Drone News & Articles

In another version of the Mavic 3, DJI Agriculture has launched the Mavic 3 Multispectral for precision agriculture.

DJI Mavic 3 Multispectral carries a multispectral imaging system to collect the data used for crop monitoring. “Mavic 3 Multispectral is a must-have solution for a broad scope of application scenarios in the fields of precision agriculture and environmental monitoring,” says the announcement.

“The launch of DJI Mavic 3 Multispectral will help farmers around the world to improve the quality and efficiency of their production, reduce costs, and increase income, all while promoting the development of modern agriculture,” said Ronnie Liu, Regional Representative of North America at DJI Agriculture.

The Mavic 3 Multispectral is more portable than most drones for precision agriculture, weighing 951 grams and designed to fold and fit into an ordinary bag.

RGB and Multispectral Imaging System

Mavic 3 Multispectral – also known as Mavic 3M – uses a two-in-one camera system to view and collect a wide array of information that users can turn into results on the field.

An RGB camera is equipped with a 4/3-inch CMOS and 20MP image sensor and mechanical shutter with a maximum speed of 1/2000. It manages high-speed continuous filming at the fastest interval of 0.7 seconds and can quickly collect image information, greatly improving the efficiency of operations over the fields.

In addition to the RGB camera, a four-lens multipectral camera provides more accurate directional information, helping users gain a deeper understanding of crop conditions by sensing details that the human eye cannot detect. Each of the four multispectral cameras of can capture 5 million pixels and scan for the following wavelengths:

Green (G): 560nm ± 16nm

Red (R): 650 nm ± 20 nm

Red edge (RE): 730 nm ± 20 nm

Near-infrared (NIR) 860 nm ± 26 nm

By combining these two cameras, Mavic 3M realizes applications such as high-precision aerial surveys, crop growth monitoring, and natural resource surveys.

RTK Centimeter-Level Positioning

Mavic 3M includes an RTK module that achieves centimeter-level positioning. The drone, its camera, and the RTK module are synchronized at the microsecond level to accurately obtain the position information of the imaging center of each camera. This allows Mavic 3M to perform high-precision aerial surveying without the use of ground control points. And with a battery life of up to 43 minutes, Mavic 3M can complete the surveying and mapping operations of an area as vast as 2 square kilometers in a single flight.

Designed for Safer Operation

Mavic 3M is equipped with O3 video transmission, which integrates two channels of transmitting signals and four channels of receiving signals, and supports an ultra-long transmission distance of 15 kilometers. For added safety, Mavic 3M is equipped with omnidirectional obstacle sensing to detect obstacles in all directions and help avoid them accurately.

DJI Agriculture: Unlimited Possibilities

Helping professional users and partners in different fields, Mavic 3M can be integrated into various ecosystems to offer unlimited possibilities for smart agriculture. Through the built-in DJI Cloud API, based on the MQTT protocol in Pilot 2, users can directly connect Mavic 3M to a third-party cloud platform to collect information, live video, photo data, and other information, all without the need to develop a separate app. Mavic 3M also supports Mobile SDK 5 (MSDK5), letting users easily develop exclusive control apps for scenarios such as intelligent monitoring.

A New Tool for Precision Agriculture

Mavic 3M is useful in a multitude of work scenarios. It can conduct ground-like aerial surveys on mountain forests and orchards. The DJI Map and DJI SmartFarm Platform generate NDVI vegetation index to provide the data for more efficient and localized crop treatment. Automatic field scouting can detect crop abnormalities and perform intelligent analyses that allow a single person to manage 70 hectares of land.

Price and Availability

DJI Mavic 3 Multispectral is available for purchase today in select countries and regions. For more details about the product, pricing, and availability, visit https://ag.dji.com/mavic-3-m or contact an authorized local DJI reseller. Operators should check local regulations to determine what certifications and approvals are required to operate this product in their country or region.

Written by Miriam McNabb | 27 Nov 22

Australian drone delivery and logistics company Swoop Aero is preparing to initiate beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) services for New Zealand’s health care system, initially operating flights of lab samples between the South Island west coast towns of Westport and Greymouth.

Swoop Aero announced its health care delivery launch after the green light it said it received in late December to conduct BVLOS drone flights from New Zealand’s regulator. Those missions transporting pathology samples and blood products between labs and care centers in the neighboring country is in many ways an extension of the work Melbourne-based Swoop Aero is already doing in Australia’s Queensland.

In December, the company said it had begun building what it called “the world’s first, and largest, fully integrated drone logistics network” of both medicines and commercial goods. That will eventually roll in drone deliveries of patient lab samples and medical supplies to the Queensland town of Goondiwindi – which has been battered by flooding and other extreme weather – and similar aerial shuttles between Brisbane and the Moreton Bay islands off its eastern coast.

Now Swoop Aero is readying those kinds of drone delivery services for Te Whatu Ora Health New Zealand. The company says the initial bilateral network between Westport and Greymouth will be orchestrated from its remote flight center, where one person can pilot up to five UAVs at the same time. 

The company won approval from Australian regulators to open the Melbourne facility last year, which it uses to conduct some of the UAV transport business it does for governments and private clients around the world, including Europe and Africa.

After its first drone delivery routes in New Zealand become fully operational in coming weeks, Swoop Aero says it will work with regulators to study expanding the activity across the nation as a means of speeding up sample analyses and patient diagnoses when time is critical.

“This technology has been trialed successfully overseas, and the new service between Greymouth and Westport will help establish whether drones could play a future role in the movement of time-sensitive medications, specimens, and other medical goods across the country,” said Te Whatu Ora National director of improvement and innovation Dale Bramley. “The use of drone technology offers the potential to reduce transport times, particularly in places such as Auckland where traffic congestion is a major issue. We will watch with interest to assess the benefits of a potential wider rollout.”

Written by Bruce Crumley | 7 Feb 23

Some important news for longtime Autel Robotics customers. The drone maker has announced the end of service and support timeline for its popular EVO II drone series.

Autel unveiled the third iteration of its EVO II drones, created in response to the global chip shortage. When the second version had come out in 2021, Autel made it clear that while the payloads would be interchangeable between V1 and V2, having a different chipset meant that V2 remote controllers would not be able to communicate with V1 aircraft and vice versa. 

The same story continues today with the EVO II V3 series, but with an added twist that the drone maker would be winding down service and support services for both the V1 and V2 series completely. Here’s the announcement from the company:

While we’re excited about this new evolution, we know that users worldwide have come to know and love their V1 and V2 models. We want everybody to know that we remain committed to you. While production of older versions has ended, sales and maintenance support will be available through these dates:

EVO II V1 Series: May 2023

EVO II V2 Series: October 2024

Now, Autel does recognize that the V1 series is rapidly approaching its end of support. Users have been given only a six-month heads up, and that too right before the winter season when many anyway prefer to not fly. Therefore, if you find yourself looking for parts that aren’t available for service in summer, Autel will offer you a discount on similar V2 products through a dealer or retailer of your choice. The exact percentage or amount of the discount is not yet disclosed, though.

In any case, since EVO II is the only drone to offer Hyperlapse in 6K, it’s worth pointing out that its latest rugged bundle is available at an attractive price on our online store here. 

Written by Ishveena Singh | 23 Nov 22

With almost 10,000 kilometers of track and over 1,000 stations and stops, Austria's dense rail network is one of Europe's most punctual and safest railways. However, keeping track of infrastructure damage and route availability of such an extensive network can become troublesome. That's why, in late 2022, the Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB) and Frequentis partnered to research hangar-based automated drone flights in Austria.

Focusing on preventing railway incidents through routine maintenance flights, ÖBB and Frequentis want to use drones to provide early detection of damage to infrastructure, natural hazard management, monitor route availability, and emergency management at major events. The idea is to create a solution for faster, more efficient, and more frequent rail track maintenance checks

• Fast, reproducible, on-demand image acquisition.
• Accurate and comprehensive data.
• Better documentation.
• Faster reconciliation with subcontractors.
• Remote access to the current status of a site.

If deployed correctly, drone solutions can provide benefits no other tools can, especially when considering costs and time-saving. However, automated BVLOS drone flights are key to achieving the full potential and making the most out of a drone solution for a rail network this size. Unfortunately, BVLOS flights are still one of the most exceptional among drone flights, and implementing them is still a challenge from an administrative, technical, and regulatory point of view.

Together, ÖBB and Frequentis signed a unique cooperation agreement to improve the understanding of automated BVLOS drone flights and their restrictions regarding official regulations, weather, and topography, and more. Over the next 12 months, the goal is to carry out complex and automated BVLOS drone flights and test them in various railway-relevant application areas. Both companies will also explore digitalized railway operations to work out all aspects for the approval of these automated flights and to gather experience for their handling in an intensive trial operation.

"This cooperation is an important step for us," said Johann Pluy, Member of the Board of ÖBB. "With the help of BVLOS flights, we will not only increase the safety of our facilities but will also be able to handle extra tasks more frequently and at lower cost in the future. I am very excited about this promising cooperation with Frequentis."

As a UTM system developer that fully covers the services stipulated in the EASA U–Space regulation, Frequentis has vast knowledge in enhancing organizations' technological capabilities to safely and efficiently introduce drones. Last year, the Norwegian Air Navigation Services extended its existing UTM contract with Frequentis to enable safe and efficient UTM service provision around offshore platforms in the Norwegian North Sea.

Later in the year, Airservices Australia selected Frequentis to participate in a competitive down-selection process to create Australia's first Flight Information Management System (FIMS). The company is also developing Project Rise, a system that combines three independent layers of software to create an intelligent integrated system with a complete workflow of drone operations from flight planning to in-flight to post-flight auditing.

With Frequentis' help, ÖBB hopes to obtain a flight permit to enable automated drone flights from its operations center. On the other hand, Frequentis expects to gain knowledge regarding the availability, stability, regulatory requirements, and possible applications of drone hangars, which will form a valuable basis for further innovations in the field of drone technology.

Written by João Antunes

Written by Scott Howe from Commercial UAV News

According to a recent report, the adoption of drones in the construction industry has been increasing by more than 200% annually in recent years.

This growing use of uncrewed systems has enabled construction operations to take on bigger and more complex operations, such as extensive mapping projects and more frequent and more precise monitoring of job sites and assets. Sophisticated cameras and thermal imaging systems deployed on drones help construction operations detect problem areas faster and with greater accuracy. Also, tying these systems to advanced software gives construction professionals access to a wealth of information that be easily analyzed and put to use to make building projects more efficient, safer, and less expensive.

All of these advantages are driving the dramatic increase in drone adoption throughout the construction sector. Surprisingly, though, some companies have not fully integrated uncrewed processes in their work. Expensive start-up costs, difficulties in measuring true “return on investment,” gaps in resources and training, and trouble conforming to government regulations are regularly cited barriers to entry for construction firms.

To learn more about these barriers and to identify ways to overcome them, Commercial UAV News spoke with Robert McCoy, Unmanned Aerial Systems Program Manager at Crown Castle, a leading wireless infrastructure company. During our conversation, McCoy drew on his 15 years of experience in engineering, construction, mapping, and inspections management, as well as his  expertise in drone technology, to explore the major impediments to uncrewed systems adoption in the construction industry.

1. Start-Up Costs

Commercial UAV News: Although drones have been shown to save construction firms time and money, getting started in UAV operations requires significant investments in new equipment—and those costs might be preventing some companies from adopting the technology. What can be done to reduce start-up costs or convince industry leaders that the initial investment is worthwhile?

McCoy: Education and awareness of drones from a top down and bottom-up approach is a good way to start. Clearly defining use cases and how drones will benefit your company is critical for future change management. Once there is buy-in, then there are a few things that can help with integration of drones. Rolling out the program by region or customer can help stagger the investment while also showing the advantages that drones bring to that sector of your business. You may overcome some resistance from leadership by performing use cases around the goals and objectives that they agree would help cut cost. Drones don’t fix all problems of most companies, but they will fill data gaps that exist in most every industry, so focus on those and show the plan to scale around them.

2. Determining ROI 

Commercial UAV News: Demonstrating strong Return on Investment (ROI) goes a long way in convincing company leaders to adopt uncrewed technology in their operations. However, accurately measuring the ROI of drone operations isn’t always easy. How can drone technology advocates more effectively communicate the ways drones impact cost, time, safety, workflow, and communication?

McCoy: Often the technology around UAS is filling a gap that the company does not have great metrics on.  These gaps are the most valuable to address although the company may struggle to quantify the existing problem.  Collaboration and awareness across the organization are critical to make sure you bring everyone along on the digital journey. Be open to scrutiny and thoroughly test your assumptions against your agreed upon value cases in order to allow others to give their input to your eventual solution. This encourages support from others and also helps you build the next steps on items that have been accepted by your organization. 

3. Lack of Resources

Commercial UAV News: Some construction firms do not have the expertise or resources to plan operations that can take full advantage of UAV technology. How can companies close the gaps and craft better mission plans in order to use uncrewed technologies to improve construction operations?

McCoy: There are hundreds of drone companies promising things that their technology can’t fully deliver. If you are limited on expertise of resources, then require proof from your potential vendors or contractors that their promises specifically meet the needs of your company. Most quality companies are willing to work with you for free or at a reduced cost in order to secure the sale. This allows your company to see the reality of the technology without massive investment upfront.

4. Regulations

Commercial UAV News: Federal, state, and local authorities have instituted regulations around the use of drones designed to ensure safety and bring order to the airways. However, many in the drone industry have cited regulations as an impediment to full adoption of the technology. How do regulations concerning BVLOS and other issues impact the construction industry? What policy changes need to take place to better integrate drones in construction operations?

McCoy: For my industry, specific to construction, the current regulatory environment is quite good. We are unique though, with very tall, slender structures the part 107 regulations are mostly sufficient. Wireless is more than towers though. Small Cell and Fiber are in more densely populated areas that could benefit from BVLOS. BVLOS will be a win for all, particularly when enabled by the wireless infrastructure. Regulators must be open to more test beds with specific goals to show what is needed to move beyond 107.

5. Cultural Barriers

Commercial UAV News: Many in the construction field, as well as other industries, have reported that it can be challenging to educate company leaders and clients that uncrewed operations can offer improvements over “tried and true” ways of doing their work. How can UAV advocates better educate reluctant clients and business leaders? How can workplace cultures be changed in order to embrace new ways of tackling construction projects?

McCoy: If your industry can fully implement building information modeling programs, then walking your clients through the details of that process is a great form of education that will help the acceptance of drone-based data. Showing that you can get more accurate, more complete data and keep it more real-time while not missing any information they currently need is key to building momentum. Change is hard in construction, just like many other industries. People resist change often. Finding drone champions at all levels of a business to influence their peers is important to help change the culture of an existing company. Do not oversell, though. This is a sure way to set your program back.

6. Training

Commercial UAV News: Getting a UAV-based construction operation up and running requires more than just purchasing a few drones and some software. New staff must be hired and/or existing personnel must be trained on the new equipment. How much of a challenge is it to hire and train new employees to take on drone-related tasks? What can be done to improve the hiring and training processes around new technology?

McCoy: I have found that in larger organizations, there are always a few willing participants to do the drone work. Processing the data and integration into and modification of existing workflows is much more difficult. One approach is to allow existing employees to augment what they do day-to-day so that the transition is gradual and allows a group to ease through into digital transformation. Another way, if your company works well with consultants, it to hire a consulting firm after you have establish clear and measurable goals to work through the transition. This approach helps avoid the feeling of overworking your employees. In most cases, there is a transition period from the old way to the new that increases the stress on a company, prior to making things much smoother. Once over the hump, you may wonder how you functioned before all the great data from drones, but in that transition it can be a very heavy burden.

There’s a new tech start-up on the block, and it’s armed with a patented drone solution that can help locate a missing person in just 30 minutes within a 50-meter radius.

New York-based Flyhound Corporation, which has just graduated from the NEC X incubator program, says it has developed a drone-mountable module that uses radio signals to expedite the search for missing people. The patented technology, developed at NEC Laboratories Europe, works by triangulating cellular signals from the mobile devices of lost hikers or victims of natural disasters.

But the cutting-edge localization algorithms of this tech do not require an active cellular network signal, meaning the solution can also be used in remote or disaster areas where cellular network infrastructure is not available or has been disabled. Additionally, Flyhound’s offering can help to keep track of interagency resources in challenging environments.

The solution, which is compatible with DJI Phantom and Matrice drone series, displays the position of a person on a digital map of the search area in real-time. It also overcomes the temperature limitations of thermal imaging cameras. As such, first responders are able to determine the location of missing people “100 times faster” than with current search and rescue methods.

New: Drone films nuclear waste storage vault built in the ’60s [Video]

The start-up explains that first responders can also use its solution to identify channel artifacts produced by different propagation environments, such as rubble caused by earthquakes, floodwaters, or extreme snowfall. This capability further enhances the location detection of disaster victims or missing people.

Moreover, Flyhound integrates seamlessly into drone and incident management platforms, making it easy for agencies to deploy the technology rapidly to meet their needs. Here’s what the interface looks like:

Stressing that Flyhound has completed several proofs of concept with public safety agencies to validate the product-market fit, Shige Ihara, president and CEO of NEC X, says:

Public safety and disaster response are resource intensive. First responders are often in need of additional manpower – technology that saves time, money, and lives will always be in demand.

Corey Hoefling, a firefighter at New Jersey’s Carlstadt Fire Department, adds:

It’s incredibly valuable from a rescue standpoint to be able to map out where cellphones are in an emergency. Cellphones are something people always carry with them, so if we need to find someone in an emergency, this is a tool that can get us to them faster, and ultimately help save lives.

Wildlife officials in Washington state are set to deploy drones over a large expanse of preserved space as part of their annual effort to estimate the population of the nearly extinct Columbia Basin pygmy rabbits.

The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife is preparing to begin daily drone flights over state and federally managed lands covering two counties as part of a trial-cum-annual-census of the tiny rabbits. The distinct species is the smallest among North America rabbits, and typically never grows larger than 12-inches long or more than 16 ounces in weight. Due to incursions of animal, natural, and human threats over time, the estimated population has decreased to a mere 100 to 150 individuals.

Washington game authorities will use the drones to scan enclosed zones they’ve created to preserve sagebrush and terrain the rabbits live in and burrow into – the only species to create their own underground shelter. Due to the size, color, and understandably furtive instincts of the animals, humans have a very tough time catching sight of them, much less distinguishing one from another for count purposes. 

The drones will therefore be used as a faster and hopefully more efficient method of spotting probable burrow sites before Washington wildlife experts – who usually must scour the areas on foot for signs of rabbit activity ­– are sent in for a closer look. Once there, they’ll take a count of active habitats – which allows them to calculate the approximate residents within – and collect droppings for use in genetic analyses.

Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife authorities say the drones will start overflying the two protected sites maintained to facilitate the rabbits’ reproduction between 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. starting this month through March.

The exact timing of those outings – like that of the annual census campaign – will seek to ensure there’s sufficient snow covering the ground to make spotting traces of the creatures easier, and verify the craft can withstand often difficult weather.

“The purpose of these flights is to test drone and sensor capabilities and effectiveness for tracking pygmy rabbit distribution and numbers in snowy conditions,” said Taylor Cotten, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife’s conservation assessment section manager. “Researchers will also use the drones to help determine the survival rate of reintroduced pygmy rabbits.”

Use of the drones to keep track of the rabbit population was inspired by the use of aerial tech by wildlife experts in Washington and other states to take counts of creatures ranging from ground squirrels to mountain goats, salmon to whales. 

Sadly, however, even using those higher vantage points, the effort to identify traces of the rabbits (much less the critters themselves) is getting to be like finding needles in a haystack. 

The campaign to facilitate repopulation through captive and enclosed breeding areas began after the last known individual was born in the wild in 2008, and started using three protected Columbia Basin spaces. One of those was wiped out by a fire in 2020, killing an estimated 43% of all remaining rabbits. 

However, survival rates of generations born since give experts hope the species may survive yet – with a bit of human help – despite their diminished numbers. 

Written by Bruce Crumley | 13 Jan 2023

Sony Electronics has developed a new battery charging station for the Airpeak S1 drone. Available later this month at a suggested retail price of $2,900, the battery station will provide convenient storage and transportation of up to 10 Airpeak S1 battery packs, while offering fast charging for eight battery packs (four at a time).

Unveiling the drone accessory at CES 2023, Sony explained it was also developing a new battery pack to help with longer flight time as well as an RTK (Real-time Kinematic) kit with a base station. Yang Chang, vice president for imaging solutions at Sony Electronics, said:

The new Airpeak Battery Station will provide customers with fast and efficient charging to reduce downtime and help keep Airpeak flying all day. This release in addition to our development announcement demonstrates our commitment to not only enhancing the system for aerial photographers and cinematographers but expanding the system’s capabilities for industrial applications.

Sony’s new drone battery station includes built-in charging cables for two remote controllers and comes equipped with three standard auxiliary power outlet accessory sockets for easy charging of mobile devices, cameras, and other USB accessories.

There are two battery charging modes available depending on the needs of the drone operator. The first is a “Quick” mode for shorter charging time, which will charge up to four LBP-HS1 battery packs from about 20% to 90% in approximately 30 minutes. The other is the “Full” mode, which will charge up to four LBP-HS1 battery packs from about 0% to 100% in approximately 55 minutes or from about 20% to 100% in 50 minutes. A built-in fan automatically cools the batteries.

There’s also a discharge mode to help with the safe storage and air transportation of the drone batteries. According to Sony, up to eight battery packs can be discharged simultaneously whether the battery station power is on or off. For long-term storage, 50% mode can be used. It takes approximately 17 hours for the batteries to discharge from 100% to 50%. For air transportation, the 25% mode is recommended, which takes approximately 27 hours to discharge the batteries from about 100% to 25%.

The battery station goes on sale on January 19, 2023.

Written by Ishveena Singh | 5 Jan 2023

A one-second clip of a cheeky eagle peering into a camera is the only clue Matthew Wood has about what happened to his drone.   

The keen amateur photographer and videographer had been enjoying a day in the picturesque Pioneer Valley, west of Mackay in Queensland, when it all went wrong.

"I was just flying along the grassy hills up there and it was looking really nice and really nice lighting ... then the drone took a hit," he said. "I was watching it all while it was connected to my controller and all I saw was the camera pretty much looking at the ground as the eagle flew away with it."

Mr Wood said he quickly jumped on his motorbike and rode down the range and managed to pick up a GPS signal, but the drone appeared to be in a heavily grassed area, or high in a tree.

A fun but deadly device

With drones becoming more affordable, many people are trying their hand at remotely piloted aviation.

That's much to the dismay of Gisela Kaplan from the University of New England.

"The drone is the saddest set of activities that humans have yet rendered [against birds] ... We've taken the land from them, we were cutting down roosting and nesting trees," Professor Kaplan said. "The airspace was the only place that was for the birds." 

She said drones were not only dangerous but very frightening for birds and often viewed as a threat. "It can cut their legs off and that's the end of life for a raptor, because they hunt with their feet.

"Some birds have adjusted to city life and all of its noises, but this is a concentrated noise — it's like a jackhammer in the sky. And drones are unpredictable — they can go forwards, backwards and sideways and that kind of unpredictability is almost impossible to adapt to."

Are new restrictions needed?

Professor Kaplan has studied birds for more than 25 years and said that technology has evolved much more quickly than birds. 

"They [the birds] have evolved to have vision that actually goes downwards and sideways, so they don't see what's in front," she said. "They have to tilt their heads to do that and they normally don't do that in flight."

Professor Kaplan said wind turbines were another obstacle birds could not adjust to. A well-respected bird researcher says it would be a good idea to restrict where drones can fly during nesting season. She has recommended that drones be banned from certain areas during nesting season.

"You don't allow fishing when there's spawning season, so don't allow drones when there's a breeding season because it will stop the birds from breeding," she said. "And since numbers of birds are declining we can't afford the birds that have found nesting spots, not to breed."

For drone enthusiast and photographer, Matthew Wood, a closure makes sense. "I think it's a good idea because I like to do a checklist and run through my head before I go out ... am I flying legally, am I not endangering people or things or animals?" he said. "I think I might have to be very aware of areas that might have eagles and where nesting season is."

Current regulations restrict drones to heights below 120-metres above the ground and not in populated areas or within 30 metres of a person.

While Mr Wood said he was initially upset about the loss of his favourite drone, he's resigned to the fact he's unlikely to see it again. "I was sort of cranky about it because it's a bit of money gone, but I was in their habitat and had disturbed them so they've decided to take it," he said.

Written by Melissa Maddison | 7 Jan 2023

Today at CES, Autel announced its newest drone to its lineup with the EVO Max 4T – a compact drone with a thermal zoom camera and a range finder all in one package for first responders.

Last year, Autel showed up at CES with two new consumer drones hoping to compete against DJI’s Mini and Air lineup. This year, Autel has brought something different to the table (literally).

The EVO Max 4T is an enterprise drone seemingly targeted toward first responders or large-scale enterprise solutions. Featuring a 640×512 thermal camera, 1/2 inch 50MP wide camera, and 1/1.68 inch 48MP zoom camera (10x optical, 160x digital), this looks to be a close competitor to DJI’s M30T.

The EVO Max also sports an IP43 rating, allowing the drone to fly in light rain and snow. For the cold, the battery compartment is heated, not to forget hot swappable (although there’s no mention of how that works with just one battery). The 8070 mAh battery will give you 42 minutes of flight time in ideal conditions.

The most remarkable feature Autel put on the EVO Max is a new way to detect objects. Emitted from the drone is millimeter-wave radar that can detect objects around it, giving it an absolute 360-degree zone of detection. Paired with traditional sensors, Autel states that the EVO Max can see objects as small as half an inch, even in low light or rain.

According to Autel, this is the first drone of its kind to feature this system (I can’t think of one that has this either). This is the innovation we talk about wanting with competition in the drone industry. While Autel is still working on breaking up DJI’s stronghold in consumer drones, the enterprise market is packed with competition, which makes for unique and innovative features like this one.

Autel is showing the EVO Max 4T at its booth this week at CES, so if you’re there, check them out. If you cannot attend, don’t worry, I’ll bring you along and show off what’s new, interesting, and weird at this year’s biggest tech conference.

Written by Seth Kurkowski | 5 Jan 2023