Drone News Roundup: Epic Drone Shot of Snowy Mountains, Amazon Makes Progress on Home Security Drone, and More!
BY Zacc Dukowitz
19 January 2023This week we’re covering a short but epic drone shot of snowy mountain peaks in Norway.
We’re also covering news that Amazon is making progress on its Ring home security drone, an infographic from Walmart highlighting some major stats from its drone delivery work in 2022, the FCC’s proposal to open more spectrum for drone operations, and SkyBrowse’s offer to drone pilots to make $30 an hour testing its 3D modeling software.
Now let’s get to those links!
Epic Drone Shot of Snowy Mountains
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This super short drone video shows you just how much magic can be packed into a few seconds of aerial footage if you have the right location, the right gear, the right eye, and just the right moment. The video was shot in Norway by drone pilot and videographer Ronald Soethje. It’s racked up dozens of comments on Instagram since being posted, and it’s easy to see why—the contrast from the dark, snowy mountain peaks to the sunlit cirrus clouds as the drone rotates in the air makes for a gorgeous change in perspective, and an all around beautiful drone shot.
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Amazon Is Making Progress on Its Home Security Camera Drone
Amazon first started talking about its Ring Always Home Cam back in 2020, which is a small drone designed to fly autonomously through your home when you’re not there to monitor it for intruders, and it recently shared its progress at CES 2023. Although the home security drone isn’t ready to ship just yet—Ring says it might be ready by 2024, but it’s not making any promises—Amazon certainly is ready to start talking more about it. At CES, attendees got the first real-world look at the drone in flight, and one thing that jumped out immediately is that it’s pretty loud. When the Ring drone is released it will sell for $250. Follow the link below to see a video The Verge shot at CES this year highlighting the home security drone.
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Walmart Shares Drone Delivery Stats from 2022
Credit: Walmart
In June of last year, Walmart announced that it was making a massive drone delivery rollout, bringing delivery programs to 34 new sites throughout the U.S. The infographic above shows the initial results from that rollout and other delivery efforts the company made last year in partnership with DroneUp, Zipline, and Flytrex. In total, Walmart completed over 6,000 drone deliveries in 2022 across 36 different locations, pulling off the deliveries in under 30 minutes. The top items ordered were ice cream, bags of lemons, Red Bull, paper towels, and rotisserie chickens. Given all this progress, it will be interesting to see how much more Walmart accomplishes in 2023, and whether Amazon will ever be able to catch up.
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The FCC Wants to Open More Spectrum for Drone Ops
The FCC recently opened a comment period for a proposal to expand the spectrum allocation given to drone operations. A comment period is a mandatory step in the federal process for making a new rule—the FAA has gone through open comment periods before when proposing new rules on remote ID and type certification. In the FCC’s new proposal, UAVs would be allowed to use wireless communications in the 5030-5091 MHz spectrum band and drone pilots would be allowed to access the aeronautical VHF band to communicate with air traffic control and other aircraft. According to FCC Chair Jessica Rosenworcel, these changes will help “meet the current—and future—spectrum needs of evolving technologies such as unmanned aircraft systems.”
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SkyBrowse Is Paying Drone Pilots $30 an Hour to Test Its 3D Modeling Software
Credit: SkyBrowse
SkyBrowse, the company known for its platform that makes it easy to create 3D models with Autel and DJI drones, is currently searching for drone pilots to test its latest software—and they’re paying. That’s right. Right now, SkyBrowse is looking for active drone pilots who are doing real 3D modeling work in the field to test its new software, and they’re paying $30 an hour. The ideal pilot for this work is someone who is flying real drone missions, uses 3D modeling in their work, and can work at least five hours a week. If this sounds like you, then fill out the form linked below to let SkyBrowse know you’re interested.
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