Drone News Update – Details, episodes & analysis

Welcome to your weekly UAS news update we have 5 stories for you: Drone ban updates, Green Day concert paused for drone flight, FLIR and AirData partner, 3 men in a stolen vehicle were found using a drone, and SkyeBrowse updates everyone to Lite Processing!

First up, The house has voted to pass the Countering CCP Drones Act. This is a setback that was expected but it changes little. Representative Stefanik stated during her speech “Over the last seven years, the US government has publicly confirmed time and time again that DJI drones are being used to collect information on US critical infrastructure and pose significant risks to US national security,” Not sure where the evidence is, but we’d love to see it. The Countering CCP drones act was also passed with the House NDAA, so the bill has already passed before. Both bills still must still go through the Senate prior to landing on the President’s desk. It doesn’t matter what vertical you’re in, now is a great time to weigh in on this issue, and educate your senators and representatives. If you’re having trouble with where to start, head over to the DAA website, which is linked below. Next up, Green Day rushed off stage this week after security spotted a drone in the stadium. Detroit Police confirmed the interruption to the show was due to a drone and that the operator was located and detained. Currently, it’s unclear what drone was flying or how close it was to the band. An important note was that this did not qualify for a stadium TFR, and no TFR was in place. This brings up an interesting situation where a Part 107 pilot could legally operate over the stadium with a category 1 or 2 drone. We’ll keep you updated when we see more. Third, FLIR and AirData UAV have partnered to provide SIRAS flight tracking. If you’re unfamiliar with the FLIR SIRAS, it’s a quadcopter with a 640x512 FLIR Hadron series sensor designed for industry and public safety. The integration with AirData uses SIRAS’s offline log-export and isn’t connected to the internet. For users of the SIRAS, AirData is a great tool and one that we use for tracking our aircraft’s flights, battery cycles, and determining what when wrong if things do. Fourth, a shout out to some students from Gaston County Police. Gaston County police used a drone this week to assist in recovering a stolen vehicle and arresting 3 men who fled the stolen vehicle after a car chase. The drone was utilized after officers lost sight of the vehicle when it drove into a soybean field. A Gaston County Police Officer was part of the drone unit, and launched to determine where the vehicle went. Once the police officer found the vehicle, they began to track the suspects, locating them in the field attempting to evade police. All 3 suspects were taken into custody without incident. Great use of the drone! Next, SkyeBrowse has updated everyone on the Freemium plan to Lite processing! This will increase the quality of all models from folks with free accounts. If you're unfamiliar with SkyeBrowse, the program uses video from nearly anything to make 3D models. You can sign up for free and start making models immediately. Models can be accessed on any device and can be easily marked up for measurement and shared as needed. And to wrap up, check out this clip for something coming next week… https://dronexl.co/2024/09/10/us-house-votes-to-ban-new-dji-drones/ https://dronexl.co/2024/09/05/green-day-interrupted-mid-song-by-drone-threat-at-detroit-concert/ https://www.flir.com/suas/ https://airdata.com/about https://www.instagram.com/p/C_jIAlFTnbf/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&img_index=1

Welcome to your weekly UAS news update we have 5 stories for you; Updated Countering CCP Drones language, representatives call for Anzu investigation, FAA proposes over 300,000 in fines, two drones-for-good stories about rescue, and Best Buy strikes again with a DJI leak.

Story Links: https://dronexl.co/2024/08/27/lawmakers-dji-drone-loophole-anzu-robotics/ https://www.faa.gov/newsroom/faa-proposed-341413-civil-penalties-against-drone-operators https://dronexl.co/2024/08/26/dji-neo-drone-spotted-at-best-buy/ https://dronexl.co/2024/08/26/faa-drone-violations-penalties/ https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/senate-bill/4792/text?s=1&r=1

Welcome to your weekly UAS news update we have 3 stories for you, DJI Air 3S Leaks, Chairs of Homeland Security calls for declassification of national security risks for Chinese drones, and a man arrested for shooting at a drone. 

First up, DJI Air 3S Leaks! More leaked images show the possible Air 3S or Air 4 with the same exact body style as the Air 3. The leaked image also appears to retain the dual camera setup and the obstacle avoidance.  It’s unclear what upgrades may be added to the new drone, but speculations include a larger sensor size, longer flight time, and potentially more smart features.  We’ll have to wait for more leaks or an announcement from DJI! https://dronexl.co/2024/06/25/dji-air-3s-leak/ Next up, the chairs of Homeland Security and Energy and Commerce Committees have called on the Department of Homeland Security and Department of Energy to declassify security risks posed by Chinese drones.  Mark Green and Cathy Rodgers, House Representatives, requested the declassification of security threats found by the government. Their letter includes the publication of found issues to law enforcement agencies, the federal government, and the American public for a better understanding of possible security threats found in the drones. The two Committee Chairs requested a briefing no later than July 2nd, 2024.  We’ll keep you updated as this unfolds.  https://homeland.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/2024-06-18-Green-Rodgers-to-CISA-DOE-re-PRC-Made-Drones.pdf Finally, a man was arrested this week in New York after shooting down his neighbor’s drone.  Joseph Dishaw was arrested for menacing and criminal possession of a weapon after state troopers responded to a report of a drone being shot down.  Dishaw allegedly became angry when his neighbor flew his drone over his property and shot down the drone using a shotgun.  It’s unclear if there will be any federal charges for shooting at the aircraft. We’ll keep you updated if we see more.

Join Greg, our lead instructor, as we learn about all the happenings in the drone industry this week. DJI had yet ANOTHER leak, it looks like a cinewhoop-style drone. Florida Light and Power has purchased an 1800+ lbs drone that will be used for disaster relief in up to a 1000-mile radius of takeoff. Fatshark is coming at DJI's digital system by releasing their own goggles boasting 1080p resolution. 

Thanks for all your support and love these past 3 years of news updates. We look forward to bringing you this content as long as drones are up in the air.

New DJI leaks have already started after the release of the Mini 3 Pro!

This new drone appears to be a cinewhoop-style FPV drone.

Some specs have been leaked

500g

No manual mode

Head chase mode

Vibration function

https://dronexl.co/2022/05/15/dji-avata-dji-cinewhoop-drone/

Florida Power and Light has purchased a drone for disaster response.

This aircraft is an 1800lb UAS that is capable of flying up to 1000 miles.

Florida Power and Light will use this drone along with smaller quadcopters such as the Mavic 2.

FPL hopes to be the first company to fly a large scale drone outside of testing areas

https://dronexl.co/2022/05/17/fpl-fixed-wing-storm-drone/

Fatshark has released a new set of digital FPV goggles, promising 1080p video. 

It appears the Dominator uses the same chipset (P1) as the DJI’s goggles and other aircraft (Such as the Mavic 3 and RC pro)

It will be interesting to see how the new Fatshark goggles compare to DJI!

https://www.suasnews.com/2022/05/the-dji-p1-and-s1-fpv-chipset-its-not-all-that/

This week in drone news; DJI released the Mini 3 Pro, the drone on mars is recovering from a dust storm, Wingcopter gets criteria for part 21 cert, and FliteFest 2022!

Download comparative footage and images on our blog!

Mini 3 Pro Blog Review: https://pilotinstitute.com/dji-mini-3-pro-review/

Learn about the newest addition to DJI's lineup!

DeepDive: https://pilotinstitute.com/course/dji-mini-3-pro-deep-dive/

See Greg and the Team's opinions on the Mini 3 Pro!

Review: https://youtu.be/pn2iJq5hrcU

Should you upgrade from the Mini 2?

Mini 3 Pro vs Mini 2: https://youtu.be/8oqmifYVVwQ

The Mini 3 Pro was officially released on Tuesday, and it packs some awesome features in a tiny drone.

4k60

1/1.3” CMOS

Landscape/portrait mode

Focus track, Master shots, and Quickshots

New RC Plus

Deep Dive! Link to our own review

Ingenuity experienced a blackout due to dust accumulation on its solar panels

This resulted in a pause in the mission for both ingenuity and for perseverance.

This shows that a “Test vehicle” designed for four flights has become a massive asset for the Perseverance team.

With 28 completed flights, the Ingenuity is the first power flight on another planet!

https://www.space.com/mars-ingenuity-helicopter-blackout-dust

On Wed Wingcopter announced the FAA had issued the special class airworthiness criteria.

This is NOT yet an airworthiness certificate but rather the requirements that must be met to obtain an airworthiness certificate!

This is a huge step forwards for drone delivery!

https://wingcopter.com/airworthiness-criteria

We just booked our travel to FliteFest 2022!

FliteFest is in Malvern, Ohio in June 22-26, and is a remote control flying conference.

Join us and the guys at flitefest to fly both drones and airplanes!

https://www.flitefest.com/

This week in drone news; Snapchat has released a drone, Skyward to end operations in June, Disney Paris celebrates with a drone show, an app to find your stolen drone, and finally an update on free stickers!

Snapchat has released a drone!

This drone, “Pixy” is a "free-flying sidekick” and is essentially a selfie drone.

Pixy is autonomous, taking video as it flies which is then transferred to and saved within Snapchat’s app.

The drone is ducted and weighs only 101g.

$249.99 - 

https://www.pixy.com/shop?utm_source=g_brandsearch&utm_medium=pixy_paid&utm_campaign=us_g_brandsearch_conversion_snapchatpixy&utm_term=snapchatpixy&utm_content=shop_page

Skyward, a Verizon company, announced this week that they would end operations. 

Skyward provided LAANC airspace authorization, and fleet management. 

Refocus on ground robot management. connectivity services, and solution development. 

They will continue services through June 30, 2022. 

This is yet another LAANC provider that is having a difficult time monetizing in the drone space. 

AirMap shut down operations a few months ago and was purchased by Drone Up shortly after. 

If you need a replacement, be sure to look at either Aloft or UASidekick. 

To celebrate the 30-year anniversary of Disney Paris, the park launched a drone show! 

The show featured 150 color changing drones prior to the fireworks show

The only previous drone show occurred in 2016 in Orlando. 

This goes to show that Drones may be the next big thing next to firework shows!

https://www.avinteractive.com/news/drones/first-drone-show-launched-inside-disney-theme-park-03-05-2022/

The Australian Company DroneSec has launched a “Stolen Drone Registry”

This database allows users to report drones stolen, including the make, model, serial number, and date/location of the loss.

The system actively scans eBay, Facebook marketplace, and other locations for matches.

Once a match has been found, the person who reported the theft is contacted.

https://dronexl.co/2022/04/27/stolen-drones-info/

Pilot Institute is proud to announce we’ve shipped over 10,000 stickers

We’re not stopping! We’re going to continue this to bring awareness to the only correct place to register your drones - the FAA’s website!

The cost is $5 on the FAA’s site, and our stickers are free. 

Order yours at pilotinstitute.com/free

This week in drone news; The Whitehouse has released an action plan calling for more power to regulate drones in and around sensitive locations, DJI Inspire 3 leaks, a new FLIR camera, and our newly released Pilot Institute Wiki!

The presidential administration is calling on congress to expand authority of both federal and local governments to take action against drones.

This action plan calls for expanding fed and local agencies that can track/monitor drones “flying in their airspace”.

It also involves creating a ground system to detect drones that can be used by federal/local governments.

“adopt legislation to close critical gaps in existing law and policy that currently impede government and law enforcement from protecting the American people and our vital security interests.”

This plan also involves allowing counter UAS operations for certain authorities.

https://apnews.com/article/technology-business-federal-aviation-administration-congress-90c34d902cacb04d0d7369356d9706c1

DJI Inspire 3 reportedly shown in a video

Zenmuse X9

To be released In September  - Before the 16th?

https://dronexl.co/2022/04/22/dji-inspire-3-video-dji-insiders/

Mini 3 release delayed?

According to Jasper Ellens, a longtime DJI Leaker, the Mini 3 will release May 10th.

FLIR has released a new camera!

This camera is a 640x512 Boson LWIR, along with a 64MP EO camera

IP54

56g

60Hz video output via USP or MIPI

Hopefully, we’ll see some cool new thermal drones soon!

https://www.flir.com/products/hadron-640r/

We know you guys have trouble finding a single resource for local drone regulations.

Over the last few months, we have been working hard to create a source that you can edit and update.

We just released our new wiki page which contains not only all the local drone regulations but suggestions for places to fly locally. 

The best part is, we want your contribution to telling us where you love to fly in your state, as well as any other drone laws we didn’t find.

Up and down vote locations to fly

Submit a photo and suggest places to fly

Submit new or updated regulation

The Phoenix page is the perfect example of what we will achieve for the rest of the country. 

Check it out at pilotinstitute.com/drones

We’ve also launched Facebook groups for each state! 

This is to help you network and get into your local UAS community.

This is a perfect place to organize meetups and learn about the local regulations and fight existing or new drone laws (alongside organizations like DSPA). 

Join your state’s group!

This week in drone news; More leaks of the DJI Mini 3 including pricing, GoPro has released a slim action camera for drones, the first BVLOS waiver has been granted for FPV without a visual observer, and Gresco acquires DJI Arizona.

Looks like the mini 3 will be released on either the 27th or 28th of April

Other leaks suggest a possible 1” sensor on the mini 3 pro

This has been supported by leaks on other sites, such as Amazon

Pricing has also been released, and combos may start as low as ~$520, and extend to ~$1250.

https://dronexl.co/2022/04/11/dji-mini-3-pricing-leaked/

https://dronexl.co/2022/04/08/mini-3-release-date-april/

https://dronexl.co/2022/04/13/amazon-dji-mini-3-drone/

GoPro has released the Hero 10 Black Bones

This is an action camera specifically for lightweight FPV drones.

Resolution up to 5.3K60 and hyper smooth 4.0

Pricing is currently 399.98.

https://dronexl.co/2022/04/13/gopro-hero10-black-bones-fpv-drones/

On April 11th, 2022 Kenji Sugahara was awarded a BVLOS FPV waiver that does not require a visual observer.

This waiver is based on sheltered operations and flying below obstacles.

https://dspalliance.org/fpv-bvlos-waiver/?fbclid=IwAR1V1Kxje4_i1YZ7tl4psBIeDmyW0z4wH2Ki5Z8xi2-CA75k6x55k-H3h-0

DJI Arizona/Innovative UAS will be merging with Gresco Technology Solutions. 

DJI Arizona has been servicing consumers in Arizona since 2014 and will now be focusing on the Enterprise Market as part of Gresco. 

Gresco has been one of the leaders in providing UAS services to the public safety, electric utility and transportation sector.

This week in drone news: Two DJI leaks point to a new Mavic 3S and a new Mini 3 and/or Mini 3 pro, AUVSI Xponential is just around the corner, and the Ingenuity helicopter has won the Collier Trophy.

Mini 3 pro? 

3 axis gimbal

Possible 180-degree view

Obstacle avoidance

Maximum aperture f/1.7

249g

https://dronexl.co/2022/04/02/dji-mini-3-pro-video-photos-release-imminent/

Rumors of a new Mavic 3s 

New telephoto sensor - 1”

Main camera unchanged

Larger battery - 15% increase in battery life

Fixed satellite lock time

Fall 2022 or Q1 2023

https://dronexl.co/2022/03/25/dji-mavic-3s-fall-release/

AUVSI Xponential is just a few weeks away!

Greg and Jason will be attending

Use promo code PILOTINST20OFF for 20% off tickets

Our partners at @AUVSI are known for convening the best & brightest minds in uncrewed systems and autonomous tech. This April, they’re hosting their flagship event, XPONENTIAL, in Orlando. Don’t miss your chance to shape the future of autonomy! Learn more: xponential.org

The Ingenuity helicopter has been awarded the Collier Trophy by the National Aeronautic Association.

To date the Ingenuity has logged a total of 43 minutes of flight time over 24 flights.

Ingenuity is the first powered and controlled flight of an aircraft on another planet. 

https://www.avweb.com/aviation-news/mars-helicopter-wins-collier-trophy/

This week in drone news: Texas law 423 has been found unconstitutional by a federal judge, a recreational pilot in New York was fined more than $15,000, an update from our travels to the Texas Public Safety Robot Response Summit, and an upcoming South Florida Drone Meetup.

Texas Drone law 423 was ruled unconstitutional by a federal judge

The law restricted drone use and distribution of images captured via drones. 

“The challenged Texas statutes prohibited legitimate newsgathering that causes no harm, and unconstitutionally drew distinctions that disallowed journalistic drone photography but allowed the exact same drone photography when done for other favored purposes. Judge Pitman properly found that these distinctions were improper and that the statutes were so vague as to be unconstitutional.”

https://petapixel.com/2022/03/30/stringent-texas-anti-drone-law-overturned-in-federal-court/

A drone pilot from NYC was fined by the FAA over 15k last December.

The pilot stated they were operating under 44809 but did not meet the requirements.

The operator was issued a $15,205 fine.

The FAA issued fines for three flights, including 

107.12, No remote pilot certificate, 

107.13, drone not registered,

107.19(c) Posing a hazard to people, aircraft or property,

107.23(a) Flying at night without a waiver (Prior to new rules),

107.29(a) Flying over people without a waiver (Prior to new rules),

107.41 Flying in controlled airspace without authorization,

107.65 No 24 month recency of knowledge.

Brinc Drones and ICOR robotics have partnered to save lives. 

This partnership will enable ICOR robots to deploy Brinc aircraft into structures.

DroneSense has launched remote drone operations geared towards public safety.

This allows an operator to remotely pilot a drone in order to respond to emergencies.

The web-based interface allows for near-real-time control with minimal video latency. 

https://www.newswire.com/news/dronesense-launches-remote-drone-operations-software-designed-for-21667096

New firmware update for EVO Nano and Lite Series drones

Dynamic tracking of video subject (person only) on EVO Lite+

160Mbs video and image downloading from drone to phone via Wi-Fi

8-bit Log video

HDR video

More enhancements and issue fixes

April 2nd, 2022 7AM - 4PM

FREE

Jensen Beach Causeway Park

Jensen Beach Causeway (southside)

Jensen Beach, FL  34957