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Ever been stuck in the middle of a row on the bleachers?  Drone delivery might be a real "game changer." Wing Delivers Beer and Peanuts to Coors Field in Colorado

Last week, the e-commerce giant told CNBC that its Prime Air drone delivery service—which currently serves a smattering of households in Lockeford, California, and College Station, Texas—has completed just 100 deliveries since launching in late December. Per internal company projections, the firm in January was targeting 10,000 deliveries by the end of 2023.

DroneUp, the company powering drone delivery for the largest retailer in the world, has trimmed its head count.

AUVSI wrapped its 2023 XPONENTIAL convention in Denver last week, bringing together thousands of attendees and hundreds of companies to discuss a path toward autonomy.

Imagine shorter commutes, easier package deliveries, quicker disaster responses and transportation of medical supplies and injured passengers.

Advanced air mobility is of increasing interest to the U.S. military, which hopes to reap the same benefits as the commercial world from having all-electric, lightweight, autonomous aircraft for shuttling cargo and people.

With their business rapidly expanding and their staff increasing, GUS principals realized they needed a larger, more modern facility to accommodate their growth.

Magpie's solution is one of what is now a toolkit of solutions for decarbonizing aviation.

Last-mile delivery is undergoing perhaps the biggest transformation in its history, especially with robots and drones emerging as potential game-changers in the rapidly evolving segment.

An Unmanned Traffic Management system will facilitate the safe integration of existing commuter aircraft and future air taxis and delivery drones.

A bill clearing the way for easier construction of drone ports throughout Florida is on its way to the House floor after zooming through its final committee stop.

Following successful trials in Galway and Dublin, Coca-Cola HBC, strategic bottling partner of The Coca-Cola Company, has announced a partnership and investment in Manna Drone Delivery.

Legislation that would ease construction of drone ports and limit local governmental oversight and restriction flew through the first of three Senate stops

With the entry into force of the U-space regulation last month, a big step has been taken in the rapidly developing drone industry. But is U-space the one-size-fits-all solution that this industry needs? For me, the short-term answer is "No." There are still many challenges that need to be addressed before we can deploy drones at scale and reap the associated economic and social benefits. Let me highlight a few.

There are seven FAA designated UAS Test Sites across the United States but only one features a 50-mile uncrewed aircraft systems corridor, where various tests can be performed to determine the operational and economic viability of a given drone operation in the short and long term. Managed by the Northeast UAS Airspace Integration Research Alliance (NUAIR) at the Griffiss International Airport in Rome, New York, operators can fly 50 miles without visual observers. This setup enables drone testing of all different types, which is further augmented by all of the existing infrastructure within the corridor.

Five years ago, Google backed away from a Pentagon government contract because thousands of employees protested that its tech might be used for lethal drone targeting. Today, however, Silicon Valley has far fewer qualms about developing tech for the U.S. Department of Defense.

Ohio University has been awarded a grant to investigate using unmanned aircraft in Appalachian Ohio for applications such as delivering packages to homes and transporting patients to hospitals and travelers to airports.

From scientific research, firefighting and rainmaking to energy-saving airborne deliveries, more sustainable agriculture and renewable energy, unmanned systems are enabling the shift to a green economy.

Welcome to the world of "advanced air mobility." The notion of people and goods gliding across low altitudes is no longer future fantasy. Drone deliveries have already launched in Utah, and the FAA is expected to start certifying air taxis by 2024.

Amazon plans the largest headcount reduction in its history, slashing 18,000 jobs to improve financials.

Drone corridor plans overcome biggest challenge in UAV sector, enabling stakeholders to scale up tech solutions to business problems.

In 2013, Jeff Bezos revealed plans for Prime Air – Amazon's drone delivery service. 2014 saw announcements of major logistics companies partnering with emerging drone startups. By 2017, there was radio silence. The hype largely fizzled out and drone delivery never really materialized beyond basic proof of concept tests. Only a few companies were the exception, such as Zipline, which thrived on highly-specific use cases.

As the technology matures, regulation evolves, and business models emerge, drones could become as cost-effective for package delivery as traditional transport modes

Walmart's drone delivery may give new meaning to the phrase "last minute shopping." Just in time for Christmas, the drone delivery service is now available from 11 new stores in the Dallas area.

Researchers at the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (SAIT) have demonstrated the value of drone delivery platforms to assist in search and rescue operations, by providing remote guided medical triage for simulated injured hikers. Leveraging remote medical triage will help buy rescuers invaluable time to reach victims and extract them to a trauma centre.

Drone Industry Insights (DRONEII) has named this year's top drone service providers.

ANRA Technologies, a leader in integrated airspace, mission management and delivery systems for uncrewed aircraft, today announced it has won a contract to demonstrate the ability to collect, aggregate and retransmit Broadcast Remote ID (B-RID) messages.

Dronamics, the leading middle-mile cargo drone developer and operator, and Cranfield Aerospace Solutions (CAeS), a leading innovator in the development of zero emissions solutions for aerospace, announced that they will be combining their expertise to integrate hydrogen fuel-cell technology into the Black Swan, the long-range cargo drone developed by Dronamics.

It's year five, or maybe 10, of "drones are going to revolutionize transport," and so far we've got very little to show for it. Maybe it's time to put these foolish ambitions to rest and focus on where this technology could actually do some good, rather than pad out a billionaire's bottom line or let the rich skip traffic.

https://www.suasnews.com/2022/10/droneup-partners-with-the-utah-department-of-transportation-division-of-aeronautics-for-air-mobility-urban-planning/

For the third time, autonomous drone technology leader Everdrone has made the list of Ny Teknik's Top 33 Most Promising Tech Companies in Sweden.

The first World Drone Prix took place in Dubai in 2016.  Dubai was the first place in the world to showcase a drone taxi, implementing a fixed route back in 2017.

SkyDrop (formerly Flirtey) has released episode one of a documentary series "The SkyDrop Story", to tell the historical story of the first FAA-approved drone delivery on US soil.

Florida-based startup Undefined Technologies has announced that its Silent Ventus ion propulsion eVTOL drone has cleared an essential test flight.

Basically, a drone can be defined as an unmanned vehicle that's capable of autonomously maintaining a controlled and sustained level of flight.

The Ohio Department of Transportation is testing its uncrewed traffic management system that would allow drones to operate at low altitudes beyond the operator's line of sight.

Virginia Tech has won its sixth major federal contract to lead research on an increasingly urgent question: How to safely manage drone traffic.

Rebounding off its participation in the August 3 White House summit on advanced air mobility (AAM), sector lobbying organization Commercial Drone Alliance has gone on the offensive with praise of the Biden administration's initiative in support of next-generation aerial activities, but with criticism of regulatory constrictions it says stifles increased UAV services in the US.

The Race For Last Mile Drones
Steve Banker
Contributor
I cover logistics and supply chain management.
Aug 16, 2022,08:57am EDT

Picture it. Using an app, you order a new mobile phone on Amazon or a burger from your favorite restaurant. A mere 20 minutes later, you get an alert on your phone and head out to the backyard to see a drone descending from the sky holding your package. Your package gently drops to the ground, and the drone flies off. And it's being led by retail behemoths Amazon, Walmart, and a slew of food delivery companies.

Before the COVID pandemic, a trickle of homeowners and apartment tenants had delivery trucks combing their streets dropping off internet-purchased packages.
The pandemic has accelerated the trickle to a flood, not only the delivering but the need for safe, secure storage upon drop-off.

The newly release Amazon drone delivery video, embedded below, shows off Amazon's latest aircraft model – and reveals their proposed mode of delivery.  Amazon's delivery program is set to begin in California and Texas later this year.

Commercial drone delivery solutions developer A2Z Drone Delivery is launching its second generation Rapid Delivery System, the RDS2.

NASA recently signed a Space Act Agreement with San Francisco-based Zipline "to pursue a future vision of U.S. aviation that includes delivery drones and air taxis," says the NASA announcement.

NASA and the FAA are working to revolutionize air traffic control for the drone era.

Last week, leading provider of multi-drone operating system FlightOps employed its software for the delivery of medical laboratory tests via drones, which maintained the quality of the transported samples while traveling between hospitals.

In a blog post, Wing CEO Adam Woodworth wrote that Wing is developing an "aircraft library" – a "variety of different vehicles tailored for specific use cases."  Having proven the viability of commercial drone delivery, Wing is now working to address supply chain issues througout the ecosystem – from the delivery of one small bottle of medicine to the delivery of larger objects.

57% said they have little or no trust in drones to safely deliver products to homes and businesses, according to a Morning Consult survey

Small drones delivering packages, air taxis carrying passengers, or air ambulance providing lifesaving transportation – these are just some of the concepts NASA's Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) mission is helping get into our skies. For these aircraft to safely operate, cities, suburbs, and rural areas will need new or enhanced infrastructure.

Before drones are flying around our burritos, prescriptions and maybe giving us a quote on roof repair, we're going to need some infrastructure to enable this transformation.