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A journey with drones
The story of a CEO, who believed that you can be a successful entrepreneur and still maintain a healthy work-life balance. Once upon the magical year of 2009, a fresh-faced graduate named Ken Isobe Falk left school with high ambitions on his shoulders, and a computer science degree in his hand. In the following years, he walked a winding road, that would eventually lead him to his unlikely destination. At this point, Ken was working 80-hour weeks, developing mission critical systems for the defense industry, at a CMMI5 certified company. “I had the kind of mindset, where I believed I had to take on everything, solve everything myself. When I worked the most, it was around 80 hours a week, and I had three hours of transportation each day. That didn’t seem like a lot at the time.” Ken Falk, CEO Scopito Eventually, this take on work left Ken severely stressed. “Today I’m glad it happened. It gave me a chance to consider, what is important in my life. W Read More »
DROWNING IN DATA
It used to be more data = more problems. But for Jim and Fenix I.S.R, one tool changed it all.Jim Timberlake. Director of Field Operations at Fenix I.S.R.; a US based drone operator. Jim’s goal is to deliver an end-to-end service for the customer, but it isn’t always easy.All aboard the drone Read More »
DfT Transport-Technology Research and Innovation Grants
The Connected Places Catapult supports the DfT’s Transport-Technology Research and Innovation Grants (T-TRIG) programme. T-TRIG bridges the early stage, proof-of-concept funding gap in transport innovation, where small investments can de-risk emerging solutions. An Open Call to fund ideas across the whole of the transport technology spectrum is now open. Apply by 29 October for grants up to £30k to prove your idea works.The 2019 T-TRIG call was announced by George Freeman, Minister of State for the Future of Transport, on 24 September and will remain open until 23:59 on 29 October. Read More »
JAPAN DRONE 2020 (International Tradeshow in Tokyo)
The best platform to understand and access the Japanese market! In 2020, Japan Drone will celebrate its 5th Anniversary. Read More »
ZeroAvia Announces £2.7m UK Government Grant for the Development of Zero Emission Aviation
Project partner Intelligent Energy will optimise its higher power fuel cell technology for aviation use cases. Department for Business Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS), Aerospace Technology Institute (ATI) and Innovate UK back the development of ZeroAvia’s hydrogen fuel cell powertrain for commercial aviation “HyFlyer Project” puts the UK at the forefront of R&D around decarbonising aviation and represents significant opportunity to enable the UK’s 2050 Net Zero strategy Industry-leading innovators Intelligent Energy, the European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC), Cranfield Aerospace Solutions (CAeS) and Cranfield University to collaborate with ZeroAvia CRANFIELD, UK, September 18th, 2019 -- ZeroAvia, the leading innovator in decarbonising commercial aviation, today announced that it has received a £2.7m (US$3.3 million) grant from the UK Government to support in the development of the principal technology to enable practical, zero emission aviat Read More »
SkyWatch.AI Announces New Partnership with Drone U to Provide Flight Mastery Graduates with Lower Drone Insurance Rates
Palo Alto, California, Aug 14th, 2019 SkyWatch.AI Drone Insurance, a leading risk-assessment and InsurTech platform for the drone industry, announced today its partnership with Drone U, one of the largest US professional drone training communities. SkyWatch.AI recognizes that quality remote pilot training and education are vital components in the safe advancement of the commercial UAS industry, and are essential in an industry where there is an increasing number of commercial remote pilots. With SkyWatch.AI, Drone U’s Flight Mastery graduates will be eligible for lower insurance rates based on their flight experience. “Drone U has been with SkyWatch.AI since the very beginning, and we are proud to support an educational program that is utilized by the National Transportation Safety Board as one of the required training programs for their drone pilots," said Tomer Kashi SkyWatch.AI CEO and Co-Founder. “From working closely with thousands of drone pilots across the US, we know t Read More »
SkyWatch.AI Announces New Partnership with AUVSI to Provide Certified TOP operators with Lower Drone Insurance Rates
Palo Alto, California, September 3rd, 2019 SkyWatch.AI Drone Insurance, a leading risk-assessment and InsurTech platform for the drone industry, announced today its partnership with AUVSI, the world's largest non-profit organization dedicated to the advancement of unmanned systems. With the rapid increase of commercial drone pilots, quality training and education are essential components in the safe advancement of the commercial UAS industry. Through the partnership, drone pilots who complete AUVSI’s Trusted Operator Program (TOP) level 2 and 3, will be eligible for lower insurance rates with SkyWatch.AI based on their flight experience and professional education. “We are proud to team up with AUVSI and support TOP pilots” said Tomer Kashi, SkyWatch.AI CEO and Co-Founder. “In the past year, we worked closely with thousands of drone pilots from multiple industries throughout the US. It is clear to us that extensive education, such as that provided by TOP, is crucial in the dev Read More »
Drone Technology in the World of Entertainment
Entertainment As We Know It:Since the establishment of the film industry, storytellers, screenwriters, and producers have always looked for ways to make movies all the more enjoyable. Movies and films enable audiences worldwide to feel almost every emotion, experience different cultures and develop their imaginations. Motion picture through advanced technologies has allowed the entertainment industry to continuously advance overtime. Throughout history, cinematographers and photographers alike utilized everything from motion toys, cranes, helicopters, and planes to capture beautiful aerial shots for unique movie scenes. While these technologies paved the way, they also made movie sets all the more expensive. Getting the perfect shot always requires multiple tries and numerous hands on deck. Fast forward to today: drone technology has made aerial photography much more accessible and affordable! Almost all production sets are bound to have a drone and drone photographer handy. The Read More »
Successful inspection flights in the North Sea, Germany
Aero Enterprise uses its new developed helicopter drone for offshore inspection operations for the first time. Read More »
Airspace Access: Integrated or Segregated?
9 October 2019 - 10 October 2019No.4 Hamilton PlaceConference Read More »
Artificial Intelligence finds damages on wind turbines
Aero Enterprise is specialized in airborne inspection of damages on wind turbines as well as on other vertical objects, such as dams, chimneys or bridges. For this purpose, the self-developed helicopter drone AERO-SensorCopter acquires high-resolution image data. These image data are converted into a damage report using the proprietary AERO-Software Package.Since 2017 Aero Enterprise has been offering a comprehensive software package for the analysis, interpretation and digital reporting of damages on wind turbines. In May 2019 the AERO-Software Package has been enhanced with a powerful feature: In a record time of just 6 months, the Aero Enterprise software engineers developed a machine learning tool based on AI (Artificial Intelligence). For this purpose, a total of more than one thousand damage patterns from existing flight operations on wind turbines were marked manually, image by image. Then, the type of damage is determined according to an industry standard classification.Unlike Read More »
GreaterBayX 8-Week Cross-Border Mobility/Smart-City Scalerator Project Looking For Applicants: Investment and Business Opportunities Available.
Dear Drone Major Group Community, An excellent last-minute opportunity from our partner, GreaterBayX, based in Hong Kong and China. The core information is as follows: Read More »
JUMPSTARTER COMPETITION
TECHNOLOGY COMPANIES NEEDED: WIN MAJOR INVESTMENT PLUS $100,000 IN CASH JUMPSTARTERLevel39 (where we have an office in 1 Canada Square, Canary Wharf) have been working with Alibaba Hong Kong Entrepreneurs Fund on their innovation competition: JUMPSTARTER.Here's the deal - if you participate in the pitching competition taking place at Level39, September 16-17, you will be considered for the chance to pitch at the Grand Finale in Hong Kong, February 11-12, next year. The winning five companies presenting at this event take home a share of $5m investment commitment and $100,000 in cash. Read More »
Drone Collision Avoidance for Beginners
Drone collision avoidance and obstacle detection are key focus points in the booming global UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) market. The industry is prospected to top $11.2 billion in 2020, as hobbyists and professionals alike come to understand the attraction to, and commercial benefits of drone technology. Yet costly impacts still represent a real concern for commercial and industrial users alike.The lightweight nature of drone airframes and flight components generally makes them intolerant to impacts, which typically require costly repairs – a risk that is reflected by the cost of insurance. One rugged solution to the risk of impact-related damage is to cage the entire vehicle in a protective structure that absorbs the force of collisions: otherwise known as collision-tolerance. While this has proven useful in working environments with enclosed spaces that are generally unsafe for workers, it cannot provide the level of precision offered by smart drone collision avoidance systems.Dro Read More »
First Class Delivery
In an exclusive interview with one of the Drone Major Group’s newest members, we speak with Ryan Walsh, CEO and co-founder of Valqari, about drone delivery systems and how he’s looking to provide the ultimate mailbox…In an exclusive interview with one of the Drone Major Group’s newest members, we speak with Ryan Walsh, CEO and co-founder of Valqari, about drone delivery systems and how he’s looking to provide the ultimate mailbox… When you talk about drone deliveries, most people will think of the likes of Google and Amazon, simply because those are some very big names that typically generate good headlines and social media friendly PR. However, there are many others working on a variety of solutions, as well as pushing all aspects of the technology and infrastructure involved. One such company is Chicago-based Valqari and it is looking to play a prominent role when it comes to the ‘last mile’ of the drone delivery process. Read More »
Fostering Strategic Innovation with Lloyd’s Register
Drone Major Group is delighted to welcome Lloyds Register to our supplier cluster. As a global brand, Lloyd’s Register’s engineers and technical experts work with businesses throughout the world to provide a range of inspection services to assure safety and quality for every step of the inspection cycle. At a time of such rapid technological advancement, quality and safety assurance is something to be taken seriously. With their inspection focused innovations, Lloyd’s Register is addressing the major gap in the market between the expansive list of emerging technologies and the challenges consumers face in understanding, risk assessing and integrating these technologies. With Lloyd’s, safety, functionality and sustainability are at the forefront. For the drone industry, Lloyd’s Register’s inspection and innovation services provide key assistance to manufacturers, operators and consumers alike – a thorough analysis of current and future challenges to integration and sustai Read More »
Coverdrone Launch Bespoke ROV Insurance
By Jess Brown • July 30, 2019We are extremely excited to announce that today we are launching our newest product – bespoke marine equipment insurance, covering remotely operated (ROV) and autonomous underwater (AUV) equipment!Our cover is unique as many other types of insurance can offer marine equipment insurance; however, the majority will exclude equipment whilst being tested, worked upon and whilst in use in water. We can also insure similar equipment that is used within the marine equipment market which can include renewable energy devices, as well as equipment typically used by the oil and gas industry on platforms or onshore. Read More »
How to Display your Drone Technology Safely
Drone Major is excited to announce a new addition to our supplier list: TentCraft. With their fully functional “Pop-up Drone Cage,”, the US-based company has expanded to cover a global client base. TentCraft’s Drone Cage allows companies to safely display their drones at exhibitions, conferences, trade fairs, to name a few. In a competitive market, allowing consumers to view your drones in action and see the unique features is an important advantage.TentCraft’s pop-up drone tent is easily transported, simple to set up, safe to use both indoors and outdoors and it is fully customisable with your company/organisation’s brand colours or logo. With an average turnaround time of 5 days, a product set-up time of under 5 minutes (no additional equipment required) and various sizing options, it is obvious why TentCraft’s services have been used by industry leaders like DJI and Parrot. Their product is waterproof and comes with a lifetime frame warranty.In addition to drone containm Read More »
EuroUSC Introduces SAMWISE – UAS Risk Assessment using SORA Methodology
SAMWISE is a free online tool based on the SORA methodology, developed by JARUS, to support operators and authorities in carrying out risk assessments using a standardised process. The SAMWISE web application, developed by EuroUSC Italia, allows UAS operators to carry out an initial feasibility analysis of their operation and identify the applicable requirements, before proceeding with a full SORA analysis.Civil Aviation Authorities (CAAs) are evolving towards performance-based and risk-based regulation for UAS. In the UAS sector, the approach recommended by the Joint Authorities for Rulemaking on Unmanned Systems (JARUS) is to divide the operations into three categories, with requirements increasing with the level of risk. This is the approach adopted by EASA in the recently published COMMISSION IMPLEMENTING REGULATION (EU) 2019/947 on the rules and procedures for operation of unmanned aircraft in the Open and Specific category. In the latter Category, to be authorised to carry out op Read More »
Global Drone Traffic Leader Unifly Raises €17M in B-round
Unifly NV, provider of the world’s leading unmanned traffic management (UTM) software for drone enablement, has completed a €17m Series B capital raise bringing in investors including Deutsche Flugsicherung (DFS - the national air traffic control authority of Germany) and FPIM (sovereign wealth fund of Belgium). Unifly's most recent investor is Belgium's Federal Holding and Investment Company (SFPI-FPIM). FPIM centrally manages the federal government’s shareholdings, cooperates with the government on specific projects and pursues its own investment policy in the interests of the Belgian economy. It acquires equity in companies that are of strategic importance. Existing investors Terra Drone (drone services provider in Japan), QBIC and PMV (Belgian early stage investors) also participated in the round. Bryan, Garnier & Co., Europe’s growth investment bank, advised Unifly on this transaction. Unifly is the leading provider of UTM software worldwide, enabling the trac Read More »
