Drones are nothing new, but there are only a handful of passenger models under development, including the WatFly Atlas. It’s basically an electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft equipped with a single seat. This passenger drone is expected to launch some time next year, and will most likely require certification or special license to fly.
The UPS drone delivery subsidiary, UPS Flight Forward (UPSFF), announced that it has partnered with German drone-maker Wingcopter to develop the next generation of package delivery drones for multiple uses. Both of these companies will now step up to earn a regulatory certificate for a Wingcopter unmanned aircraft to make commercial delivery flights in the United States.
University of Zurich researchers have demonstrated an autonomous drone that can detect and avoid fast-moving objects, thanks to event cameras equipped with smart pixels that work independently of each other. In other words, the pixels that detect no changes remain silent, while the ones that see a change in light intensity immediately transmit information, thus only a tiny fraction of the all pixels of the image will need to be processed by the onboard computer to greatly speed up computation speed.
The “Big Drone”, created by Drone Champions founder Herbert Weirather, sat in the single-seat machine as it was piloted with a remote controller by former Drone Champions League contender Mirko Cesena.After several months of development, Drone Champions AG initiated testing of this drone in early February at an indoor facility in Germany before taking it to Vrsar in Croatia for its successful maiden flights.
Zero Zero Robotics, known for their Hover 2 selfie-snapping drone, has just unveiled their latest creation, the V-Coptr Falcon. It’s touted as the world’s first bi-copter 4K resolution camera drone, as in it just has two rotors with tilting machinery that sit at the end of arms extending out from the top of the drone’s body. When not in use, simply fold them inwards for easy storage.