Drone News Roundup: Dolomites in 8K with the Inspire 3, Anzu Robotics Scrutinized by Congress for DJI Ties, and More!

This week we’re covering a beautiful cinematic tour of the Dolomite Mountains shot in 8K on the DJI Inspire 3.

We’re also covering Congressional scrutiny of Anzu Robotics for its connections to DJI, news that small drone companies are having a hard time complying with Remote ID, Ford’s security drone patent, and concerns about the negative impact on agriculture if the DJI ban gets passed.

Now let’s get to those links!

DJI Inspire 3 Tour of the Dolomites

The Dolomite Mountain range is one of the most beautiful places in the world, making it a destination for shooting cinematic drone footage. This video was shot on the DJI Inspire 3 in 8K60 RAW by drone videographer Denis Barbas. According to Barbas, he got the footage last summer while exploring and hiking in the iconic mountain range. Barbas isn’t afraid to let his shots slowly unfold, allowing the camera to linger on the sweeping beauty of the mountains. There are some really stunning shots here—if you’re looking for a moment of Zen, sit down and watch this video.

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Despite Anzu Robotics’ Transparency, Congress Acts As If It’s Trying to Hide Ties to DJI

Credit: Anzu Robotics

From the beginning, Anzu Robotics has made its connections to DJI clear. Through a licensing agreement with DJI, Anzu’s Raptor is essentially a Mavic 3 but without the supply chain concerns that come with a Mavic 3—that’s because the drone’s parts are made in Malaysia, not China, which means it’s compliant with the NDAA. But some in Congress aren’t happy about this. In a recent letter to Anzu CEO Randall Warnas, lawmakers on the House China select committee wrote: “. . . it appears that DJI is using Anzu as a passthrough company in an attempt to avoid current and anticipated U.S. restrictions on DJI products.” They went on to say that Anzu’s drones posed a national security risk.

In their press release about the letter, the lawmakers claim to have exposed Anzu Robotics, as a “PRC [People’s Republic of China] drone company masquerading as [a] U.S. firm.” Given that Warnas has been transparent about Anzu’s ties to DJI since the company launched, this framing is insincere at best. It’s disappointing—but not surprising—that we continue to see this kind of political theater around the topic of drones and China.

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Study Finds Small Drone Makers Struggling to Comply with Remote ID

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Small and medium drone companies are having a hard time complying with Remote ID. This is the big takeaway from a recent report from the Drone Advisory Council (DAC), an industry-led group dedicated to advancing drone technology (not to be confused with the Drone Advisory Committee, which was an FAA organization). A surprising finding from the report is that none of the drone companies that responded to the DAC’s survey are making drones that comply with Remote ID—and none of them have plans to do so, either. Two of the main reasons for not complying are that compliance is expensive and that the companies have a technical skill gap. The report goes on to propose recommendations to the FAA to help alleviate the situation. These include giving companies two more years to comply, allowing broadcast modules to be used in the interim, and having the FAA offer a Declaration of Compliance for specific solutions so that companies have a universal path to follow for incorporating Remote ID technology into their drones.

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Ford Files Patent for Security Drone

Ford has been coming up with ideas for drone technology for a while now. Over the last few years, the company has filed patents for using a drone to jumpstart your car, ground-and-air coordinated drone technology for deliveries, and a drone that can be deployed from the trunk of a car to alert first responders to your location during an emergency. Its latest drone patent is for a drone-based security service, allowing homeowners to keep tabs on their property using a drone as needed.

The drone would serve to augment surveillance people can do from their vehicle’s camera systems, providing greater flexibility in the angle and range you can get in trying to view specific parts of your property. It’s worth noting that Ford isn’t just filing patents. It’s also actively testing drone delivery and other drone ops at a big test site in Detroit, as well as partnering with Drone Delivery Canada to test using an automated drone to track and land on a moving vehicle.

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DJI Ban Could Have Negative Impact on U.S. Farmers

Credit: DJI

When the Countering CCP Drones Act—otherwise known as the DJI ban law—was first being circulated, first responders made it clear they were against it by writing an open letter to Congress. The letter was signed by over 800 fire agencies in California alone, as well as several other groups that advocate for public safety agencies. The reason they’re against the law is that removing DJI drones from the market will make their work harder, since there aren’t any good alternatives at comparable price points. But first responders aren’t the only ones who could face major repercussions from a DJI ban. Agriculture is another sector that could be significantly impacted by a DJI ban, since U.S. farmers who have invested in drones have almost all their money in DJI technology. And there are no real alternatives to DJI on the ag front—XAG, the only other consumer manufacturer of drones for agriculture, is also based in China, and could face a similar ban before too long.

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