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 »
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 »
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 »
Thank you, Mad4Digital, for hosting our chief executive, Robert Garbett, on the most recent episode of the Emerging Tech Talks podcast. Listen to the full episode below to learn about Drone Major, the future of the drone industry and a few exciting applications of the technology. Read More »
There is a common saying among many city-dwellers that within the year there are truly only two seasons: winter and construction. As we enter June, it is safe to say that construction season has officially commenced.The construction industry continues to capitalise on the need for new space – both commercial and residential – throughout metropolitan cities and suburbs alike. In London, for example, it is almost impossible to walk more than a few minutes without encountering a worksite for a new building, a renovation project, even several entirely new communities from major developers like BallymoreConstruction ventures are complex, long-term and often costly undertakings; therefore, the strategy supporting them must be reliable, sustainable and efficient. We are seeing traditional methods give way to more technologically advanced options, providing both the technology providers and the construction companies with mutually beneficial opportunities for growth. Read More »
Drone Major Group is excited to welcome Australian based drone consultancy Mirragin Unmanned Systems to our supplier cluster. Based in Australia but operating on a global scale, Mirragin specialises in strategic business consulting and drone integration within the defence and emergency services industries. Their goal is to penetrate these industries with as wide a reach as possible to utilise drone technologies to remove unnecessary risk from the people that are working daily to protect and save lives. Technology can be replaced, people cannot be.Mirragin’s consulting process works in two core stages:Strategic Flight Path Workshop – Mirragin’s team will help you to identify opportunities to use drones within your business or organisation to help keep your people safe.The Four D Model – Once an application has been selected, Mirragin will then work with you to successfully implement that capability. They use their “Four D model”: Define (the problem), Design (the solution), Read More »
The Swiss drone developer and producer, Wingtra Ltd., recently raised USD 10 million to further scale its global business. The company leads the vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) drone industry and will use the funds to further grow their global footprint and push the limits in their research and development.Credit Suisse Entrepreneur Capital Ltd., Investiere and private investors, as well as existing investors like Zurcher Kantonalbank, took part in this financing round.“We see high-growth potential with Wingtra due to the multiple impressive technological advancements across a range of dimensions, setting it apart from its competitors,” said Didier Denat, Chairman of Credit Suisse Entrepreneur Capital Ltd. and Head of Corporate & Investment Banking at Credit Suisse in Switzerland. “The attractive and fast-growing market of VTOL drones, together with the company’s recent key hires, will provide an outstanding setting for the company’s future growth.” Read More »
The drone industry is as complex as it is intriguing – many people still have the image of a drone as a small, airborne device used to take photos or, in light of recent happenings, disrupt airport traffic control. In reality, the term drone refers to ‘any unmanned system that is autonomous or remotely controlled’. This obviously includes surface systems such as driverless cars and unmanned ships, underwater systems such as unmanned submarines, air systems such as unmanned aircraft, unmanned space systems and, more importantly, any hybridization of the above such as flying taxis (surface and air) and multimodal systems capable of operating on the surface of the sea and underneath it and in the air above it. Mind boggling right?To broaden the understanding of what precisely a drone is, we will describe one of the most relevant and life-changing applications of drone technology: Urban Air Mobility, or UAM for short. Urban Air Mobility refers to the transition away from typica Read More »
Often when considering ways to reduce our carbon footprint, we are bombarded with propaganda that promotes going “back to the basics”: Eat less meat, take shorter showers, bike to work, buy a reusable coffee cup, and recycle. While all valid and likely effective lifestyle changes, we also live in a world with cutting edge technology – and it should not be an either-or decision. Solar panels, electric cars, drones, they all provide us with opportunities to make environmentally conscious decisions that are both innovative and sustainable. Thanks to publicity from Amazon and Alphabet, the examples of drone delivery systems replacing “last mile” trips (typically carried out by trucks or vans) have clear benefits – a reduction in road traffic, which consequently means a reduction in fuel consumptions and greenhouse gas emissions. If a city like London or Los Angeles is able to replace even 10% of their truck deliveries with airborne drone systems, the positive effect to air qu Read More »
In tech reporting, drone delivery is consuming more headlines than ever. Companies such as Alphabet, Amazon, FedEx and even Domino’s Pizza are releasing buzz-worthy statements about the scope and potential of their futuristic delivery plans.Many of the large corporations believe that their projects are on track to commercialise autonomous deliveries in major cities as early as 2020, contingent on Government clearance and standards compliance of course. A few years ago, the majority would have dismissed autonomous deliveries as impossible. The risks – to people, infrastructure, privacy – outweighed the rewards. Pizza delivered right to your doorstep within minutes is convenient, yes, but if its drone carrier crashed into your window? Sorry Dominos, but no thank you. Within a few months of the initial hype, however, regulators and the general public quickly realised that these companies meant business. In the blink of an eye, drone delivery providers conceptualised, tested and Read More »
Longest ever multi rotor flight of over 12 hoursLoughborough, Tuesday 16 April 2019 – A flight time of 12 hours, 7 minutes and 22 seconds was officially recorded by South Korean company MetaVista as it successfully broke the multi rotor UAV Guinness World Record of flight time. The MetaVista team used a 6-litre liquid hydrogen cylinder and Intelligent Energy’s 800W Fuel Cell Power Module to power the UAV.The previous record held stood at 2 hours, 6 minutes and 7 seconds. The substantial difference in flight time achieved demonstrates the impact fuel cells could have on the commercial UAV industry, breaking through the limited flight time constraints of traditional batteries. Read More »
Consultancy is about collaboration – blending together ideas, strategies and expertise to create a product or service that matches the unique user requirements of the client(s). In theory, collaboration is clearly superior. In reality, however, genuine co-working can be taxing on all parties. One of the main reasons for the stress stems from the fear of competition between suppliers or stakeholders.To mitigate this fear and facilitate positive relationships among parties, TEAL Consulting integrates highly successful co-working models aimed at optimising customer values, leveraging current assets and building (or maintaining) positive internal and external business relationships. Their recent case studies highlight their positive responses in an array of applicable situations, such as critical improvement skills amongst high-potential managers and cross-functional analysis of customer profiles in relation to large public authorities.As the world’s leading independent drone and count Read More »
Robert Garbett Named “Expert Speaker” For 2019 AeroPodium Event2019 well very may be the Year of the Drone, with the technology advancing at hyper-speed and new applications emerging on a daily basis. With a mass of information and various initiatives entering the public eye, it is not often that an opportunity to learn the industry from those who started it comes around – until AeroPodium. Read More »
Drones, Standardisation and the UK EconomyThe drone industry is stirring up both praise and controversy, proving that rapidly developing technology sectors are never easy to control whilst underpinning the urgent need for standardisation in the industry. Read More »