanitarian drone expert leaves DJI

It does feel like a death in the family; and it is in a way. Romeo Durscher – on of the most prominent evangelists for humanitarian drones in the world…

Drone technology and STEAM education

Because drones are miniature marvels, they’re the perfect size — and price — to bring into the classroom, offering a lot of bang for the educational buck. They can quickly…

GADA’s drone hackathon lands in Nigeria

They did promise a Nigerian leg of their competition – and now the Global Air Drone and data Academy has delivered. Following hot on the heels of the successful Zambian…

Spanish company in drone fight against tsetse fly in Africa

Having witnessed the amazing work drones have been doing during these pandemic times, maybe this is the time to test their effectiveness in preventing disease outbreaks. Spanish drone company Embention…

500 lives rescued – and still counting

It is a real shame that almost five years since drone technology started making inroads into the African continent, their success stories in official government and other public sector circles…

Missed it by that much: drone start-up narrowly beaten to top entrepreneur prize

He beat competition when applications were in their thousands, and did it again when they were trimmed down to fifty, then to twenty, and to ten – but in the…

African chapter of Women and Drones on the cards

In response to growing calls for more female involvement in the drone industry in Africa, one drone professional has a simple proposal – an African chapter of Women and Drones,…

Flying Labs add cargo drone partner in AerialMetric

Humanitarian robotics organisation WeRobotics are not kidding when they preach the gospel of empowering local robotics start-ups to lead innovation in the areas they live. For instance; the organisation has…

More drones for the locust fight in Ethiopia

Reeling from the conflict between government forces and fighters from the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), people from Ethiopia’s Tigray region face a greater danger of famine – induced by…

Ready when you are: DDC’s Condor good to fly

Canadian drone maker, Drone Delivery Canada’s largest drone yet, the Condor is ready to take to the skies after a second round of testing went smoothly in Quebec last week….

What should Africa do to win the Game of Drones?

The just ended Drones and Unmanned Aviation Conference 2021 had experts covering various issues that included the legislative and regulatory situation in Africa and in general and South Africa in…

Drones for South Africa’s rail tracks?

Just a month after announcing plans to use drone technology to beef up security on its borders, the South African government has revealed another drone-based plan – this time to…

Investigators suspect drone involvement in SA aircraft accident

These are delicate times for the South African drone industry and aviation authorities in the country – the former could really do without suspicion that there are drone owners out…

Lights out, and its lift off for DJI and Mercedes Benz

Commercial drone maker DJI has officially joined motorsport – and they are racing in Mercedes Benz’s corner. The world-renowned manufacturer of commercial and enterprise drones will supply the Mercedes-Benz EQ…

UK turns to emergency drone delivery as second COVID-19 wave hits

Faced with recurring cases of COVID-19, the UK government has turned to drone technology to ramp up the transport of test kits, personal protective equipment (PPE) and other pandemic related…

Drone-based crop monitoring for African banana farms

A new research has been published in which researchers has demonstrated the success of drone, mobile phone and machine learning technology to monitor the banana crops on East, Central and…

Ghana’s power utility call in the drones

Drones are good – and Ghana’s power utility is now aware of that. They are good for inspecting the power grid, for instance, and to check power infrastructure on those…

Drone Delivery Canada obtains licence to fly BVLOS

Drone Delivery Canada – the delivery drone company that recently started looking for opportunities to bring its drones in Kenya – are making the hard yards in trying to bring…

Avy want their drones to fly as long as the sun shines

We knew it was just a matter of time, but we now have a Dutch drone that flies solar. Aviation and technology companies have been trying hard to harness solar…

Flying labs fly into Zimbabwe

At the time they are celebrating the fifth anniversary since the launch of the first lab in Nepal, WeRobotics’ network of Flying Labs has welcomed a new member to the…

Fight still rages against locust invasion

Two years after the world learned of the worst desert locust infestation that has wreaked havoc in Africa and Asia in many years, countries are still fighting hard to contain…

Drones and climate change

When Dania Montenegro stepped out of the boat onto Gardi Sugdub, a tiny Caribbean island off the coast of Panama last fall, it was hurricane season. She walked through ankle-deep…

XAG’s sustainable drones rewarded at Reuters awards ceremony

Drone technology’s commitment to sustainable and environmentally friendly operations received major recognition this week when Chinese drone maker XAG walked away with the Sustainability Innovation gong at the Reuters Events…

Another drone anthology on the cards

Sometimes a thing can be so good you will want to do it again. A Game of Thrones, the first book in the fantasy series, A Song of Ice and…

DroneDeploy, Boston Dynamics launch 360 Walkthrough

Enterprise drone data platform DroneDeploy yesterday premiered a new feature which allows the platform to work with both drones/aerial cameras and any 360-cameras (hand-held or robotic) on the ground to…

Party over for unlicenced Singaporean recreational drone hobbyists

The party is now over for Singaporean drone hobbyists who until now have been flying small drones without the need for a pilot’s licence. As report in The New Paper,…

Drone start-up enters home stretch for top African prize

The Jack Ma Foundation-sponsored Africa Netpreneur Prize Initiative (ANPI) has announced its final ten 2020 African Business Heroes (ABH) – and a drone start-up is still in the running. Investiv…

Another step towards worldwide cheaper internet

The internet will be cheaper in the come few years – and we might have drone technology to thank for it. We have learned recently about tethered drones bringing internet…

Zipline talks price and vaccine delivery

Drone delivery companies have for long been extolling the virtues of drone technology as faster alternative to conventional ways of delivering parcels; and these unprecedented Coronavirus times, they have proved…

Zambia Flying Labs changes hands

Zambia Flying Labs, the 23rd entity to be inducted into WeRobotics’s network of drone technology start-ups called Flying Labs – has moved house. No, they are not moving out of…

DJI, Skydio in Twitter spat as Chinese manufacturer retains top ranking

DJI and Skydio will not be inviting each other to tea any time soon. In a week in which Shenzhen, China-based DJI were confirmed as – still – the biggest…

Last chance to register with ADDA drone technology course

If you are dreaming of a career in drone technology, then you are left with only a few hours to hone your skills with one of the best drone training…

Another heavy-duty logistics drone launches

Chinese drone manufacturer, EHang, has added a new cargo drone to its repertoire. It is a heavy-duty logistics aerial vehicle that the manufacturer may – wrongly – think is the…

AerialMetric extend Savior 330 flight range to 300km

Madagascan drone start-up AerialMetric has updated their locally made drone, the Savior 330, and increased its flight range from 200km to 300km. Owned by a partnership of French and Madagascan…

Kenya Flying Labs scoops humanitarian award

Developing an aerial surveillance system to detect cholera cases. Using tethered drones to bring cellular connectivity to a refugee camp. Introducing drone-based solutions to the Kenyan agricultural industry – Kenya…

Drone Delivery Canada to test Kenyan waters

TORONTO – Just this April, they were making pilot test for their largest drone yet – the Condor – but today, Canadian drone logistics company, Drone Delivery Canada has announced…

Flying Labs Network turns five

Nine thousand dead. 22,000 injured. Thousands and thousands of homes reduced to rubble; and hundreds of thousands of people left homeless. That’s was Nepal on April 25, 2015. It was…

Good times for Nigerian drone start-ups

There must be some real good vibes around the Nigerian drone technology landscape right now. On one hand you have AirSmat, a drone software start-up that recently had $100,000 injected…

Online database for medical drones launched

Seattle, WASHINGTON – Remember a while ago when drone manufacturer DJI launched its interactive map, where it wants to keep track with instances where drones were instrumental in saving lives;…

Ring’s Always Home Cam: security drone in the house?

What if you left a drone to guard the inside of your home while you were away? Well; now you can – at least according to smart home security company,…

UNDP’s tribute to African innovation in fighting COVID-19

Two drone technology enterprises have made the grade among 48 other ventures by young Africans whose innovative works to combat the COVID-19 scourge has been recognised in a special magazine…

London to launch the first dedicated commercial drone corridor?

Covering a vast 6,500 square metres, the African Drone and Data Academy’s Drone Testing Centre in Kasungu, Malawi, might be the largest drone testing corridor in the world today –…

Volocopter, DB Schenker partner on unmanned B2B logistics

BERLIN: We all know that drone developer and urban air mobility start-up Volocopter has an eighteen-wheeler, right? Well; we could not resist. But German aviation start-up Volocopter does have a…

Zimbabwe purchases border patrol drones

It seems drones are becoming a popular go-to border surveillance feature for countries in Southern Africa. Following a tender flighted last month by South Africa’s Sentech, where the parastatal was…

Nigerian students build agricultural drone

A group of four Nigerian students has come together to build a crop spraying drone that they think will be affordable to farmers across the continent. Mr. Ihonosetale Oseghale, a…

Good drone… bad drone…

Santa may have a hard time deciding what to do with drones in Canada this year. On one hand, a drone saved three teenage lives in Peterborough, Ontario, on Wednesday…

Ghanaian kid dreams of flying cars

ACCRA – A Ghanaian student hopes to one day solve his country’s transport problems by developing drones and nanotech-incorporated cars and trains that will operate without spatial constraints. Michael Obeng…

WEF charts roadmap for Unmanned Traffic Management

That drones are here to stay is now fait accompli. Amazing technology entrepreneurs have turned a technology that was a preserve of the military and turned it into a commercial…

Draganfly tech for Dubai Police drone operations

North American Drone services provider Draganfly has announced that it will be working with police in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, to pioneer new drone-based initiatives that will help the emirate’s…

Endeva seeks solutions to African drone policy issues

The Inclusive Innovation 2030 (ii2030) programme is calling for applications for solutions on how Africa can create and adopt policies that enhance the sustainable growth of the industry on the…

Zipline to deliver health products to Walmart clients in the US

Zipline are become a true drone logistics company, aren’t they? Their dream of delivery health supplies directly to people’s homes are becoming a reality. From monopolising the medical delivery market…

DJI updates apps to include internet kill switch

Desperate to settle the nerves of their clients who may have been spooked by allegations of data espionage, drone manufacturer DJI has decided to add an internet connection kill switch…

Video: The process of drone training

Check out your resident African Drone Professional explaining the processes involved in drone training You can also follow him on Twitter

US doubles down on Chinese drone security claims

DJI made their move at AirWorks 2020. Now it was the turn of the American federal government to respond; and on on the eve of the nineteenth anniversary of the…

SA Drone Council: “Let’s make history; lest we be history.”

Having promised to hit the ground running at the launch of the Drone Council of South Africa in July, the council says it has already engaged drone industry players and…

Indigenous tribes spearhead fight against Amazon deforestation

Awapy Uru Eu Wau Wau is risking his life to save the only place he truly calls home in Brazil Wau Wau (28) is one of some 250-odd members of…

Drone companies circle on Ethiopia as regulations loom

With drone regulations finally imminent in Ethiopia, hopeful start-ups from far and wide are strategically positioning themselves to hit the ground running in the country. One of the start-ups, a…

CTA, Africa Goes Digital win big at WSIS Forum

The Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA) took the big prize again at the World Summit on the Information Society Forum (WSIS), for their sterling work in offering…

Weed: the new manna from heaven rains in Tel Aviv

Apparently there are people in Israel who think they have waited too long for their government to legalise the marijuana drug for every citizen, regardless of health status – so…

The eye in the sky

Drones have changed how we see the world. Even more profoundly, drones have transformed how we experience the world – how we decide the events that matter and create our…

UNICEF seeking drone tech for public good to fund

The UNICEF Innovation Fund is looking for open-source drone technology service providers to invest in, who are willing to use their drone services for the greater good of humanity. It…

DJI’s Schulman: Time for drone industry to come together

There is a Zimbabwean adage which goes, one man’s troubles will not stop another from eating. DJI has come to realise the truth of this saying of late, as they…

Winners of Zambian drone hackathon announced

Chitula Lukonde, the Information Technology and Geospatial Information Systems (GIS) Specialist at Zambia Flying Labs walked away with the grand prize from the just-ended Zambia Drone Hackathon Challenge, beating the…

Brazilian drone delivery company makes South American history

SÃO PAULO – Brazilian drone delivery company, Speedbird Aero has made history by becoming the first South American drone delivery organisation to get an official licence for an experimental pilot…

Mavic Air 2: Made for Africa

Your resident African drone professional, Tawanda Chihambakwe recently got his hands on the DJI Mavic Air 2 drone, which he says is a good fit for the African terrain. Check…

Drones for sustainable development in the Global South

The best way technology can witness an exponential growth for citizens of the Global South is by promoting local technological entrepreneurship. At least that is the submission of Leka Tingitana,…

Drone ban derails US fire-fighting plans

DJI might have lived long enough to experience the bad side of too much success, after their drones were banned from federal government use in the USA; but now it…

Unregistered drone operators to be arrested in Tanzania

You can now be jailed for flying an unregistered drone in Tanzania. The government, through the Tanzania Civil Aviation Authority (TCAA) had twice extended the registration deadline day, from December…

Drones for precision livestock management

Cautious optimism. That is what drone agriculture drone professional Louise Jupp feels about the use of drones in livestock farming. Although conceding that the use of drones on livestock farms…

Drone regulations for Ethiopia

Ethiopia have become the latest African nation to enact drone legislation, now allowing for the legal production, importation and operation of unmanned aerial systems in the country. However, even without…

Drone patrols for South African borders?

The South African government may have started the process of incorporating surveillance drones to patrol its borders. The issue has come to light after state-owned telecommunication signal distribution company Sentech…

South Africa-based speaker at DJI AirWorks 2020 Conference

A South Africa-based drone pilot, author and instructor will share her experiences on drones in precision agriculture at DJI’s AirWorks 2020 Conference, which had to go virtual this year because…

DJI AirWorks 2020 Conference takes off

The year 2020 has been a challenging one for everybody, because of the COVID-19 pandemic that has disrupted people’s lives in a way that humanity never imagined before. But the…

Biggest commercial drone yet?

Up until now, the biggest drones on the planet were a preserve of the military, with all their sophisticated gadgetry and firearms and stuff – which makes this just about…

New crop spraying drone on the horizon

Instead of a panel of spraying nozzles, this one has a single outlet whose spray jets straight into the heart of the matter. The sixteen-litre Oryctes drone – a latest…

Know your drone operator

While there are gargantuan opportunities in the drone technology space in Africa, it is important that people understand between hobbyists and professionals, in case they hire the wrong people who…

Just like Uber; only its for drones

The good thing about new technology is that sometimes you just have to follow a template that has worked well before. That is exactly what the entrepreneurs at Aquiline Drones,…

Covid-19 relief for struggling SA surveyors

A South Africa drone service provider has pledged R100,000 (about $5,800) to help professionals in the survey industry struggling to make it through the COVID-19 headwinds. Announcing their commitment to…

EGLE drone drowned by eagle dredged

You know that drone which we reported to have lost turf war with a bald eagle and got drowned in lake Michigan? It was dredged up on Tuesday, muddy and…

Injured UK woman rescued by drone

Drone usage is getting better and better in police circles in the UK. We all remember the Derbyshire Police Drone Unit, right? The unit that became so popular it had…

One drone delivery station to rule them all?

There will be one universal drone delivery station outside your doorstep soon. The new landing port for delivery drones – set to debut later this year – comes complete with…

The case for drone technology in securing goods-in-transit

The director of UAV Aerial Works, a South African drone services provider, believes drone technology can deliver peace of mind to the highway crimes conundrum facing law enforcement authorities and…

Nature vs Machine: Eagle drops drone into lake

ESCANABA, Michigan – A bald eagle did not take kindly to having its airspace over Lake Michigan invaded by a strange bird last month. So it attacked. The Upper Peninsula…

Another drone start-up in race for top prize

An Ivorian agriculture technology company heavily featuring drone-based solution to its agriculture technology solutions has made it to the last twenty short list for the Africa Netpreneur Prize Initiative (ANPI)….

Job cuts at DJI

SHENZHEN – They have won the drone war, but it is only now that Chinese drone giant DJI Technology are realising how much being best costs. The Shenzhen based commercial…

Photographer reunited with drone

American photographer George Steinmetz was recently reunited with his drone, which the New York Police Department had confiscated pending judgement on a court case in which Steinmetz was accused of…

Too close for comfort: suspected drone sighted near Trump’s Air Force One

Latest alleged sighting likely to trigger fresh calls to reign in beleaguered drone industry Witnesses aboard US President Donald Trump’s official jet reported flying over what appeared to be a…

UK criminals may be abusing drone technology

Rural crime officers fear thieves may be using camera-equipped drones to scout out farms in North Wales. Over the past fortnight four different holdings in Denbighshire have been buzzed by drones with…

Celebrating the persevering will of Elong

Today, we celebrate the achievements of William Ndja Elong, a young Cameroonian whose dream of producing drones made in Africa has seen remarkable success. Elong is 27 now; but he…

Start-up of the month for Frankfurt Rhine-Main? Wingcopter

At this juncture, Wingcopter can do no wrong, and there seems to be no limit to the Darmstadt-based drone delivery company’s meteoric growth. Only this year, they won the #SmartDevelopment…

Drone footage shows aftermath of Scotland train crash

A drone took this video of the aftermath of the scene of a train crash that happened yesterday morning in Stonehaven, about 49 kilometres to the South West of Aberdeen…

What makes a good drone law?

Below we reproduce an article from Drone Industry Insights, a reputable business intelligence company offering insights into the commercial drone industry. The article was written by Millie Radovic, a Market…

A voice from above

With innovators across the continent pitching up ideas on how to combat the spread of the Coronavirus pandemic, a drone start-up in Rwanda decided to add its voice to the…

Drones on the fields in Ghana

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit Ghana, drone crop spraying start-up, AcquahMeyer Drone Tech had to shelf their plans to help the Ghanaian health authorities by spraying markets and other public…

Sustainable precision agriculture

In this video, Aboubacar Karim, the founder of Investiv, a Cote d’Ivoire agriculture technology start-up, explains how drones can help improve crop yields in a way that is friendly to…

In the field with Investiv

Ivorian agriculture technology start-up Investiv demonstrates how drones are used for spraying crops. Video courtesy of Reuters

PrecisionHawk patents UTM technology

Could the race to control unmanned Urban Air Mobility have started? American drone services company, PecisionHawk has been awarded two patents for technologies it has developed for unmanned aircraft system…

Shot in arm for drone start-up’s expansion drive

Amsterdam-based delivery drone maker Avy has declared its readiness to expand its operations after receiving a €1,4million shot in the arm from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation…

Global pandemic inspires era of delivery drones

WASHINGTON – Cough medicine, snacks, baking ingredients: Kelly Passek has shopping delivered weekly to her yard in Christiansburg, Virginia – by a drone. The flying vehicle comes with little fuss,…

Changing lives: Africa’s first drone academy

Ever since the United Nations Children’s emergency Fund (UNICEF) got a taste of how cool and convenient drones were for humanitarian operations, they never wanted to stop using them. It…

Drones in construction

Construction industry professionals have long envisioned technological disruption to address common challenges of time and cost overruns to construction productivity and material wastage. Gone are the days when tasks at…

Africa excels at BRICS drone skills challenge

A Nelson Mandela University student has won silver this year’s BRICS Future Skills Challenge, which had to be held virtually this year because of the Coronavirus pandemic. Jacques Welgemoed (23),…

Drone breadwinner for orphaned baby vulture

Here is something you don’t get to read every day: A drone has drone in Israel has been helping to feed an orphaned baby vulture that had been on the…

Who will top the 2020 drone service providers list?

Commercial drone business intelligence company, Drone Industry Insights are set to release their annual list of Top 20 drone service providers this month. Last year’s list was led by medical…

French drone granted BVLOS licence

The Boreal drone has become the first fixed wing unmanned aerial vehicle above 25kg to be granted licence to operate commercial Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) missions in France,…

Beirut tragedy from the air

A drone has shown video footage of what is left of a Beirut port in Lebanon after the blast from a warehouse that held 2,750tonnes of ammonium nitrate fertiliser in…

UK man caught on drone video trying to flee arrest

Police in Derbyshire, UK have released drone video footage of the moment they caught a suspect wanted for possession of drugs with the intent for resale. Twenty-five year-old Thomas Stones…

Hands on with Inspire Africa’s Drone Coding tools

The Inspire Africa group is making a positive impact among school kids, mostly in Southern Africa today, through their STEAM education curriculum that allows the students to use drone technology…

Flies just like a bird: New drone to shake the industry?

Via The Conversation, engineers at the University of South Australia have revealed that they have made the ornithopter, a bird-like drone which they are confident will shake the current drone…

Drone start-up makes final cut for GoGettaz Agripreneur prize

Drone startup, Integrated Aerial Systems (IAS) has been selected as one of the finalists for Generation Africa’s 2020 GoGettaz Agripreneur prize The South African enterprise had been voted to the…

Around Cape Town by Drone

Well, South Africa’s mother city is beautiful. Take a stroll… The footage was captured by Cape Town-based video creator, Luke Bell

Mapping the Senegalese salt lands

The team at Senegal Flying Labs was in a quandary. They had just secured an exciting new contract to map the salt lands of Sénégal and wanted to waste no…

New, intelligent fire-fighting drone

A Chinese drone maker has released a new fire-fighting drone, with a bigger payload and intelligent fire-fighting features installed. From Guangzhou China, Ehang has announced the EHang 216F – a…

Amazon steps up efforts to launch drone delivery in the UK

Amazon has ramped up expansion of its ambitious drone delivery project, almost doubling the number of staff in its Cambridge-based Prime Air team. Prime Air now has close to 60…

Drone start-ups among semi-finalists for top agric award

Two drone start-ups have made the semi-finals of the prestigious GoGettaz Agripreneur Prize, where they are hoping their precision agriculture solutions will beat competition from 22 other hopefuls and claim…

New drone programming courses from DroneBlocks

Texas-based education technology services provider DroneBlocks has introduced into its curriculum new courses for its Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics genre. The courses are available to every student in…

Drones to support police operations in South Africa

It is a good thing that South Africa is planning to introduce drone technology into policing structures – but it seems there is a misunderstanding among the policing top brass…

Rwanda to introduce drone-based internet connectivity

The Rwandan government has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Japanese company, HAPSMobile Inc, under which both parties will conduct a Joint Research Project that studies the use of High…

UK govt commissions research into UTM

Connected Places Catapult, the UK government innovation agency for the transport industry and autonomous vehicles, has announced the Open-Access unmanned traffic management project (Open-Access UTM project) for supporting operations of…

Tekever resumes drone patrols along the Mediterranean

Portuguese drone technology company Tekever has resumed drone maritime reconnaissance and surveillance missions to look out for illegal immigrant activities on the shores of South Western Europe. The missions –…

Drone solutions for US mining company

CALIFORNIA – A top USA mining company has has taken on board Kespry’s drone-based aerial intelligence platform for their inventory management and mine planning. The Shelly Company, an Ohio-based limestone,…

Charging your drone battery – in five minutes

They did it with cell phones and electronic vehicles. Now Israeli fast charging battery technology pioneer StoreDot has made a drone battery that will charge in five minutes. On Wednesday,…

CUAASA’s quest for a better drone industry in South Africa

The Commercial Unmanned Aircraft Association of Southern Africa (CUAASA) has lauded the recent improvement in their working relationship with the local drone industry regulator, as South Africa’s drone stakeholders press…

Fighting the drone-lash

Is banning drones on grounds of country of origin wise, or does it lead to false sense of security? The war for data control is chiefly because data is the…

Flying Labs expands into Madagascar

Perhaps it is high time people got to know about Flying Labs It is the McDonald’s; the KFC; the Burger King of unmanned aerial systems; except that Flying Lab’s Franchises…

Saving Africa’s endangered animals with drones

A UK humanitarian drone enterprise has teamed up with a start-up specialising in intelligent camera systems to save endangered animals in Africa. UAVAid and Archangel Imaging have taken it upon…

Traffic Management solution for energy companies

AiRXOS, a General Electric Affiliate that’s specialises in providing Unmanned Traffic Management (UTM) solutions has announced an Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) solution for energy companies to plan, schedule, operate and…

New drone start-up born in South Africa

A new South African drone start-up is appealing for funding to see the completion of its inaugural drone projects and its introduction onto the local market. Coming out of Johannesburg…

Wingcopter flies into Kenya

Wingcopter – the German last-mile delivery drone start-up – is fast becoming a household name in Africa. Having already covered a lot of flying ground on the continent, with operations…

DJI denies security allegations against app

The world’s biggest drone manufacturer, DJI, has defended the integrity of one of it Android apps, which has been found allegedly afoul of some Google terms, at least according to…

The case for drone technology in mining

Fifty-one miners died in South Africa last year. In statistical terms, the figure has fallen to record lows, as safety standards have improved of late. But still, losing 51 breadwinners…

Armyworm war goes aerial in Zambia

A Zambian agriculture technology company has taken it upon itself to help eradicate the armyworm plague in the country. Operating out of the capital city of Lusaka, Sunagri Investments has…

Zambian drones to be upgraded with health monitoring software

A Zambian Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) technology supplier has just announced plans to incorporate health monitoring software on their drones. Serving the World Using Aerospace Technologies (SWUAT) is a UAS…

Tree-planting drones for Madagascar’s lost forests

Madagascar used to be green. Really green. But no more. In the 2,000 short years that man landed on the East African island nation in the Indian Ocean, Madagascar has…

EU certification requirements for commercial drones gazetted

COLOGNE – Just weeks after the European Union drone regulations went into effect in the EU region, the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) has gazetted a proposal of airworthiness…

Crash course for new drone owners

Just like cell phones, drones are fast becoming a wearable accessory for today’s world. Hence the need for users to learn to fly their drones safely and responsibly. South African…

Locusts invade Yunnan, China

A massive drone spraying operation has been in progress in the South Western province of Yunnan, China, where an army of yellow bamboo locusts has invaded. Usually feeding on bamboo…

South Africa: Municipalities turn to service-delivering drones

Following up on a fact-finding mission in which they seconded delegates to the Drone and Digital Aviation Conference in Johannesburg late last year, Mpumalanga’s Gert Sibande District Municipality has moved…

Premier Mapping premiers mine blast livestreaming

A South African aerial mapping company has developed a drone-based surveillance system to provide mining, engineering and geospatial organisations with high-fidelity live footage of activities around their premises. Tshwane-based Premier…

Corteva’s agricultural drone fleet largest in the world

…And they are making them smarter With a fleet of over 400 drones to its name, Corteva Agriscience – the Agriculture Division of DowDuPont – has by far the largest…

Agricultural drones: Togo joins the party

A Togolese technology innovation hub is trying to lure the country’s youth to fall in love with agriculture again, by introducing drones into the agriculture industry matrix. The Togolese Local…

AcquahMeyer: From spraying crops to spraying market places

WASHINGTON – Towards the end of 2017 in Accra, Ghanaian pilot Eric Acquah founded AcquahMeyer Drone Tech, a crop spraying subsidiary of Acquahmeyer Aviation, which specialised on using drones to…

Parrot partners with WISeKey

PARIS – French drone maker Parrot has announced a partnership with cybersecurity provider WISeKey to enhance security of the company’s range of ANAFI drones. With more and more people using…

Matternet expands health delivery drone services in the USA

There is no question about how terribly COVID-19 has upended lived lives all over the world since the beginning of the year. Nearly 14million people infected worldwide; 650,000 lives lost;…

New drone body launched in South Africa

We know there are other associations for drone stakeholders in South Africa. But this one seems to have the backing of government structures. In a massive recognition of the growth…

Is that a bird? AVES Drone hiding in plain sight

In design alone, at least the manufacturer is not kidding Manufactured by Dutch stealth drone maker, The Drone Bird Company, the AVES drone is literally a bird – complete with…

Cote d’Ivoire: Incorporating drones into the UTZ Certification Process

In the Ivory Coast, the UTZ Certified programme has called upon drone technology to help in expediting the certification for farmers who wish to comply with sustainable forming protocols that…

The Drone for filmmakers is here

Flying Pictures has just announced the Ultra drone, which they claim is the most powerful drone in the world, designed and built purely for cinematography. The Ultra features a cutting edge design and…

Saving the forests with Eden and DroneDeploy

CALIFORNIA – Los Angeles-based tree planting organisation, Eden Reforestation Projects, last week celebrated their fifteenth anniversary by announcing that they had planted over 333 million trees in the eight countries…

Drone Hackathon: Call for young Zambian entrepreneurs

Young drone entrepreneurs and hopefuls in Zambia; here is a lifetime chance to turn your ideas into business – and you have until August 6 to grab it. Zambian technology…

Inspecting the power grid in hotter temperatures

It is always summer time somewhere in the world; and while the summer season is always welcome for all the joys and opportunities it presents, energy companies the world over…

Irrigation drones for Zimbabwe’s Lowveld

Irrigation drones might just be the answer to the almost perennially erratic rainfall patterns experienced by sugarcane farmers in Zimbabwe’s lowveld. Located to the South West of the country and…

DJI keeps tabs with #DronesForGood

With one Ghislaine in the headlines for all the wrong reasons, it would be fair to assume that the world has forgotten about Ghislane Ihimbazwe, the little girl from Rwanda…

Zipline signs up with Intermap

Intermap Technologies, an American geospatial information solutions company, has announced that it has signed up with medical drone maker Zipline to supply the latter with crucial geospatial Elevation-as-a-Service as support…

The drone age and Urban Air Mobility

Drones, personal flying vehicles and air taxis may be part of our everyday life in the very near future. Drones and air taxis will create new means of mobility and transport…

Government role in adopting drone technology into health delivery

The headlines are everywhere—there is a game changer in the fight against COVID-19. Drones are on their way to deliver samples and airdrop personal protective equipment (PPE), and are even…

Crop ripening boost for South Africa’s sugarcane farmers

A South African sugarcane farm, working with Chinese agricultural drone technology maker XAG, has completed a successful test of the XAG drone as a profitable ripening chemicals-spraying alternative to the…

Do Benin farmers want to use paid drone services?

Small holder farmers in Benin are warming up to drone technology and are willing to pay for drone services as a way to make their farm operations easier and smarter,…

Drone to the rescue for cardiac arrest patients in remote areas

There is hope for cardiac arrest victims in remote areas worldwide after Drone Delivery Canada, a Canadian drone technology firm, successfully completed the second phase of its Automated External Defibrillator…

How not to use drones in COVID-19 response

Drones are increasingly being used in a wide range of humanitarian contexts. This does not always mean they’re useful, however. They have been used in multiple applications in response to the…

Drones light up Seoul as fight against COVID-19 persists

South Korea might be winning the war against COVID-19 pandemic, having reduced the number of active cases in thee country to below 1,000, but that has not stopped the Seoul…

Volocopter + John Deere = VoloDrone

You know you are onto something when John Deere himself decides to invest in an agricultural drone. The 200-year old agriculture machinery manufacturer, which has offices in South Africa, has…

Inspire Africa: Preparing kids for the future workplace

A South African organisation has taken up the challenge to prepare African children for tomorrow’s workplace by embarking on a drone coding programme that equips students with skills in STEAM…

DJI’s Mavic Air 2 is out

DJI’s new Mavic Air 2 folding-style drone is a huge improvement over the previous model—so much so that for most people, this is the perfect drone. The Mavic Air 2…

Drones despatched as COVID-19 cases soar in Melbourne, Australia

Surveillance drones and more than 1,000 police will be deployed to locked-down suburbs in Melbourne, Australia as the southern state of Victoria struggles to control a fresh wave of COVID-19…

Drones to patrol Australian beaches

Dozens of Sydney’s most popular beaches will be patrolled from the air with drones working to scare off sharks in a bid to stop attacks. After a five-year trial, the $8 million program will kick off…

Mavic Pro lends wings to first ever detailed study of Moroccan highlands

Spanish-based archaeological research organisation, the National Research Centre on Human Evolution (CENIEH) recently found a way to map and analyse the geomorphology of the Gara Soultana area in the High…

Kespry upgrades drone features

CALIFORNIA – US-based industrial drones maker and operator Kespry has unveiled its latest aerial intelligence platform updates, highlighted by a new a new mapping drone offer, a new haul road…

Time for authorities to rethink drone policy

It has taken an event of almost biblical proportions to demonstrate just how much we truly rely on the care and services medical practitioners give us. But the pandemic has also…

Surfers warned after shark sighting, South Africa

South Africa‘s sea rescue service has urged swimmers and surfers to be cautious, after a recent spate of great white shark sightings and close encounters — one of which was captured in some astonishing…

The Smartest Drone on the Market?

Drone maker Skydio returns after a COVID-19 induced haitus, and they are back with a super-smart drone, the Skydio 2. The new drone has a feature that enables to use…

Behold… the Drone Age cometh

We know drones are cool. But it seems, with the way drones have been employed in response to the devastation of COVID-19 – delivering emergency supplies, urging people to stay…

Mapping Monrovia

The Humanitarian Openstreetmap Team (HOT) has incorporated drone technology in mapping Liberia’s capital Monrovia, as part of a wider project to bring together the best machine learning practitioners from around…

India slowly warming up to the goodness of drones

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, drones have proved to be quite utilitarian. Not only have they helped with surveillance and crowd control, but also have been used to…

India ropes in drones to fight locust plague

RAJASTHAN – In their latest efforts to fight the locust plague afflicting India, authorities in Jaipur despatched drones to lend a helping hand to the operations of vehicles, tractors, fire…

Drones rescue family lost in Florida park

FLORIDA – A family had a scary experience when they got lost while hiking in the Blackwater Creek Preserve, a 1,993-acre conservation area in Plant City, Florida. A drone was able…

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