After receiving a Special Flight Operating Certificate from Transport Canada, Drone Delivery Canada (DDC) has become the first and only “pure play drone delivery company” to successfully complete beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) test flights under the oversight of Transport Canada.
DDC’s Mission Control Centre in Toronto monitored and recorded telemetry for each flight in real time, from 2,500 kilometers away, as the flights took place in Foremost, Alberta.
The main systems tested during the flights were DDC’s proprietary FLYTE management system, its avoidance technology, and communications platform.
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Georgia police department receives DJI Phantom 3 Professional UAS from InterDev
As a part of its ongoing program “to thank its municipal clients for engaging InterDev’s to provide IT and/or GIS services,” InterDev, a provider of not only IT and GIS services, but also security services as well, recently donated a DJI Phantom 3 Professional UAS to the Dunwoody police department in Georgia.
According to Dunwoody Police Chief Billy Grogan, the donation will greatly benefit the department’s UAS program, which will positively impact the Dunwoody community in the process.
“The Dunwoody Police Department’s unmanned aerial vehicle program will be enhanced by the generous donation from InterDev of this important technology,” Grogan says.
“It will help our department to continue meeting the service needs of the citizens of Dunwoody.”
Navajo County Sheriff’s Office in Arizona uses UAS to locate missing man
In late May, the Navajo County Sheriff’s Office in Arizona used a UAS to search for a man who went missing in the woods near Clay Springs, Arizona.
It was the first time that the sheriff’s deputies used a UAS during a search and rescue operation.
Deputies requested the help of NCSO’s UAS for the search, and within 45 minutes of arriving on the scene, the UAS pilots located the man, about “a quarter of a mile east and 350 yards north” of where his motorcycle had been found earlier.
The man was described as “disoriented and dehydrated ” when found, but in good health.
SOAR Oregon opening new hangar at Pendleton’s UAS Range
On June 10, a ribbon cutting will be used to officially open a new 9,600 square-foot hangar at Pendleton’s UAS Range (PUR), which is located at the Eastern Oregon Regional Airport in Pendleton, Oregon.
The hangar is being opened by SOAR Oregon, which is a statewide nonprofit based in Bend, Oregon that seeks to encourage the growth of the UAS industry in the state.
Vahana, an electric, self-piloted vehicle being developed by A³, which is the advanced projects and partnerships outpost of Airbus in Silicon Valley, will be the first occupant of the new hangar, thanks to a partnership that was struck in November 2016 between Modern Technology Solutions, Inc. (MTSI) and SOAR Oregon.
Through that partnership, the two worked together on a flight test project for Vahana.
Humanitarian UAV Testing Corridor launches in Malawi
On June 29, the Government of Malawi and the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) launched an air corridor, known as the Humanitarian UAV Testing Corridor, to test the potential use of UAS for humanitarian efforts.
The Humanitarian UAV Testing Corridor, which will be used to facilitate testing in the areas of imagery, connectivity, and transport, is the first corridor in Africa, and one of the first in the world, that has a specific focus on humanitarian and development use.
“This humanitarian drone testing corridor can significantly improve our efficiency and ability to deliver services to the world's most vulnerable children,” says Christopher Fabian, UNICEF Office of Global Innovation Principal Adviser.
Redkite wide-area sensor completes successful advanced flight testing aboard Integrator UAS
Logos Technologies has announced that it has successfully conducted advanced flight testing of its Redkite wide-area sensor aboard the Insitu Integrator UAS.
Testing confirmed that the Redkite was capable of capturing stabilized, wide-area motion imagery (WAMI), and could successfully stream it to multiple handheld devices on the ground from the payload bay of the UAS.
This latest demonstration, which was the second successful airborne test with the Integrator, took place in Boardman, Oregon.
Oklahoma State University students and others use UAS to gather data on weather
About 60 students and staff from Oklahoma State University (OSU), and the universities of Kentucky, Oklahoma and Nebraska, are spending the week of June 26 flying UAS at OSU’s Unmanned Aircraft Flight Station, to collect data on weather.
This is the second year that the universities have come together to test UAS and their ability to improve weather forecasting, and the students seem to enjoy the collaborative environment as they work with students from different universities on a shared challenge.
Microdrones’ md4-1000 UAV added to Transport Canada's list of Compliant Unmanned Air Systems
Transport Canada (TC) has added Microdrones’ md4-1000 UAV to its exclusive list of Compliant Unmanned Air Systems, making Microdrones one of just eight companies in the world to earn such a distinction.
In order to earn compliance, Microdrones had to submit an assortment of application materials, including flight, maintenance, and systems design manuals.
“This compliance means that our platform meets a certain level of safety and will provide users with the opportunity to become a TC-compliant organization, gaining access to all the related advantages," says Sebastien Long, Microdrones' Sales Manager for Canada.
Canada’s UAS Centre of Excellence granted permission to begin operations at its UAS test range
Canada’s UAS Centre of Excellence can now begin operations at its test range in Alma, Quebec, after receiving approval from Transport Canada.
Besides facilitating research and development, the test range will provide the UAS industry with “dedicated, restricted airspace,” where beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) flights can be carried out.
“Transport Canada is proud of the progress we are making to support innovation and research in Canada’s drone sector,” says Marc Garneau, Minister of Transport.
New York’s Orange County set to begin using UAS
Orange County, New York’s Emergency Services Department will begin using UAS for a variety of tasks around the county.
The UAS program will be overseen by Deputy Commissioner of Emergency Services Alan Mack.
Mack, who is a licensed UAS operator and recent retiree from the U.S. Army, is looking forward to getting this new technology into the sky.
“The drones will be a valuable tool in many emergency situations and we are eager to put this program into practice,” Mack says via the Hudson Valley News Network.