News & Analysis

L.A. Fire Department Used Drones for the First Time During Skirball Fire

/14^th December 2017, Los Angeles Times by Hailey Branson-Potts/ The Los Angeles Fire Department dispatched drones for the first time while battling a wildfire this month as firefighters took on the Skirball fire in Bel-Air. Fire officials demonstrated the use of the unmanned aerial vehicles for reporters on Thursday, sending two drones buzzing near blackened hills around Linda Flora Drive.

EU Agrees Registration Rules for Drones, Downloads of Flight Recordings

/30^th November 2017, REUTERS by Julia Fioretti/ Drone owners in Europe will have to register their devices if “dangerous” and aircraft makers ensure that black box recordings can be downloaded in real-time if a plane is in distress under a sweeping reform of Europe’s aviation safety agency. European Union lawmakers and member states reached a tentative deal early on Thursday on a long-awaited reform of the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), which includes Europe’s first ever rules on drones.

Ready for Drones (RPAS) in the European Union (EU): Are you?

/16^th November 2017, DRONE MARKET WATCH^TM/ Drones, or remotely piloted aircraft systems (RPAS), as they are known, are no longer used solely by the military. In the UK alone, there are now hundreds of companies, mainly SMEs, using RPAS to provide a range of services, including photography, land surveying, building inspection and crop analysis. RPAS will revolutionise what the aviation industry can achieve and how it is regulated. Europe Union already took a number of regulatory initiatives in order to reap the future benefits of this exciting new technology.

Government of South Korea to Invest US$ 0.9 billion in Drone (UAV) Industry by 2022

/16^th October 2017, Cho Jin-Young/ The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure & Transport holds a public hearing on drone industry development with the Korea Transport Institute and the Korea Aerospace Research Institute, reported from BusinessKorea. According to the ministry’s plan to that end, approximately one trillion won (US$0.9 billion) shall be invested for drone technology research and development until 2022 so that South Korea can rank fifth in the world in the sector and its technological strength reaches at least 90% of those of industry leaders.

Drones (UAVs) in Façade and Structural Inspection of Buildings

/21^st September 2017, DRONE MARKET WATCH^TM/ Drones (UAVs) can be utilized everywhere, from building façade inspection to monitoring a project’s construction phase and photographing and documenting the progress and end result. As a small aerial device, they possess a unique ability to operate lower than manned aircraft but higher than cranes and other ground-based vehicles. Utilizing multispectral sensors, they also capture data imperceptible to the human eye, benefiting everyone from the crew on the ground to the managers in the office.

Considerations for Safe Drone (UAV) Operation in International Airspace

/4^th August 2017, DRONE MARKET WATCH^TM/ Drone (UAV) technology brings radical changes. The drone (UAV) technology creates opportunities for new services and applications. They represent a tremendous opportunity both for the global aeronautical manufacturing industry, especially for small and medium sized enterprises, and for the many aviation and non-aviation businesses that will be able to integrate drones (UAVs) into their activities, and increase their efficiency and competitiveness.

Aerospec Technologies Presented Innovative Drone (UAV) Solution for Inspection of Solar Power Plants

/17^th July 2017, DRONE MARKET WATCH^TM/ Aerospec Technologies LLC, a leader in solar drone inspection services presented its innovative data-driven aerial solution at the Intersolar North America trade show (July 11-13, 2017) in San Francisco, California, USA. Aerospec Technologies LLC is a Houston-based UAS technology company developing an intelligent three-axis flight control system that autonomously collects high-quality data in the energy industry while making operations safer and more efficient.

Standards to Contribute to the Development of Drone (UAV) Technologies

/22^nd June 2017, DRONE MARKET WATCH^TM/ Drone technologies are developing fast. That is why the regulation bodies on international and national levels also intend to move to performance based rulemaking. Detailed rules will set specific performance objectives, functionalities or processes. Industry standards will propose technologies or methods to comply with the rules. This implies an important responsibility for industry to support the definition of standards.