Drones

While there are numerous questions about the logistics of drone delivery technology, here's one that not everyone thinks of: What if no one is home when the drone shows up? Well, the DroneDek system is designed with that scenario in mind.

It was three years ago that we first heard about the Cleo, a robust, donut-shaped prototype drone made by Cleo Robotics. Well, its successor is now commercially available, under the new (and apt) name of the Dronut X1.

Wastewater treatment plants generally aren't known for their nice smell, and they have to be monitored in order to ensure that they're not becoming too stinky. An experimental new system uses an "e-nose" and a drone to do the job better.

Two years ago we first heard about the AB5 JetQuad, a jet-powered VTOL (vertical take-off and landing) drone. Well, it's time to meet its new-and-improved successor, the AB6. Among other things, it has an estimated top speed of 250 mph.

As handy as multicopter drones are, the endlessly spinning blades are noisy, energy-intensive and potentially dangerous. So Japanese company NTT Docomo has now unveiled bouncy blimp-like drones that get around using an ultrasonic propulsion system.

Usually when we think of multicopter drones, we picture aircraft with four or more rotors. The V40 agricultural drone takes a different approach, using two tilting two rotors in an effort to improve range and spraying efficiency.

Although drones certainly can replace crewed aircraft, DARPA's Gremlins program instead aims to equip military planes with drones that can be deployed and then retrieved for reuse. Now, for the first time ever, one of the drones has been recovered in mid-air.

Three years after collaborating with Hasselblad for the Mavic 2 Pro's camera module, DJI has pushed the envelope further for the launch of the Mavic 3 by mounting a dual camera setup to the stabilized gimbal for 5.1K video or 28x zoom photos.

While quadcopter drones certainly are useful, mounting sensors or other payloads on them can be difficult, plus they're often awkward to carry. That's where the Spirit drone is designed to come in, with its innovative cylindrical, modular body.

Given that small-ish drones are already being used to deliver small packages, wouldn't it stand to reason that giant drones could deliver large loads? That's just what BAE Systems is looking into, with its proposed T-650 Heavy Lift Electric UAS.

It was just last year that we heard about A2Z Drone Delivery's RDS1 system, which lets third-party delivery drones drop cargo to customers on a long tether. Well, the technology has now been incorporated into a custom-designed multicopter drone.

Google's drone-delivery sister company Wing is rapidly expanding its drone delivery services in Logan, a city in Queensland Australia that Wing says is now the drone delivery capital of the world. Only red tape is holding back world domination.