Robotics & Automation News

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drone

UPS attains FAA’s first full approval for drone airline

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UPS subsidiary UPS Flight Forward says it has received the US government’s first full Part 135 Standard certification to operate a drone airline.

The company will initially expand its drone delivery service further to support hospital campuses around the country, and to provide solutions for customers beyond those in the healthcare industry.

UPS Flight Forward plans in the future to transport a variety of items for customers in many industries, and regularly fly drones beyond the operators’ visual line of sight. [Read more…] about UPS attains FAA’s first full approval for drone airline

FedEx to test Wing Aviation drone for Walgreens deliveries

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Wing Aviation, an Alphabet company, is collaborating with FedEx and pharmaceuticals retailer Walgreens to launch a first-of-its-kind drone delivery service in Christiansburg, Virginia next month.

The pilot program will demonstrate the many benefits of drone delivery to communities by exploring methods to enhance last-mile delivery service, improve access to health care products, and create a new avenue of growth for local businesses.

Drone delivery in the United States has historically been limited to small-scale demonstrations on designated test sites, or extremely short flights along pre-planned, fixed routes – all within the visual line of sight of the drone operator. [Read more…] about FedEx to test Wing Aviation drone for Walgreens deliveries

Drones expected to grow to $100 billion market as they take off in commercial and industrial sectors while delivery market beckons

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Small Unmanned Aerial Systems (sUAS), more commonly referred to as drones, have been in the public eye for well over this decade and a hype cycle developed around its applications for the consumer and commercial space.

The high-profile failure of major drone manufacturers and software providers, such as US firm Airware in 2018, somewhat tempered initial enthusiasm, causing early projections from industry organizations such as the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI) to look overly optimistic.

However, according to a new report from global tech market advisory, ABI Research, commercial drone usage, especially in the industrial space, will be a source of accelerating growth throughout the next decade with $101 billion in revenue being created annually by 2030 across the commercial, military, civil, and consumer sectors. [Read more…] about Drones expected to grow to $100 billion market as they take off in commercial and industrial sectors while delivery market beckons

Seat and Grupo Sesé launch a parts delivery service using drones

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The Seat factory in Martorell is the first Spanish plant to receive components via drone delivery. In collaboration with Grupo Sesé, the Spanish carmaker has a pioneering service connecting Sesé’s logistics centre in Abrera with the Seat factory using drones.

The first parts delivery service between two production plants in Spain by drone will deliver steering wheels and airbags to the Seat assembly lines.

The pilot project is being carried out under the supervision of the Spanish Aviation Safety and Security Agency (AESA) and will go forward in an experimental phase with several flights per day.

[Read more…] about Seat and Grupo Sesé launch a parts delivery service using drones

DJI uses Ubuntu in drone computer

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Ubuntu, the most popular Linux operating system for the Internet of Things, is now available on the Manifold 2, a high-performance embedded computer offered by drone manufacturer, DJI.

The Manifold 2 is designed to fit onto DJI’s drone platforms via the onboard SDK and enables developers to transform aerial platforms into truly smarter drones, performing complex computing tasks and advanced image processing, which in-turn creates rapid flexibility for enterprise usage.

As part of the offering, the Manifold 2 is planning to feature snaps. Snaps are containerised software packages, designed to work perfectly across cloud, desktop, and IoT devices – with this the first instance of the technology’s availability on drones.

[Read more…] about DJI uses Ubuntu in drone computer

DHL launches last-mile drone delivery service in China

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DHL Express has partnered with autonomous aerial vehicle company EHang to jointly launch a fully automated and intelligent smart drone delivery solution to tackle the last-mile delivery challenges in the urban areas of China.

The launch ceremony was held today at the EHang Command and Control Center in Guangzhou, with the attendance of senior executives from both companies.

This cutting-edge solution takes its inaugural flight for a DHL customer, making DHL the first international express company to provide such a service in China.

[Read more…] about DHL launches last-mile drone delivery service in China

UPS Foundation supports Ghana’s vaccine drone delivery network

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The UPS Foundation, which leads the global citizenship programs for UPS, and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, have announced support for the expansion of a medical drone network into Ghana.

Zipline, a California-based automated logistics company, will use drones to make on-demand, emergency deliveries of 148 high priority products including emergency and routine vaccines, blood products and life-saving medications.

The service will operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week, from four distribution centres – each equipped with 30 drones – and deliver to over 2,000 health facilities serving 12 million people across the country.

[Read more…] about UPS Foundation supports Ghana’s vaccine drone delivery network

Parrot launches thermal compact lightweight drone solution

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Drone maker Parrot has launched the Anafi Thermal, which the company describes an “all-in-one, drone-based solution that provides easy to use, sophisticated and high-quality thermography” – drone + sensor + software.

Parrot has evolved its existing Anafi platform to create this lightweight and easy-to-use solution specifically engineered to support a wide range of industries.

As well as the built-in 4K HDR camera, Anafi Thermal integrates a FLIR® thermal sensor – a benchmark product in this sector – capable of letting users see thermal imaging quickly and efficiently. [Read more…] about Parrot launches thermal compact lightweight drone solution

Parrot launches drone system for agriculture

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Parrot Business Solutions has launched Parrot Bluegrass Fields, an end-to-end drone solution for agriculture.

The newest member of Parrot’s drone portfolio, the solution combines the existing Parrot Bluegrass quadcopter drone, which integrates the Parrot Sequoia multispectral sensor, with the new ParrotFields mobile mapping app and Pix4Dfield desktop and cloud-based drone-mapping software.

The result is a comprehensive, ready-to-fly drone solution that spans the entire crop analysis workflow, for farmers to monitor crops and identify problem areas in their fields.

[Read more…] about Parrot launches drone system for agriculture

Samsung, Cisco and Orange demonstrate 5G-powered drone and industrial robot 

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Samsung Electronics, Cisco and Orange unveiled  two promising industrial 5G applications – a drone and an industrial robot, at the MWC19 in Barcelona, Spain, in the last week of February.

The 5G drone, carrying a very low latency, high-quality video system was piloted from the Orange booth at the Fira de Barcelona.

The drone, which was located outdoors at an Orange datacentre, carried a 5G router (CPE) that was used to transfer commands to the drone and transmit a high-quality video feed with low latency.

[Read more…] about Samsung, Cisco and Orange demonstrate 5G-powered drone and industrial robot