Category Archives: Aerial/UAS
Steven L. Waslander
Steven L. Waslander – Associate Professor, Department of Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering Director, Waterloo Autonomous Vehicles Laboratory (WAVELab) – Canada Robotics, UAS, autonomous vehicles—Steven L. Waslander has been working on these in academia, research, and practical levels long before most of us had discovered how cool they were. There is no “robo-cool” without the dedicated...
1,500+ Flights
Can an owner/operator sustain a thriving business using only UAS? It’s happening in New Zealand with orthophotography of farmland. After little more than four years in the orthophotographic business, Chris McFadzean, owner/operator of Epiphany Mapping in New Zealand, has logged more than 1,500 UAS flights. This makes him one of the most experienced UAS pilots...
Paul Doersch
Paul Doersch – CEO and Founder, Kespry – California, USA Kespry is a newly formed UAS (Unmanned Aircraft System) business dedicated to delivering pragmatic uses for drones. The company was founded by computer engineer and Stanford graduate, Paul Doersch. Paul has a background working for BMW, researching everything from smart-phone integration to self-driving cars. He...
Lindsay Renkel
Lindsay Renkel – Geospatial Marketing Specialist, Trimble – Colorado USA In the not-so-recent past, segments of geospatial industries were viewed more as rigid verticals, and cross-discipline and integrated workflows were realized through innovation in applied tech. That’s when companies like Trimble began to organize under new functional divisions. Marketing a broader range of products and services could...
Multicopter Profiles
The eXom, RiCOPTER, Aibot X6, and Trimble ZX5 SenseFly’s eXom Inspection and close-in mapping sUAS I first saw sensFly’s new eXom sUAS at the ILMF conference in Denver early this year. It’s billed as an inspection and close-in mapping platform, and I thought, “Inspection? That’s interesting” and moved on. Turns out the team at senseFly...
Getting Beyond VLOS
The FAA’s streamlined Section 333 exemption and COA process is welcome, but there’s still a fly in the ointment. While the ongoing FAA Section 333 exemption process is a big step in the right direction for UAS, all operators flying under these exemptions are constrained by the VLOS rule: all flights must be conducted within...
