drone technology

Drone delivery execs weigh in on industry’s future

Drone delivery executives weigh in on the future of the industry

Drone delivery has done some pretty incredible things in 2021. Drones have delivered to bustling cities, some of the most remote locations on Earth and even your backyard; they’ve airdropped everything from chicken wings to blood transfusions; and they’ve grabbed the attention (and lightened the coffers) of massive companies like Alphabet and FedEx.

But drone delivery has yet to really take off. Despite drone delivery companies demonstrating technology that can enable automated takeoffs and...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/drone-delivery-execs-weigh-in-on-industrys-future

FAA greenlights Flytrex for 1-mile drone deliveries in North Carolina

Flytrex receives FAA approval for drone deliveries up to one mile away

In a landmark certification for the company, drone delivery provider Flytrex on Tuesday announced that it had received FAA approval for drone deliveries with a range of up to 1 nautical mile in North Carolina, expanding its reach to approximately 10,000 households in the state.

As part of the certification, Flytrex will be permitted to fly its drones over people and moving vehicles within a 1-nautical-mile radius of its operating stations in Fayetteville, Raeford and Holly Springs, into which...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/faa-greenlights-flytrex-for-1-mile-drone-deliveries-in-north-carolina

Drone Racing League now an FAA-approved drone event organizer

Drone Racing League becomes the first-ever FAA-accredited drone event organizer

Drone delivery technology has accomplished some incredible things in 2021, delivering everything from hot wings to 3D-printed organs. Drones are already capable of piloting themselves, flying hundreds of miles on a single charge and navigating landscapes from the cities to the suburbs and everywhere in between.

So … why hasn’t drone delivery taken off? The easy answer is that FAA regulations in the United States are currently tighter than those in countries like Ireland, Canada, Uganda and Rwanda

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/drone-racing-league-now-an-faa-approved-drone-event-organizer

DroneUp acquires airspace traffic management company AirMap

DroneUp completes acquisition of AirMap to bolster safe drone deliveries

Drone delivery in the United States has been a game of inches. Every so often the FAA will marginally loosen the restrictions holding back drone delivery, and drone companies will gain an inch of progress. Remote identification, operations over people, nighttime operations –– these are just a few of the small victories for drone delivery companies, but FAA regulations continue to keep the U.S. behind countries like Ireland, Canada, Uganda and Rwanda when it comes to drone delivery.

For the FAA,...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/droneup-acquires-airspace-traffic-management-company-airmap

DroneDek latest to call for looser federal drone regulations

DroneDek the latest to pen letter to FAA, urging changes to drone regulations

When Dan O’Toole came up with the idea for DroneDek, he was just one man following Amazon’s vision of nationwide delivery by drone.

“I was daydreaming and I just started thinking about drone delivery,” O’Toole told Modern Shipper in an interview in October. “And then I thought, OK, the drone’s the easy part, the glamorous part, right? But where’s all this stuff gonna end up?”

Fast-forward a couple of years, and O’Toole was rivaling Amazon for that very same vision — and winning. Amazon’s drone...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/dronedek-latest-to-call-for-looser-federal-drone-regulations

Smart mailboxes could soon be popping up all over the world

DroneDek secures $50 million purchase agreement with Indian conglomerate BEL

Does anybody even use mailboxes anymore? It seems like utility bills, political flyers and cards from Grandma are just about the only things being delivered via snail mail. But that’s about to change — the mailbox is getting a makeover.

DroneDek is the company leading that charge. The maker of the so-called “mailbox of the future” has been hard at work developing its patented smart receptacles, mailboxes that are designed to handle deliveries via nearly any mode –– including drone –– as well as...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/smart-mailboxes-could-soon-be-popping-up-all-over-the-world

Is drone racing the next bastion of innovation?

Draganfly and the Drone Racing League (DRL) are launching DRL Labs to test new drone innovations

Neon lights. A labyrinth of obstacles. Socially distanced, goggle-wearing athletes. With much of the sporting world put on hold during the COVID-19 pandemic, a new global sport emerged from the shadows, and you’ve probably never seen anything like it.

Drone racing is very real, and it existed before the pandemic, with the sport’s premier league, the Drone Racing League (DRL), launching in 2015. But COVID-19 has taken it to new heights –– the DRL now boasts ​​over 250 million fans worldwide who...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/is-drone-racing-the-next-bastion-of-innovation

Zipline launches US commercial deliveries with Walmart

Zipline and Walmart are partnering on commercial drone delivery of medical supplies in Pea Ridge, Arkansas

Zipline has made a name for itself as the drone company for underserved and remote populations, delivering emergency medical supplies like vaccines and blood transfusions to remote locations across Africa and Southeast Asia. Now it’s coming to the U.S.

Zipline and Walmart (NYSE: WMT) have partnered to launch an autonomous drone delivery service in Pea Ridge, Arkansas, which will mark the company’s first commercial deliveries in the U.S. The rollout of the new service closely follows news earlier...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/zipline-launches-us-commercial-deliveries-with-walmart

Elroy Air, AYR Logistics partner to use drones for humanitarian aid

Elroy Air partners with AYR Logistics to deploy drones to deliver humanitarian aid

One of the biggest barriers to global humanitarian aid efforts is and has always been access. There’s only so much an organization like the United Nations can do when up against bureaucratic restrictions, thefts of humanitarian assets in transit and, crucially, weak transportation infrastructure.

“More than a billion people are disconnected from reliable roadways,” Kofi Asante, vice president of strategy and business development for drone maker Elroy Air, told eVTOL.com. “That means if you were...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/elroy-air-ayr-logistics-partner-to-use-drones-for-humanitarian-aid

Flytrex will make chicken wings fly in North Carolina

Flytrex drones are coming to Holly Springs

Flytrex, the company that wants to bring drones to your backyard, announced on Tuesday an expansion of its drone delivery service to Holly Springs, North Carolina, a Smart Cities Award winner, where it will fly orders of chicken wings directly to residents’ front and backyards.

In partnership with the Federal Aviation Administration, the North Carolina Department of Transportation, the town of Holly Springs and Kite Realty Group Trust (NYSE: KRG), Flytrex will collaborate with Brinker...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/flytrex-will-make-chicken-wings-fly-in-north-carolina

+ More