Drone News Roundup: Biggest Wave Ever Surfed Measured by New Drone Technology, Skyfish Launches the Osprey for Commercial Applications, and More!
BY Zacc Dukowitz
25 April 2024This week we’re covering a new world record for the biggest wave ever surfed, which was confirmed by new wave-measuring drone technology developed by Porsche and the surfer who achieved the record.
We’re also covering Skyfish’s new U.S.-made Osprey drone, Zipline’s one million delivery milestone, an insane FPV dive with a surprise ending, and DJI’s new line of power stations.
Now on to the links!
Biggest Wave Ever Surfed Measured by New Drone Technology
View this post on Instagram
Pro surfer Sebastian Steudtner recently surfed what may be the biggest wave ever. The feat took place in Nazaré, Portugal on a wave measuring 93.73 feet in height (28.57 meters). Steudtner already held the world record for surfing an 86.4 foot-high wave in Nazaré in 2020. The height of the massive wave was measured using new drone technology developed by Porsche Engineering and Steudtner. The drone is designed to measure all areas of the wave and the surfer within a radius of about 328 feet (100 meters), allowing it to quickly and precisely determine the height of waves. Wave measurement for surf competitions is typically done with video and photos. If Porsche’s new technology works, it could be adopted throughout surfing to support judging, which means drones could soon become a key part of surfing worldwide.
LEARN MORE
U.S. Drone Company Skyfish Launches Matrice 30 Alternative
Credit: Skyfish
U.S.-based Skyfish just launched a survey-grade enterprise drone that fits in a backpack at AUVSI XPONENTIAL. Called the Osprey, the new drone is made for infrastructure inspections and ISR (intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance). It comes with automated in-flight geotagging of frame synchronous data and RTK for centimeter-grade location accuracy. For those who want a U.S.-made alternative to DJI’s Matrice 30, the Osprey looks like a great option.
Here are the Osprey spec’s:
- Weight. 14 pounds.
- Flight time. Up to 60 minutes.
- Transmission range. 3 to 5 miles.
- Supply chain. Made in the U.S., NDAA compliant, Green UAS in process and Army DEVCOM certified Airworthiness Level 3.
- Modular payload. Can carry third-party sensors, such as the Sony LR1 61 megapixel camera for inspection and photogrammetry and NextVision’s Raptor for ISR.
LEARN MORE
Zipline Hits 1 Million Drone Delivery Milestone
Zipline has hit a major milestone: One million commercial drone deliveries. To put this in perspective, if one pilot were to fly the same number of missions they would have spent 120 years flying. On the way to one million deliveries Zipline’s drones have flown over 70 million miles across four continents, delivering over 10 million products. Just as noteworthy as the one million delivery milestone is the fact that 70% of those deliveries have been made in the last two years. And Zipline is truly a global company—it’s currently making retail deliveries with Walmart, agriculture and animal health deliveries across Africa, and food deliveries in Japan. If there were any doubt about whether drone delivery was viable, Zipline’s achievement seems to offer s a resounding Yes.
LEARN MORE
FPV Dive with Surprise Ending
We’ll just leave this right here. Hope you enjoy it! (Hat tip to DRL for sharing this video.)
LEARN MORE
DJI Launches Line of Power Stations
DJI has launched a new line of portable charging stations under the name DJI Power. The first two stations it’s offering are the Power 1000 and the Power 500. The stations are fast-charging, portable power solutions made for DJI drones, allowing you to recharge your drone or other devices while in the field. The Power 1000 can charge DJI drone batteries in about 30 minutes, and the station itself can be fully recharged in 70 minutes. The 1000 is the bigger option of the two, coming with a 1024Wh capacity and the ability to charge a digital camera up to 59 times, a mobile phone 57 times, or a drone 12 times. The Power 500, on the other hand, has a 512Wh capacity, 1000W max output, and dual 100W two-way USB-C ports.
LEARN MORE
Make sure to sign up for our free weekly newsletter using the button below so you can get our weekly newsletter every Saturday, with this roundup and our other featured stories from the week.
