DroneDJ

Planning a drone flight near a railway, motorway, or other sensitive infrastructure in the UK can involve more paperwork than flying itself. Pilots often have to track down the right contact, send emails to the relevant authorities, and wait for a response before taking off. Dronecloud wants to make that process considerably easier. The UK-based drone management platform has launched a free flight-notification service through its Dronecloud Fly app, opening up airspace coordination tools to every drone operator in the country, including recreational pilots and small teams.

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Getting a burrito delivered to your doorstep is nothing unusual. Getting one delivered to you on the 18th hole of a golf course? That’s a different story.

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ACSL is teaming up with the Unmanned Safety Institute (USI) to give North American drone operators a dedicated training and certification program for its SOTEN platform. The partnership aims to help pilots get more comfortable with the aircraft, its payloads, accessories, and flight software as the Japanese manufacturer’s drone gains traction in the region.

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Amazon has secured a major regulatory milestone for its drone delivery ambitions, becoming the first operator in the world to receive a SAIL 4 Operating Authorization and Flightworthiness Validation from the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA).

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The United Kingdom is taking another step toward making routine drone operations possible, with a new demonstration showing how multiple operators can safely share the same airspace, even when they use different traffic management systems.

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Drone operations can take pilots from bright outdoor environments to dimly lit interiors, remote infrastructure sites and nighttime missions, often within the same workday. Skydio wants to make those transitions easier with its new Controller 2, a field-ready handheld controller designed for its X10, X10D and R10 drones.

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Skyways has secured a first-of-its-kind Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) authorization to conduct long-range beyond-visual-line-of-sight (BVLOS) drone operations from the US coastline over the high seas, opening the door to autonomous flights connecting shore-based facilities with offshore infrastructure in the Gulf of America.

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Hospitals across North America could soon have a faster way to move medications, lab samples, and other critical supplies between facilities, thanks to a new partnership between Matternet and Swisslog Healthcare’s TransLogic division.

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Shield is making a major move into the rapidly growing counter-drone market, announcing a $5.3 billion agreement to acquire radar manufacturer Echodyne. The deal will expand Shield’s Mission Systems business and bring advanced radar technology into its growing portfolio of autonomous defense systems.

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Zipline is making a massive bet on the future of drone delivery, and some of the world’s biggest investors are ready to back it. The autonomous delivery company has raised $1.5 billion at a $21.5 billion post-money valuation. The funding round was led by Paradigm, WCM Investment Management, and Layer Global, with participation from Valor Equity Partners, Fidelity Management & Research Company, Uber, Tiger Global, JP Morgan, ARK Invest, and Salesforce Ventures.

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Axon is making a massive bet on the future of public safety drones. The company, best known for its body cameras, Tasers, and law enforcement technology, has announced an additional $1.2 billion investment in Skydio, one of America’s leading drone manufacturers.

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SkyeBrowse is giving drone pilots and inspection teams more ways to turn a single flight into actionable data. The videogrammetry platform has rolled out a new Roof Damage Analysis tool that combines automated roof measurements, AI-powered damage screening and storm history, alongside expanded mapping exports and ground control point (GCP) correction capabilities.

The new features are aimed at roofing contractors, insurance adjusters, surveyors and public safety teams that need to document properties, storm damage and incident scenes quickly.

The biggest addition is Roof Damage Analysis, which lets inspectors measure an entire roof and screen it for potential damage using footage from a single drone flight.

Here’s how it works: A pilot flies over a property, uploads the video to SkyeBrowse, and waits for the platform to generate a 3D model. The software automatically identifies the roof, outlines its individual facets and calculates measurements. If it selects the wrong building, users can simply click on the correct roof to get started.

The resulting measurements go well beyond basic roof area. SkyeBrowse reports total area in roofing squares, main roof pitch, facet count, and individual pitch and area measurements for every facet. It also calculates the lengths of ridges, hips, valleys, eaves, rakes and step flashing, while suggesting a waste percentage for material estimates.

Inspectors aren’t locked into the automated results, either. They can adjust roof outlines by dragging corners, adding new ones, or adding and removing facets.

AI scans roofs for potential storm damage

Measurements are only part of the new workflow. SkyeBrowse has also added an AI damage scanning feature that examines up to 16 frames from the drone flight and eight additional gallery photos in approximately 20 seconds.

The scan looks for common signs of roof damage, including hail impacts, wind creases, missing or lifted shingles, granule loss, exposed underlayment, cracked tiles, blistering, ponding, membrane tears, rust and dents in soft metal surfaces. It can also flag debris and temporary tarps.

Potential findings are pinned directly onto the 3D roof model and classified as either “Likely” or “Possible.” Importantly, the AI doesn’t get the final say. An inspector must review every finding and approve or reject it before it appears in the final report.

SkyeBrowse is positioning this as a screening tool rather than a replacement for professional inspections. The AI doesn’t determine what caused the damage, whether an insurance policy covers it, or what repairs are necessary.

Another useful addition is the Weather tab, which pulls NOAA Storm Prediction Center reports for hail, wind and tornado activity within 40 kilometers of the property. It looks at the year preceding the drone capture date and can automatically suggest a date of loss based on the nearest hail report.

Once the inspection is complete, users can generate a Roof Damage Report PDF containing property details, roof diagrams, facet measurements, approved damage findings, photo evidence, storm history, methodology and reviewer sign-off.

For roofing contractors and insurance adjusters handling multiple properties after a major storm, having measurements, visual evidence and weather records in one report could save considerable time.

Better exports for GIS and CAD workflows

The release also brings improvements for teams using drone mapping data outside SkyeBrowse.

The new Export 2D Map option lets users download maps in formats compatible with their preferred software. The platform can prepare exports for SARTopo/CalTopo, ArcGIS Pro, ArcGIS Online, Google Earth, AutoCAD, Civil 3D, Global Mapper and other GIS applications.

Users select their intended destination, and SkyeBrowse generates the appropriate file directly in the browser. It also remembers the previously selected destination, making repeat exports quicker.

Topographic Map users get another addition: Contours DXF export. The new file sits alongside the existing Digital Terrain Model (DTM) GeoTIFF and ground LAS exports. Elevation labels match the height of their corresponding contour lines, while the Bare Earth option generates contours based on ground elevation beneath trees and vehicles.

GCP correction gets a significant upgrade

Surveyors and mapping professionals also get more control over model accuracy.

SkyeBrowse’s GCP tool previously allowed users to check their 3D models against surveyed ground control points. Now, they can designate individual points as either Control or Check points and apply corrections directly to the model.

Available correction methods include vertical offset, 3D shift and a seven-parameter transformation. The adjustment carries across the point cloud, mesh, measurements and annotations, as well as downloaded LAZ, GeoTIFF, GLB, OBJ, USDZ and CAD files.

Check points remain excluded from the correction calculation, allowing teams to independently evaluate the model’s accuracy. Users can also remove a correction and restore the original model.

Other smaller improvements include two-finger panning and pinch-to-zoom on mobile devices, support for additional image formats including HEIC and Insta360 INSP, processing-time information in model details, and the ability to download original uploaded GPS flight logs.

The company also highlighted Timelines, a feature released in October that lets teams compare up to 10 surveys of the same location along a date-based timeline. Users can crossfade between surveys and share read-only timelines with clients.

Pricing and availability

The new features are available on SkyeBrowse Pro models, priced at $49.99 per model or $39.99 with annual billing, as well as Public Safety and Enterprise plans.

The 2D map export feature works on any model where the 2D map is downloadable. New organizations can also take advantage of SkyeBrowse’s introductory $5 first Commercial model offer, which includes GCP functionality and topographic exports.

More: Skydio’s public safety drone business just got a $1.2 billion boost

Australian drone operator Sphere has achieved Gold status under the Flight Safety Foundation’s Basic Aviation Risk Standard (BARS) program, earning the highest designation available to remotely piloted aircraft system (RPAS) operators.

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Managing a drone fleet involves more than keeping track of aircraft, batteries, and flight logs. Operators also need to know whether their pilots are properly trained and qualified for the missions they’re assigned. AirData is making that part of the job a little easier with a new integration that automatically brings pilot training records into its platform.

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Imagine being stranded somewhere in the snow-covered Tatra Mountains in Poland. Help could take hours to reach you, especially if you’re in a remote valley or on a trail buried under snow. But what if a drone could get there before the rescuers even leave their base?

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What if the cell towers already lining America’s highways, cities, and industrial sites could do more than deliver phone calls and internet connectivity? What if they could also spot drones flying overhead, even when those drones aren’t connected to the network?

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What if you could go mountain biking, hiking, or simply spend a day outdoors with friends, and have a drone film the entire experience without anyone having to operate it? Better yet, what if you could decide how every shot looks after the adventure is over?

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For years, a decades-old restriction designed to keep cell phones from interfering with ground-based mobile networks has also stood in the way of drone operations. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has now decided it’s time to move on.

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DJI is bringing automated battery swapping to its drone-in-a-box lineup, and it’s doing so with a remarkably quick turnaround. Its newly announced DJI Dock 4 can replace a depleted drone battery with a fully charged one in just 25 seconds, allowing the aircraft to return to the air without waiting for an onboard recharge.

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US Senator Rick Scott is pushing back against DJI and Autel Robotics’ attempts to challenge their placement on the Federal Communications Commission’s Covered List, arguing that Washington has spent years investigating the Chinese drone makers and has already reached the right conclusion on national security.

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Planning a drone survey across hundreds of acres is one thing. Making sure every flight, sensor setting, and calibration maneuver fits into the same overall plan is another. SPH Engineering wants to make that second part easier with UgCS 6.3, the latest update to its drone flight planning software.

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Industrial drone inspections have a data problem. Drones can capture detailed images of miles of power lines, sprawling oil and gas facilities, and hard-to-reach industrial equipment. But someone still has to sift through all that footage, identify potential problems, and decide which ones need attention first.

Percepto wants to change that equation with Axion, a new software platform that brings AI-powered inspection analysis to existing drone fleets, sensors, and inspection records. The big difference? Companies don’t have to buy Percepto hardware to use it.

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The next big improvement in drone delivery might not be faster deliveries or longer flight times. It could be making sure your neighbors barely notice the drone bringing your package.

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DJI Modify is more than a tool for cleaning up drone-generated 3D models. It is designed to help mapping professionals turn raw reconstruction outputs into polished, usable deliverables, whether that means repairing a building model, improving surface textures, or preparing 3D data for downstream workflows.

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