About this episode
T-Mobile’s low latency 5G drone, high-speed UAVs that crash less often, a solar-powered UAV, first responder drone of choice, patrolling the beach with drones, and marketing real estate with drone videos. UAV News T-Mobile’s 5G off to the drone races T-Mobile is partnering with the Drone Racing League (DRL) on a 5G drone with HD video. T-Mobile claims the drone is one of the world’s first racing drones to be equipped with an embedded 5G module that can live stream video straight to the internet. The module is made by Quectel . Video from the Drone Racing League: Making of the Magenta 5G Drone System trains drones to fly around obstacles at high speeds Fast drones tend to crash because drone aerodynamics are difficult to predict at high speeds. Now MIT aerospace engineers are developing an algorithm that helps drones find the fastest route around obstacles without crashing. Drones trained with the new algorithm were found to fly through an obstacle course up to 20 percent faster than a drone trained on conventional planning algorithms. The results are published in the International Journal of Robotics Research as Multi-fidelity black-box optimization for time-optimal quadrotor maneuvers. US Navy spends millions to develop a solar-powered UAV The US Navy has awarded a $5 million contract to US-Spanish aerospace company Skydweller Aero to construct a solar energy-powered long-endurance UAV that could stay aloft for between 30 and 90 days. The aircraft flew in December 2020. Video: Skydweller Aero Autonomous Software Flight Test – April 2021 As with consumer pilots, DJI drones dominate emergency responder fleets A survey by the Airborne International Response Team (AIRT) and its Droneresponders affiliate found that DJI drones make up over 90% of the fleets flown by US first responder organizations. That compares with DJI’s 70-80% share of the commercial drone market. The AIRT + DRONERESPO NDERS 2021 Public Safety UAS Survey was conducted in July 2021. Autel Robotics drones were the second most popular make, followed by Skydio, Parrot, and FLIR. Brunswick County beaches have no lifeguards. Is technology the answer? In March 2021, the Oak Island (North Carolina) Administrative department created the Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) Ser vices division. The division provides aerial photography and video for Town departments. Current services provided include infrastructure inspections, project monitoring, pre and post-storm inspection, marketing materials, sand dune regulation enforcement, and beach safety observation. Realtors shift to mini-drones to showcase properties to homebuyers in increasingly hot housing market With contactless selling growing in importance during the COVID pandemic, companies that provide video services with drones are being created. Cain Costin and his wife Sarah formed Virtual Drone Tours that produce exterior and interior videos of properties using FPV drones. The videos on the Cain Costin YouTube channel show what’s possible. Mentioned