Drone News Roundup: Madeira in 6K FPV, New Footage from the Antigravity A1 360 Drone, and More!

This week we’re covering a beautiful, classic cinematic FPV drone video from Ellis van Jason shot in Madeira, Portugal.

We’re also covering footage shot on the new Antigravity A1 360 drone, a drone-assisted rescue of a puppy with a jar stuck on its head, a Chinese robot vacuum-maker breaking into the drone industry, and a study that used Matrice 600s equipped with unique grabbers and claws to simulate a mission to Mars.

Now on to the links!

Madeira in 6K

This video from creator Ellis van Jason is a masterpiece—and it’s stood the test of time. Although Jason shot the footage a while back, it still holds up today. The video offers a sweeping drone tour of Portugal’s Madeira island, from its lush cliffs, to its volcanic craters, to its winding coastal roads, all captured in razor-sharp 6K. Ellis used a custom-built FPV drone he made himself, pushing the drone’s agility to the limit as he threaded through tight rock formations and surging waterfalls.

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Check Out This Footage from the Antigravity A1

Antigravity, the new drone company from Insta360, recently loaned its recently launched A1 360 drone to Mediastorm—and this video is the result. The A1 is designed around letting you shoot immersive 8K 360° video as easily as possible, without needing specialized drone pilot skills. In the footage, you can see how the A1’s dual-lens system stitches together every angle in real time, making the drone vanish from the frame and letting you explore the scene freely. The A1 is the first drone ever made with a native, integrated 360 camera—up until now, you had to attach a 360 camera to another drone to shoot aerial 360 footage. Watch the video to get a taste for the type of footage you can shoot with Antigravity’s new drone.

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Drones Play Key Role in Rescuing Dog with Jar Stuck on Head

In York County, Pennsylvania, two drone pilots helped locate a missing dog named Dallas. The 1-year-old puppy had been lost for two days. Making things worse, she had a jar stuck on her head, so she couldn’t eat, drink, or call for help. The drone pilots spotted the dog in a dense cornfield at 3 in the morning and directed rescuers to her location, where they saved her and took the jar off the poor pup’s head.

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Dreame Leaps into Consumer Drones to Challenge DJI

In case you haven’t heard, DJI has gotten into vacuum robots, releasing a new line called the Romo. Fighting back, Chinese robot vacuum giant Dreame is now entering the consumer drone market. Leveraging its decade of expertise in high-speed motors, AI, and obstacle avoidance from robotic vacuums, Dreame aims to disrupt DJI’s long-standing dominance. The company has announced plans to assemble a full-stack drone team in its Suzhou and Shenzhen hubs, scooping up talent from DJI and Meituan. Dreame envisions drones integrating with its smart home ecosystem, blending ground and aerial robotics into a seamless user experience.

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Drones Simulate Mars Sample Collection in Earth Analog

Credit: The Planetary Science News Journal

Scientists recently used drone-equipped rover systems in the Atacama Desert—a Mars-like environment—to simulate robotic drilling and sample collection missions. Featuring advanced drills and robotic arms, this end-to-end test collected soil samples up to 2.6 feet (80 cm) deep, delivering them to onboard instruments designed to detect biosignatures. The simulation, part of a NASA-led project, highlights how drones and rovers will work together on Mars to autonomously gather and analyze samples, pushing the boundaries of planetary exploration technology. As you can see in the image above, which is taken from the study, the drones used were DJI Matrice 600s retrofitted with a range of unique tools made for sample collection.

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