Drone News Roundup: VICE News Teases Documentary Featuring Elios 3 in Iceland, Masterful FPV Freestyle Video, and More!
BY Zacc Dukowitz
2 June 2022This week we’re covering a teaser from VICE News for a documentary about how Flyability’s new Elios 3 was used to created 3D maps of ice caves on a glacier in Iceland.
We’re also covering some masterful freestyle FPV flying from Alex Vanover, a drone made to take out wasp nests, Walmart’s drone delivery expansion to reach 4 million households, and the release of the conference program for Commercial UAV Expo 2022.
Now let get to those links!
VICE News Teases Documentary Featuring Flyability’s Elios 3 in Iceland
@viceworldnews We visited Europe’s largest #glacier in #Iceland to see the effects of #climatechange. #drone #droneshot #dronetiktok ♬ original sound – VICE World News
In a recent post on TikTok, VICE News shared information about a documentary they’ve been working on that will highlight how Flyability’s Elios 3 was used to study ice caves found on the Vatnajökull Glacier, located in the south of Iceland. The research was led by a scientific organization called La Venta, which studies caves throughout the world and has partnered with Flyability several times int he past. The goal for the mission was to study changes to the ice caves in order to better understand how climate change is accelerating the rate of glacial melt, and how that melt might impact the rising of the ocean. Last week we wrote about the first expedition Flyability supported on the same trip to Iceland, which was to study lava tubes on the Fagradalsfjall Volcano. Both expeditions included team members from Ouster, the company that makes the LiDAR sensor that comes on the Elios 3.
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FPV Freestyle Video from FPV Master Alex Vanover
Alex Vanover is the World Champion of DRL’s 2019 drone racing competition. He’s also an FPV master—his FPV piloting skills were recently on display in the action movie Ambulance, directed by Michael Bey. Watch this video to see him showing off his flying chops and just plain having fun flying in FPV.
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Drone Startup AeroPest Makes Drone for Taking out Wasp Nests
Credit: AeroPest
AeroPest has created a drone outfitted with an aerial spraying system for taking out wasp nests. The spray systems is made to be precise, allowing for targeted spraying that minimizes exposure for the surrounding environment. AeroPest is backed by Drexel University, which awarded the startup’s founder Harrison Hertzberg first place in its StartupFest competition in 2019. The prize came with $12,500 in funding and residency in Drexel’s on-campus startup incubator, The Baiada Institute.
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Walmart and DroneUp Announce Major Drone Delivery Expansion to 4 Million Households in 34 New Sites
Credit: Walmart
Up to now, consumer drone delivery programs have primarily been rolled out one by one. Wing launched the first one in Christiansburg, VA in 2019, and several more have been rolled out since then—all one at at time. But it looks like Walmart is about to change all this. In a recent announcement, the company shared plans to roll out drone delivery programs at 34 sites in six states, an expansion that will allow it to reach four million households. The states that will receive these new drone delivery programs are Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Texas, Utah, and Virginia.
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Commercial UAV Expo Shares 2022 Conference Program + Over 200 Exhibitors Announced
Commercial UAV Expo just announced the conference program for its annual conference, which will be held from September 6 through 8 in Las Vegas this year. The focus of the program this year is on “how drone technology is solving problems and creating meaningful ROI across various industries.” Zacc Dukowitz of UAV Coach will be leading a panel at the conference focused on how 3D models created by data collected by indoor drones are being used to support industrial inspections. Speakers on the panel will include drone and inspection experts from Cargill, Chevron, and the Department of Energy.
The conference also just released a list of over 200 companies from around the globe that will be exhibiting at this year’s event. The list includes many of the top drone companies in the world, including Skydio, Autel, Flyability, BRINC, and a whole lot more—see the full list on the Commercial UAV Expo website.
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