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NASA's Ames Research Center will leverage NextNav's TerraPoiNT commercial grade network to capture inflight data on drone navigation, detection and collision avoidance as part of BVLOS testing for its urban air mobility (UAM) program.

uAvionix today announced that the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma (CNO) Beyond Program received approval from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) operations using uAvionix SkyLine™ Managed C2 and Detect & Avoid sensors on the Emerging Aviation Technology Center UAS Test Range. This marks the second BVLOS waiver by the FAA for the combination of uAvionix SkyLine software and SkyLink™ hardware in as many months and allows drone pilots operating at the CNO range to leverage only an Electronic Observer while meeting requirements to remain well-clear of crewed aircraft while the uncrewed aircraft is beyond the pilot's visual range of sight.

Intermap Technologies (TSX: IMP) (OTCQX: ITMSF) ("Intermap" or the "Company"), a global leader in 3D geospatial data and intelligence solutions, today announced a new contract with Skyroads AG and cloudeo AG to power an Automated Airspace Management and Vehicle Guidance System. Under the agreement, Intermap's NEXTView™ will be integrated into Skyroads' system to ensure safety, efficiency and obstacle avoidance as vehicles travel above urban environments.

Data contribution and app creation platform Navigate has opened its first Data Vault, providing a global audience of drone users with the ability to upload their drone data and gain rewards in the form of Navigate's native utility token, NVG8.

UAV Navigation releases its new Visual Navigation System (VNS). This exciting new capability is bound to cause a stir amongst manufacturers and end users of NATO Category I and II UAS. The compact and lightweight device, which is provided as an optional peripheral to the main Flight Control System (FCS), enables the safe and efficient navigation of Uncrewed Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) in GNSS-denied environments. The VNS combines "visual odometry" techniques and "pattern identification" with the rest of the sensors onboard the aircraft to ensure that the absolute position, orientation and relative movement of the aircraft over the ground is calculated with astonishing accuracy.

UAV Navigation Introduces Fully Automatic Landing on Moving Platforms for Maritime Operations

Many operators have learned the hard way that landing drones on steep roofs is almost impossible. Now, researchers at the Université de Sherbrooke have developed landing gear that allows a quadcopter drone to land even on a steep surface – which could have major implications for the commercial drone industry.

The President of Ineco, Sergio Vázquez Torrón, formalized at the Center for Advanced Aviation System Development (CAASD) of MITRE, a United States organization, the development of seminars that are going to be offered to the four best young aeronautical engineers of the public engineering company. Ineco has had a solid relationship with MITRE for close to two decades in tasks relating to research and development of new airspace design methodologies, implementation of advanced air traffic control concepts, and use and assessment of software tools utilized to evaluate air navigation

Animal Dynamics today announces a collaboration with the University of Manchester to improve the realism of its simulated environment and accelerate the commercial rollout of its Uncrewed Aircraft System, Stork STM.  

ParaZero, a world-leading provider of autonomous parachute systems for commercial drones and urban air mobility vehicles, has partnered with computer vision and AI flight technologies developer, Sightec, to develop among the most sophisticated and advanced safety systems in the world with precedent-setting capabilities. The combined solution will be wrapped in a unified hardware platform that provides optimal integration, operational safety, and value for OEMs and end-users.

The majority of Uncrewed Aerial Systems (UAS) rely on Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) to maintain a stable position and/or to navigate between waypoints. Added to this weakness, any small drone system that relies exclusively on Microelectromechanical Systems (MEMS) sensors to estimate aircraft attitude and which does not fuse data from other types of sensor may be vulnerable to GNSS jamming attacks. UAV Navigation's design philosophy is that the UAV cannot depend upon the availability of a GNSS signal; the system must be able to continue the mission even in a GNSS-denied environment.

NASA has announced this week that the technology licensed to Vigilant Aerospace and used in the company's FlightHorizon detect-and-avoid and airspace management product has won NASA's Commercial Invention of the Year 2021 award.

Bell Textron announced today (Feb. 2) its Autonomous Pod Transport (APT) has successfully demonstrated a ground-based Detect and Avoid (DAA) flight. The test was part of Bell's NASA Systems Integration and Operationalization (SIO) project to demonstrate the unmanned aircraft's systems integration with ground radar and its ability to meet requirements for navigating airspace and avoiding traffic, "a critical component needed for future Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) vehicles," according to Bell's announcement.

Skyway Technologies Corp. is excited to announce TruWeather Solutions as their newest strategic partner. Together, these companies will combine their high-tech traffic navigation systems and weather risk management products. This partnership will work to provide a standardized protocol by which autonomous aircraft within the urban air space can operate safely and more efficiently. 

Skyway, a navigation service to Urban Air Mobility (UAM) focused around autonomous aircraft, and TruWeather, a weather data analytics and innovative weather risk management service, are teaming up to make the skies safer and more efficient for autonomous aircraft delivery and transportation.

A University of Texas at Arlington aerospace engineer is teaming with industry partners to develop control systems for autonomous aerial vehicles that will increase their safety and detect structural issues.

The Northeast UAS Airspace Integration Research Alliance (NUAIR) says it has gotten approval from the Federal Aviation Administration to operate beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) flights over a vastly expanded 35-mile swath of New York's UAS Test Site drone corridor.

We believe our all-electric 'Spirit of Innovation' aircraft is the world's fastest all-electric aircraft, setting three new world records. We have submitted data to the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) – the World Air Sports Federation who control and certify world aeronautical and astronautical records

Lotte, a conglomerate based in South Korea, joined a business alliance involving U.S. companies to promote demonstration flights for urban air mobility in a project led by the western port city of Incheon to open an air taxi service. Urban air mobility (UAM) is an ecosystem covering personal air vehicles and infrastructure such as a new navigation system, take-off and landing fields and charging technologies.

The Mohammed Bin Zayed International Robotics Challenge (MBZIRC) is a global competition designed to push the boundaries of autonomous robotics. With a total prize purse of over US $3 million, the challenge is held every two years in Abu Dhabi, UAE, and provides universities, research centers, companies, and individual innovators an opportunity to address global challenges through the development of autonomous robotic technology.

Small unmanned aerial systems (sUAS) are increasingly being used to conduct atmospheric research. Because of the dynamic nature and inhomogeneity of the atmospheric boundary layer (ABL), the ability of instrumented sUAS to make on-demand 3-dimensional high-resolution spatial measurements of atmospheric parameters makes them particularly suited to ABL investigations.

ModalAI has released two new products that help developers create smaller, smarter and safer robots and drones quickly and easily: the VOXL CAM perception engine and the Seeker micro-development drone, the world's first micro-development drone optimized for development of both indoor and outdoor autonomous navigation.

H3 Dynamics announces the launch of DBX-G7, a brand new vertiport system for autonomous drone operations. Smarter, faster, and multi-modal with 5G and 4G, DBX was designed to scale ongoing digitization efforts in safety compliance, maintenance and crisis management.

Electric cars are growing in prominence every day. Tesla just reported its best delivery figures in this past quarter and most every automaker has announced plans to electrify their lineup.
While the focus is on cars, trucks, vans and SUVs, a handful of companies are working on eVTOL (electric vertical takeoff and landing) vehicles with the goal of taking some of the pressure off the streets and putting passengers into the skies. Here's a rundown of some of those companies.

The Saxon Inspector Drone is an evolutionary aircraft that has proven itself in many parts of the world. Our Y6 design allows the aircraft to perform more efficiently and handle more harsh weather conditions than most multicopters in the market today.

Vodafone is working with Ericsson to use mobile network data to help map flight paths for connected drones

Robotic researchers often use certain animals or birds with some intelligent abilities as a source of inspiration. Scientists studying small next-generation drones are particularly interested in flying insects such as bees.

Under the FAA's Unmanned Aircraft Systems Integration Pilot Program earlier this week, Iris Automation conducted a live drone flight demonstration for the City of Reno Fire Department of its Casia onboard Detect-and-Avoid collision avoidance system, which enables safe beyond visual line of sight drone operations.

Section 2209 of the FAA Extension, Safety and Security Act of 2016 hasn't been implemented yet.  But a group of drone industry advocates urge the FAA to act quickly, in a letter sent to the FAA.

Volansi Inc., a leading drone delivery provider, is piloting the delivery of cold chain medicines from Merck's Wilson, N.C. manufacturing site to Vidant Healthplex-Wilson, a Vidant Health clinic.

The Federal Aviation Administration is looking for four airports to help it test drone detection systems, as well as a contractor to facilitate those tests and other capabilities.

A missing 93-year-old Missouri woman was found safe thanks to a drone and thermal cameras.

As if 2020 couldn't get any weirder, Walmart is now flying Covid-19 test kits to people's houses by drone. The company is testing the drone-delivery system to gather data and decide whether to roll the program out to more stores elsewhere.

The UK government has agreed to invest in the development of a Drone Port at Montrose in Scotland, which is expected to benefit the emerging offshore wind developments and create a regulated testing area to attract companies from across the UK.

A multi-agency task force of public safety drone teams has been supporting local agencies and residents impacted by California wildfires with high-resolution aerial imagery of damaged areas.

A group of drone industry stakeholders has signed a letter asking the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) to "hold fast" to the intended December 2020 release of the rulemaking on Remote Identification  for unmanned aerial systems.

Japan Airlines may fly some of the largest aircraft in the world, but the carrier is also taking a closer look at how small unmanned aerial vehicles, or drones, could one day become part of its fleet.

Some of the most exciting potential applications come from the use of drones in the delivery of essential, healthcare and medical deliveries at customers' doorsteps.

Walmart announced recently that it will pilot drone delivery of at-home COVID-19 self-collection kits, which is a new way to provide additional, and contactless, testing options.

The People's Republic of China is one of 66 individuals and organizations commenting on an FAA Federal Register Notice on the certification of some drones.

Manatee County officials are partnering with a private drone company to become one of the first government agencies in the nation to use autonomous drones as part of a 911 emergency response.

A new offshore service opportunity for an already proven mini-helicopter UAV, a possible alternative to flying cars, and bulking up UAVs to carry cargo – just a few of this month's new developments in unmanned aircraft.

Walmart has partnered with Zipline to launch what's being described as a "first-of-its-kind" drone delivery operation in the U.S., making on-demand deliveries of select health and wellness products with the potential to expand to general merchandise.

Walmart Inc. is testing drone delivery of groceries and household essentials, the company announced recently

North Dakota and the Northern Plains UAs test Site are working together to build out their commercial drone infrastructure by creating a statewide BVLOS network.

Can retail orders be delivered via drone? A recent test in Springfield was a step toward answering that question for a New Jersey communications company that is now looking to establish a presence in Ohio. 

For decades, government led the way on the development and use of new technologies. Today, there is a similar emphasis on government "spinning in" commercial technologies to improve its own operations. However, the transformational benefits of new technologies may not come solely from either a spin-in or spin-off alone. Rather, "spinning on" may be the key.

Drones were a hot topic from analysts in 2014. Predictions included the concept of drones taking over the military, the extinction of helicopters due to obscurity, and small unmanned flying drones replacing food and mail delivery services. With all of the planning and even some government approvals, it makes one wonder, where are all the drones?

In an effort to safely and humanely rescue marine mammals, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University has partnered with marine biologists and a Verizon drone-management platform to monitor animals in distress using unmanned aircraft systems. 

Live flights and testing of components are scheduled to begin this month at the unmanned aircraft test site in Rome, N.Y., in the second phase of a federal program to develop a high-density air traffic control system for drones.