Category Archives: Aerial/UAS

Will You Be Replaced by a Robot?

Will You Be Replaced by a Robot?

It’s difficult to open a magazine or look at a news site on the internet and not run across the “robots are going to take your job” theme. So, I’ve been doing a bit of reading on the subject, and I’ve come up with some very basic criteria for determining if your job may be...

Drone in flight

How to Prepare for Oops in UAV Management

Insurance Coverage for UAVs in 2017 It’s inevitable. If you own a UAV, chances are that you will experience a (hopefully only minor, but potentially major) type of accident-related claim involving that UAV due to human or technical error or to weather. Having been a broker in the insurance industry for more than 30 years,...

UAV Sand Dunes

UAS Survey of the Great Sand Dunes

The Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve is located in South Central Colorado and contains the tallest dunes in North America, spread across 30 square miles. It is an amazing destination, one that I first visited when I was 18 years old and have re-visited innumerable times since; I simply never tire of its...

The underside of a bridge, Phil Quattrito from Flickr

Markets for Geospatial 2017: Part 2, Infrastructure

President Trump’s plan for investing in America’s infrastructure calls for $1 trillion in spending over the next ten years. The specifics of the plan are still a work-in-progress, but with largely bipartisan support, chances are that there will be a big push on infrastructure projects in the coming years, and that should translate into significant...

xyHt OUTLOOK supplement 2017 banner, 40 Under 40

40 Under 40, 2017: Jonathan Downey

FOUNDER AND CEO OF AIRWARE CALIFORNIA, USA AN UP-AND-COMING YOUNG GEOSPATIAL PROFESSIONAL, Jonathan Downey is also prominent in the UAS industry both nationally and internationally. A graduate in electrical engineering and computer science from MIT, Johnathan has served as a commercial pilot, has developed components for motorcycles, and was a software engineer at Boeing, contributing...

Surveyors Wanted

Pangaea Looks Back at 2016

Undoubtedly, for me the most notable event of 2016 (in the geospatial world) was the FAA’s Rule 107 allowing sUAS to be used in the NAS for commercial work. No more Section 333 exemptions. (Well, for merely flying, anyway; if you want to go beyond the restrictions of 107, you’ll still need to file for...