senseFly launches eBee X Drone

senseFly has launched the eBee X. The eBee X, part of the Parrot Business Solutions portfolio, is designed to boost the quality, efficiency and safety of an operator’s geospatial data collection. It offers a camera to suit every job, the accuracy and coverage capabilities to meet the requirements of even the most demanding projects, and is durable enough to work virtually every site.

It includes a range of revolutionary new camera options to suit every mapping job—from land surveying and topographic mapping to urban planning, crop mapping, thermal mapping, environmental monitoring and many more.

Genesis, an industrial IoT platform for drone based surveillance

Asteria Aerospace, India has launched GenesisTM, an industrial IoT network platform for drones. It is a secure enterprise software platform to enable organizations to effectively use and manage fleets of drones in surveillance & security operations.

Genesis allows authenticated users to login from any device, anywhere, and view video, images, sensor and telemetry data from multiple drones in real-time. Moreover, the data from the drones is automatically stored and managed on the platform for search and analysis. Genesis makes it possible for a police force to have several drones deployed over a city for event security and the live video feed from all the drones to be broadcast to a central command center. www.asteria.co.in

DroneTracker 3.5 offers protection against drone swarms

Dedrone has released DroneTracker 3.5, the drone detection industry’s response to understanding airspace activity and ensuring that protected sites are aware of all drone activity overhead, whether it be a single or orchestrated drone incursion.

Drone swarms, or more than three drones in a single area, have been demonstrated in action in modern military settings for surveillance and delivery. Pilots who operate more than one drone at a time can expand their reach and impact to an area, whether to support disaster response and recovery, drop contraband at a correctional facility, distract law enforcement from their operations, or threaten the security of a military base.

No airspace is immune to drone threats. DroneTracker ensure its customers can protect their assets against the growing threat of unauthorized drones in their airspace. www.dedrone.com

SimActive enables South Korean government’s first drone mapping project

SimActive has enabled the first government UAV mapping project in South Korea. Asia Aero Survey (AAS), a SimActive regional partner, used Correlator3D for the public survey delivered to the Korean National Geographic Information Institute (NGII) and the Korean Association of Spatial Information, Surveying & Mapping (KASM). While such projects were previously conducted using manned aircraft, a drone was preferred due to the difficulty in accessing the area of interest through traditional aerial and ground surveying methods. www.simactive.com

Ainstein announces new airborne and ground-based drone detection radar sensors

Ainstein, a leader in intelligent radar sensing solutions, has announced two new products in its Ultra Long Range UAV radar series; the Ultra Long Range Airborne (ULAB-D1) and Ultra Long Range Ground-Based (ULGB-D1) radars, capable of precise detection more than 1,000 meters away.

As drone adoption increases, Ainstein’s new ultra long range UAV radar systems address the need for highly precise and cost-effective tools to minimize disaster risks and keep assets and classified information safe. For high-security facilities, such as government buildings and airports, or critical infrastructures, such as water treatment facilities and mass transit systems, the need for drone detection is especially high.

Walmart looks at Blockchain for automated delivery drones

Walmart’s recent patent endeavors have demonstrated how the retail giant is making a foray into blockchain technology and also focusing on autonomous delivery drones.

The patent application details a system by which “autonomous electronic devices” communicate with each other wirelessly and pass transported objects to each other after an identification process.

Drones would depend on a database of delivery information stored on whichever blockchain the company is operating.

For identifying each other, robots could use a variety means to transmit signals from one to the other, including RFID codes, QR codes or ultrasound, the patent filing says.

As per the filing, the use of automated technology is envisioned as a way to reduce the times at which elements of the delivery process have to be “trusted.” Indeed, Walmart argues that the fact that consumers would have to trust the delivery of their goods to flying machines “raises challenges related to security” and requires a reliable system of identification for the drones. www.cips.org

PrecisionHawk acquires HAZON and InspecTools

PrecisionHawk, Inc., recently announced acquisition of both HAZON, Inc. and InspecTools Inc. These businesses specialize in the delivery of inspection services and technology for the energy industry and bring demonstrated domain expertise to enable tighter integration between the collection and the analysis of drone data. Precisionhawk.com