Drones

Back in April, Wingcopter launched its flagship eVTOL fixed-wing delivery drone, the Wingcopter 198, and now the drone maker has formed a strategic partnership with Air Methods to create a healthcare-specific drone delivery network across the US.

Through a novel algorithm that can plot a flight path with great efficiency, scientists at the University of Zurich are now claiming to have demonstrated an autonomous drone that can beat human pilots in a race.

Amazon is understandably keen to make the job of deliveries easier. The latest idea is a new patent for a system where delivery vans would carry items almost to their destination, then send out and direct ground drones to do the final drop-off.

Acecore, the Dutch company behind last year's heavy lifting Noa, has launched a new industrial drone called the Zoe Zetona that positions it camera payload up front, instead of hanging it below like other drone designs.

For some applications, the wireless communications range of traditional drones just isn't robust enough. That's where Parrot's just-announced ANAFI Ai quadcopter comes in, as it uses 4G cellular data when Wi-Fi doesn't suffice.

Municipalities regularly have to check for pollution in local waterways, often utilizing crews of workers in boats. The new Nixie system is intended to make things much quicker, simpler and ultimately cheaper, using a water-sampling drone instead.

Fireworks may be fun to watch, but they're single-use-only, and they do produce a lot of smoke. The Rammaxx Electric LED Rocket is intended to be a cleaner, reusable alternative – and it can also perform aerial light shows.

Back at CES 2021, Sony revealed plans to launch a new drone business called Airpeak that would be dedicated to taking its Alpha full-frame mirrorless cameras into the air. Now the first drone under that brand has been launched, the Airpeak S1.

For the first time ever, an un-crewed aircraft has successfully refuelled another aircraft while both planes were in flight. In the test, Boeing's MQ-25 T1 aerial tanker drone transferred jet fuel to a US Navy F/A-18 Super Hornet.

Drone titan DJI has today added a new model to its recently launched Education division. The company aims to encourage robotics and AI tech learning with a package that includes a teeny drone, an intuitive mobile app and an exclusive curriculum.

German drone maker Wingcopter has today introduced a new generation model, the Wingcopter 198. This tilt-rotor/fixed-wing eVTOL drone is capable of delivering three packages to multiple locations during one flight.

It was just a year ago that DJI announced its compact-but-capable Mavic Air 2 quadcopter. Now, the company has shortened the name and doubled the image sensor size, with the 5.4K/30fps-capable Air 2S.