Tag Archives: uas
Top of the Crop: Best of Pangaea 2015
As we end the year 2015, it’s interesting and informative to look back and see what you, our readers, found most interesting. Using metrics gleaned from our newsletter platform, I picked the top five issues for… Best of Pangaea 2015 Surprising UAS Section 333 Exemptions UAS continue to be a hot topic as the FAA...
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...
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...
We Are Aviators First
With UAS, surveyors are becoming aviators. As we adopt new technology, we should heed old advice. I flew my first photogrammetric mission in the early 1980s while I was completing my geodesy degree during tumultuous times at my alma mater. While the rest of the world had disco fever, students at Universidad Central de Venezuela...
Copter Power
A UAS rotocopter pilot directs the successful imaging of a breakwater project in Costa Rica. Unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) are finding their way into geospatial applications beyond the obvious commercial topography, volumes, and inspection applications. One particular application that is poised to take advantage of the lower cost associated with UAS data acquisition is environmental...
