Drone News & Articles

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Pursuit Aviation, a leading global aerial cinematography company for movies, television and commercials, nnounced that it has created Whiskey Wheels, a first-of-its-kind setup inside a helicopter that delivers an entirely new way of shooting aerial scenes. Developed in collaboration with industry stalwart XM2 and its labs department, this new system provides new options for DPs and camera operators who would have traditionally stayed on the ground. Whiskey Wheels allows these skilled operators to transition their skill set to the skies. 

In addition, Pursuit Aviation today also announced the company has successfully demonstrated the use of an ARRI 535 film camera with a 1,000-foot magazine with wheels and a 1:10 long zoom lens inside the SHOTOVER K1 system. The testing showcases that filmmakers can now carry 2.5 times more film stock than a standard 400-foot magazine allowing for longer durations in the air before having to land their aircraft and reload. This increase in film time opens up new possibilities and potential cost savings to filmmakers.

Both sets of new technology are now available for television, movie and commercial shoots. The team at Pursuit Aviation believes that the use of film provides a “distinctive cinematic look and feel” for any production. It also makes a project unique, compared to other projects being made which employ the use of digital cameras. As shooting on film is being used more frequently today, Pursuit Aviation recognized this trend and developed a system that would provide distinct advantages to filmmakers employing aerial cinematography in their production.

“Pursuit Aviation is proud to introduce these new aerial filming technologies in collaboration with XM2 to the industry and offer new creative solutions for filmmakers that have not previously been available,” said Steve Taylor, Managing Director for Pursuit Aviation. “As the only company with the ability to provide the unique Whiskey Wheels helicopter setup and SHOTOVER K1 with ARRI 535 film camera combined with 1,000-foot magazines, Pursuit Aviation is uniquely positioned to usher in a new era of aerial cinematography.”

Pursuit Aviation’s partnership with XM2 further strengthens the company’s ability to provide unique solutions that address filmmakers’ evolving needs. XM2 works extensively in the film industry providing Drone Aerial Services for filmmakers during production and its labs department develops specialized solutions that employ the latest technology in aerial cinematography.

Filmmakers interested in learning more about the new systems and their capabilities can find more information at www.PursuitAviation.com

Virtual Surveyor has unveiled Terrain Lenses in Version 6.3 of its popular drone surveying and mapping software. Overlaid on a LiDAR point cloud or orthophoto, the six lenses enhance different aspects of the terrain in 3D to give users a better understanding of the topography in the area they mapped with an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). The Virtual Surveyor package enables professional surveyors to generate accurate topographic end products from drone data five times faster than traditional field work, bridging the gap between UAV photogrammetric processing software and engineering design packages. 

“Whether a drone surveyor is generating map products from orthorectified imagery or LiDAR elevation data, our new Terrain Lenses provide richer insights into the topography,” said Tom Op ‘t Eyndt, CEO of Virtual Surveyor nv in Belgium. “Instantly applied with a single click or shortcut, the Lenses can be used alone or together to achieve different effects.” 

Six Terrain Lenses have been included in Virtual Surveyor 6.3 released today: 

Hill Shade lens – Designed mainly for application on a Digital Surface Model created from LiDAR data without an underlying ortho, the Hill Shade lens simulates sun illumination casting shadows on the scene. The result is enhanced 3D perception of hills, valleys and other relief. 

Contours lens – This lens creates smooth contours over the terrain. It helps to trace the route water would take as it flows through the terrain. Also, when cleaning ‘noise’ from a water body, this lens assists in tracing a boundary at the same level. 

Transparent lens – Ideal for areas where topographies change quickly and hide previous states, this lens allows the user to look through one terrain model to see the surface, boundaries or breaklines from a different day. 

Slope Direction lens – Designed for better understanding of hydrology, this lens places arrows over the digital surface model to show the direction of water flow throughout the scene. 

Slope Steepness lens – When the terrain is too bright or dark in an orthophoto, it can be difficult to detect breaks in the terrain to draw breaklines. This lens colorizes the slopes to highlight breaklines. 

Elevation lens – This lens automatically colorizes the terrain so that ground surfaces of the same elevations appear in the same colors, giving the user an easy understanding of the highs and lows of the landscape. “In addition to the Terrain lenses, Version 6.3 gives users a more stable experience with faster rendering and navigation, even while complex calculations are occurring in the background,” said Op ‘t Eyndt. Virtual Surveyor users will find several other new or enhanced capabilities in Version 6.3: 

Copy/Cut/Paste – Project structure is important, and these functions can be used to move any project item to another layer or to duplicate an existing project item before starting an edit.

Split Line Tool – Commonly used to calculate material volumes in mines and quarries, the new Split Line Tool allows the user to cut out pieces of a boundary drawn around the feature or area to be calculated. 

Q-Points Algorithm – The Q-Points Productivity Tool has been improved to capture more detail with fewer points. This tool generates Surfaces or TINs by selecting only the meaningful ground points that define the topography, reducing surface generation time by up to 90 percent.

Current subscribers to Virtual Surveyor will see their software being updated to Version 6.3 automatically. To start a free 14-day trial of Virtual Surveyor, visit www.virtual-surveyor.com.  

About Virtual Surveyor Virtual Surveyor software enables professional surveyors to generate accurate topographic end products from drone imagery five times faster than traditional field work. Now used in 61 countries, Virtual Surveyor allows surveyors to create light-weight CAD models from drone data in very short timeframes. In a typical application, the suite takes the orthophotos and digital surface models (DSM) extracted from UAV imagery with photogrammetric software like Pix4D, Photoscan or DJI Terra and generates an interactive virtual environment onscreen where surveyors can select the survey points and break lines that define topography.

Standard topographic outputs from the Virtual Surveyor software are Surfaces or TINs (Triangular Irregular Network), Contours, and Line Surveys. These survey-grade deliverables are ready for direct input into computer-aided design (CAD) software packages such as AutoCAD, Civil3D, Magnet Office, Vulcan and BricsCAD. As such, Virtual Surveyor bridges the gap between UAV photogrammetric processing software and engineering design packages.

The night sky over the California State Fair will glitter with lights next month, as it does every July. But instead of a traditional fireworks display this year, the glow will be artificial, created by flying drones.

For the first time, the two-week fair in Sacramento will put on a light show at the Miller Lite Racetrack Grandstand using swarm technology and drones moving to choreographed music, officials announced last week.

“Drone light shows are considered to be more environmentally safe and inclusive to families and those who have sensitivities to loud explosions created by traditional fireworks,” state fair officials said.

The visuals will be seen as far away as two football fields from the fair, said officials, who are working with the Great Lakes Drone Co. to coordinate the light show.

In 2015, attendees and fair officials were spooked when a mortar misfired 10 minutes into a fireworks show, sending sparks flying and igniting small fires in the area, the Sacramento Bee reported. A year earlier, a large grass fire on Cal Expo property, where the state fair is held, nearly led to the Fourth of July fireworks show being canceled.

Fair executives have not said whether the new show was developed because of those mishaps.

“Our team is working diligently to bring new and exciting forms of entertainment to the California State Fair,” Rick Pickering, head of Cal Expo, said in a statement.

The drone light show will be displayed every Friday, Saturday and Sunday night during the state fair’s run from July 12-28.

GoPro is off to a good start in 2019 after generating $243 million in revenue, a 20 percent increase over its first quarter last year. While the camera company did post a loss of $24 million, that’s way down from the $76 million loss GoPro suffered to start 2018. The company was confident enough after posting these results on Thursday that it raised its guidance to investors for 2019 and said it will turn its first annual profit since 2015, which was the first full year of sales for the popular Hero 4 camera lineup.

A big reason for the company’s recent success (GoPro also recently notched its first quarterly profit in over a year) is the Hero 7 Black, which is off to the best start ever for one of the company’s cameras. Another reason is that GoPro has finally healed (financially, at least) from the decision in January 2018 to shutter the Karma quadcopter and exit the drone business completely. That’s a good thing, too, because based on a number of recent leaks and rumors, DJI is about to make a move into GoPro’s space by releasing a direct competitor to the Hero 7 Black.

GoPro didn’t mention Karma by name in its letter to shareholders on Thursday or dwell on it during a subsequent call with analysts. But it did say in the letter that “excluding our aerial business, [quarterly] revenue would have increased 27% year-over-year.” Reading between the lines here, GoPro acknowledges Karma brought in some money, but that extra bump in revenue ultimately wasn’t worth the operating costs and R&D expenses it required. Karma was a big reason why the loss in last year’s first quarter was so much bigger. Returning the focus to cameras has helped GoPro get to a more sustainable footing.

There are other signs of GoPro’s post-drone revival in the numbers released this week. The company’s gross margin for the quarter was 33 percent, up from 22 percent in the first quarter of 2018. Part of that increase is likely attributable to the fact that GoPro is no longer selling the Karma, which CEO Nick Woodman has repeatedly said simply wasn’t making the company much money while it was on store shelves.

By refocusing on its higher-margin camera business (and building out a better internal customer research team), GoPro has not only been able to increase the amount of money it’s taking in with each sale, but it has also gotten better at driving customers to the top-tier camera it sells, the $399 Hero 7 Black. About 85 percent of the 842,000 cameras GoPro shipped this past quarter were the Hero 7 Black, and the camera accounted for 90 percent of the company’s product revenue.

By the end of the quarter, the Hero 7 Black was the best-selling digital camera in the US by unit volume, and the company says it grew the amount of revenue it generated (year over year compared to the first quarter of 2018) in all regions where it currently sells cameras. GoPro has had a vice grip on the action camera market for years, even before its only real direct competition — Sony — stopped making them. But because the Hero 7 Black has been so successful, that grip is now stronger than ever.

It’s good timing because here comes DJI. The Chinese company has been slowly dipping its toe into other categories beyond quadcopters over the last few years, starting with handheld camera stabilizers like the DJI Osmo and the new Osmo Pocket. But now it’s allegedly on the cusp of releasing a direct Hero 7 Black competitor called “Osmo Action.”

All we have so far are a few scattered leaks and rumors, but if there’s any truth to them, the Osmo Action looks like it will be a pound-for-pound alternative to the Hero 7 Black. Packaging from a retail leak shows the camera is likely going to be waterproof out of the box. Information on a Chinese site implies it will match GoPro’s flagship on most specs. It appears to have a front-facing selfie screen, which would be a clear differentiator.

The Osmo Action even appears to be the same shape and size of the Hero 7 Black, meaning it could fit on GoPro’s mounts. It’s a clever shortcut that would allow DJI to take advantage of the California company’s vast ecosystem of accessories without having to build out its own.

It’s impossible to say how the cameras will stack up against each other, and a lot can go wrong with a new product in a new category. But if this really is what DJI is about to announce at its event next week, it will serve neatly as an inverse of what happened with GoPro’s Karma drone. With Karma, GoPro tried to enter a market that was essentially dominated by DJI. Now, DJI will do the same — crash a market that GoPro created and thoroughly owns.

Woodman recently sounded receptive to the idea of more competition. In his eyes, some of GoPro’s non-Karma mistakes (refusing to drop the price of older cameras, cluttering the lineup) were partly a result of having no competitors.

“A competitor would help us understand the dynamics of our market, our business, pricing sensitivity. The challenge has been, frankly, that in many cases the only data we had access to was our own,” he told investors a year ago.

As he told me at CES 2018: “AT&T has Verizon. Ford has Chevy. BMW has Mercedes.” Now, it looks like GoPro will have DJI — again. This time, at least, it will take up the fight without the financial baggage of a struggling drone business.

Grinnell Mutual, a property casualty insurance company, is now using Kespry drones and the company’s aerial intelligence platform for residential and commercial property roof inspections.

They deploy the system routinely to collect high-resolution photos that are blended into composite 3-D images of roofs. The images are combined with artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning based algorithmic assessments made in the Kespry Cloud. These assessments help adjusters determine storm-related damage to make the most accurate claim decisions possible.

“What’s nice about the Kespry system is we can knock out an average inspection within about 15 minutes,” Property Large Loss Specialist Chuck Tremain said, according to a press release. “Without a drone, a roof inspection can take up to two hours. With the drone, I have the data right there. I can look at it on-site and actually make some decisions on the spot, which is nice. Our policyholders and contractors have trusted the data and found that it is accurate. It makes us feel like we’re doing our job and getting policyholders taken care of. We’re making good on the promise we make to our policyholders.”

The company also has found benefit in using Kespry to assess complex, multi-property claims.

“Both Grinnell Mutual employees and customers are experiencing the benefits of using Kespry to enhance accuracy and dramatically decrease claim cycle times,” Kespry CEO George Mathew said, according to the release. “Our platform delivers incredibly high-resolution, accurate aerial imagery and unbiased reports, creating transparency and trust among everyone involved in Grinnell Mutual’s claims cycle. We’re incredibly pleased to play a role in enhancing how Grinnell Mutual conducts inspections for the better.”

A leading provider of drone technology for the industrial sector has released a new service to improve integrity for energy infrastructure. PrecisionHawk Inc. announced April 30 its new product, PrecisionAnalytics Energy, a complete aerial mapping, modeling and inspection platform that uses the latest generation of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine intelligence to automate analysis of aerial data.

Whether inspecting thousands of oil well pads or hundreds of thousands of utility towers, the company boasts that PrecisionAnalytics customers can reduce costs up to 80 percent and dramatically improve safety in the field.

As one of the largest sources of drone operators in world, PrecisionHawk has 150-plus full-time drone pilots and more than 15,000 drone service providers in their drone pilot network. The company’s clients are using the expansive operator network to capture data over tens of thousands of miles of infrastructure. PrecisionHawk is also one of the only unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) services companies that can fly beyond visible line of sight (BVLOS) – extending the reach of how far pilots can fly to collect data.

“By working closely with so many enterprise clients during the data capture phase, we have learned a tremendous amount about what they need to be successful. Our customers have consistently told us that they need a more efficient way to inspect their assets and analyze data. PrecisionAnalytics is that solution, utilizing advanced AI and machine learning to address the complexities of the energy enterprise,” said Michael Chasen, CEO of PrecisionHawk. “The results speak for themselves, drone-based aerial intelligence helps businesses reduce costs while improving the safety of their workers and insight into their assets.”

PrecisionAnalytics Energy consists of five distinct market solutions:

PrecisionAnalytics — Oil and Gas

Oil and gas supermajors are using PrecisionAnalytics to replace dangerous manned aircraft inspections with drone deployments and hours of tedious image review with machine intelligence, ultimately gaining unprecedented insight into the condition of critical assets. The solution offers leading thermal, infrared and LiDAR sensors, a methane detection laser and optical gas indicators that can capture asset conditions at a single point of time. With geospatial data that does not compromise the assets themselves, managers can integrate with existing enterprise resource planning systems, report their findings and take action.

PrecisionAnalytics — Distribution

Ground teams via today’s traditional manner of inspection typically find that 10 percent of distribution poles are out of compliance. In contrast PrecisionHawk, on average, found that the number is typically between 25 and 30 percent. PrecisionAnalytics Distribution is a cloud-based system that uses machine learning to automate the identification of distribution pole and component damage. It cross-references the uploaded imagery against distribution pole data and flags issues, producing a collection of imagery prioritized by asset health.

PrecisionAnalytics — Transmission

With PrecisionAnalytics Transmission, utilities can replace dangerous helicopter inspections, reducing inspection costs by up to 28 percent, and gain unprecedented insight into the condition of assets. The platform applies machine vision to identify areas of concern such as cracked insulators, corrosion or structural issues and aggregates collected data to provide infrastructure statistics, vegetation maps, detailed views and historical record keeping. For one top 50 American utility, PrecisionHawk’s drone services increased the areas of concern identified by 42 percent.

PrecisionAnalytics — Wind

Using PrecisionAnalytics Wind, some of the world’s leading turbine OEMs and servicers have reduced climbs—today’s traditional manner of inspection — by 50 percent and the cost of their inspections by 80 percent. PrecisionAnalytics Wind offers intuitive reporting features and AI-driven change detection that can identify issues such as leading-edge corrosion, lightning strike damage, small cracks and wearing, gel coat degradation and UV radiation damage on an entire fleet or a particular blade. With PrecisionAnalytics Wind, turbine operators can reduce hazardous man hours, accelerate analysis, reduce time-to-value of data and increase uptime through preventative maintenance.

PrecisionAnalytics — Solar

PrecisionAnalytics Solar can measure the condition of an entire fleet or a single module. With purpose-built machine learning, the platform detects issues such as cell-level defects, bad diodes, reverse polarity, storm damage, rack shifts and foreign objects. Users of PrecisionAnalytics Solar can integrate the solution with their existing asset management program, reducing the time required to conduct inspections — today, traditionally done by plane flyovers or by foot — by up to 90 percent, identifying up to 10 times as many issues and predicting future outages so that they can prioritize needed repairs.

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), also referred to as drones, have captured the attention of almost every industry, including the fields of medicine, retail, media, and real estate. The agriculture industry is no exception to this, with PrecisionAg recently publishing a three-part series titled “Three Agricultural Spray Drone Models That Promise to Be Breakthroughs.”

With technology progressing at a breathtaking pace, every day brings new and exciting innovations that can ensure an abundant food supply for the world’s ever-growing population. The National Agricultural Aviation Association (NAAA), representing 1,800 aerial application operators and pilots, views UAVs as a complementary tool to manned aerial application methods, not a wholesale replacement.

Aerial application by manned aircraft is by far the fastest and most effective method of application. Every year aerial application pilots treat approximately 127 million acres of cropland in the U.S. This equates to 28% of all commercial cropland in the country. A relatively small number of pilots accomplish this feat by using agricultural aircraft holding between 400 and 800 gallons of product. UAVs do not have payloads approaching anywhere near this size, nor do they achieve speeds even close to the 90 to 150 mph speeds manned ag aircraft travel across a field during an application.

The article series correctly mentions aerial application by UAVs is popular in Japan. However, it should be noted the average farm size in Japan is approximately 5 acres, compared to 441 acres in the U.S. This is where UAVs can complement manned aircraft nicely, by making applications on small plots of land that are not suitable for traditional airplanes or helicopters. The UAVs used in Japan have found their niche in the U.S. as well, making applications to small vineyards on steep terrain where they offer an effective replacement to backpack spraying, areas larger manned aircraft are unable to reach.

There is also no available evidence to suggest UAVs make more efficacious applications and create less unintentional drift than manned aircraft. Those promoting UAVs for aerial application have described UAVs’ downwash effect as “unique,” enabling products to penetrate deeper into the crop canopy. The same aerodynamics apply to manned aircraft. Furthermore, the downwash effect is greater with manned aircraft because manned aircraft are generally larger than UAVs, causing more air to be displaced moving the applied products deep into the crop canopy for excellent coverage.

Additionally, thanks to extensive research done by the USDA’s Aerial Application Technology Research Unit and the EPA, manned aircraft have sophisticated spray nozzle models showing how products applied aerially are dispersed based on aircraft size, aircraft speed, wake vortices, windspeed, temperature, boom length, droplet size, and many other factors. However, these models only apply to traditional manned aircraft that are either single-rotor helicopters or single prop airplanes moving at high speeds. The models are not applicable to multi-rotor drones moving much slower and weighing much less. New spray models applicable to unmanned aircraft with two, three, four, or even eight rotors need to be developed before anyone can confidently state the efficaciousness of UAVs. The efficacy and drift aspects are things that pesticide manufacturers, state regulators, and the EPA are concerned about and are looking into.

The article series also included a quote claiming UAVs can make applications at night when it is too dark for pilots to take off. Aerial applicators can and do operate at night. Night operations are conducted with the use of high-performance lighting systems or night vision goggles. Seven percent of aerial operations conduct applications after dark, treating a total of 1.9 million acres.

Additionally, the claim was made application by UAVs is safer because UAVs have chemical products loaded into them on site and do not have to ferry with the chemicals from an airstrip. There are numerous EPA regulations that must be followed to mitigate risk for the mixing and loading of pesticides that apply no matter where the loading is being conducted. Manned aircraft are most often loaded over pads specifically designed to capture any spills. They use check valves and a suck-back system to ensure there are no leaks during the ferry. Loading at the field actually has the potential to be more hazardous to the environment — there is no permanent structure in place to contain any spills that do occur, and the operators and loaders are near the field which could provide exposure issues.

NAAA welcomes the use of UAVs in agriculture and other industries, but also wants to see them meet the high standard already applied to manned aerial applicators. Additionally, NAAA believes these aircraft must be equipped with certain safety equipment to ensure they do not collide with manned aircraft. Under the right conditions NAAA believes UAVs can be a valuable tool for growers, not just for aerial application but for aerial imaging as well.

Aerial application is a 98-year-old industry that has evolved through decades of research to become not only the fastest method of application but also exceptionally effective, reliable, and precise. There is not one technology available on UAVs, be it GPS, electrostatic spray systems or “downwash,” that is not already available on manned aircraft. NAAA encourages those seeking to bring UAVs into the agriculture space to build on this legacy through collaboration and not make misleading claims or assertions that have not been proven.

Kespry, the drone-based aerial intelligence solution provider, has announced its new BYOD (Bring Your Own Drone) program. It includes a new platform pricing model designed to meet the expanding enterprise aerial intelligence requirements of multi-site mining companies. Kespry now offers a single fee for its platform, including unlimited access to industry-leading, vertically-integrated applications, the Kespry Cloud and AI and ML-based analytics.

“BYOD means companies can either choose to go with Kespry-managed drone hardware or use their own existing DJI drone fleet, including the DJI Mavic 2 Pro and the DJI Phantom series. The combination of flexible platform pricing and BYOD means teams across mining, aggregates and inspection companies have uniform access to the latest aerial intelligence technology, Kespry’s unrivaled accuracy, ease-of-use and safety benefits.”

Enabling customers to integrate existing DJI drone fleets into the Kespry aerial intelligence platform ensures data reliability by providing a single source of aerial truth. Now, regardless of which drones they use, customers benefit from the complete Kespry experience, including industry-specific tools, automatic platform updates and world-class customer support.

“We’re very pleased to partner with Kespry and have DJI drones seamlessly integrate with the Kespry platform,” said Bill Chen, Enterprise Partnerships Manager, DJI. “The combination of DJI’s industry-leading drone platforms with Kespry’s vertical capabilities and expertise will further boost efficiency for its mining and aggregates customers by allowing them to more accurately and frequently measure stockpile volumes, and manage inventory across multiple sites. Kespry’s BYOD program will also enable insurance and roofing companies to significantly reduce the time spent on inspecting buildings, while delivering precise risk assessments.”

Kespry’s new platform pricing uses a single fee model designed for mining, aggregates, construction, and inspection companies to scale aerial intelligence across their operations. The cost is now based on the number of sites or properties involved, ensuring deployments are precisely aligned with business needs. Kespry and DJI-managed drones are available on an unlimited flight basis, in conjunction with the ability for customers to use the BYOD model with existing DJI Mavic 2 Pro and DJI Phantom series drones.

“The integration of BYOD and new platform pricing means Kespry customers can further improve profitability with more accurate and frequent assessment of their assets across the regions they operate in,” said George Mathew, CEO, Kespry. “The combination of the Kespry platform, hardware flexibility and uniform access to our comprehensive applications and vertical-specific tools makes enterprise expansion easier and more accessible than ever. It enables companies to align their aerial intelligence strategy in lockstep with their evolving business goals.”

Are you looking for a real estate drone? Aerial real estate photography is becoming more popular all the time. In some markets, it is almost a requirement that a listing has photographs, and often video, taken from the air. Professional pilots today can earn fees starting at $200 for a 30-minute job. So what is the best drone for the job? And what do you need to know before you fly? We are here to help.

Before you buy your real estate photography drone

If you want to make money flying drones in the United States then you will need to have a commercial license issued by the FAA. Not only does a license allow you to fly legally, but it will also give you a lot more freedom on where you can fly. The part 107 commercial drone exam covers a lot more than just the basic drone rules. If you are traveling or if you live in another country then make sure you follow the laws there as well.

We’ve taken and passed the part 107 exam, so we know what to expect. We would recommend taking a class if you aren’t already a pilot or someone familiar with aviation maps and laws. There are two really solid programs that we would recommend you look into. The Drone Pilot Ground School that is offered by UAV Coach, is an extensive online course with a one time fee of $299. There also is the highly-regarded Drone U program. It is a more affordable subscription-based program that starts at just $47.

Limit Your Liability

Once you’ve passed your part 107 you will want to create your own corporation. There are a lot of crazies out there and the best way to protect yourself and your family might be to incorporate. You will want to do some research but we’d recommend going with an S-Corp or LLC.

Insure Your Assets

You’ll want to get some insurance. Yes, there are some pay-per-flight insurance companies, but getting an annual policy will likely save you money and is likely your best bet. Some countries require insurance so make sure you know your local laws. Depending on your policy, insurance can not only protect your drone in the case of a crash but can also cover any accidental damage you may cause. For a great way to protect your DJI drone, you should take a look at DJI Care.

Register Your Real Estate Drone

You will want to make sure you know the local laws, but in the US you will have to register your drone if it is over 0.55 lbs and under 55 lbs. That means pretty much everything that is going to be able to take decent pictures and videos. It is only $5 to register with the FAA. Don’t get scammed. Go directly to the FAA’s website.

What Should I Look For In A Real Estate Drone Drone?

Video Quality

The most important thing when choosing your drone is the camera. A lot of people think that you need a 4K drone, but really that might not be your best option. It is rare that clients want 4K video for a real estate job and for most applications 1080p is the preferred choice. Why is 1080 the right choice? It is good enough and it uses just 25% of the memory that 4K video does. We happen to know the owner of one of the largest real estate video production companies in the US, CAVU, and they rarely shoot in 4K.

Camera Quality

There are only a few companies that produce cameras with the quality you need. DJI, Yuneec, and Autel are the only ones we would recommend. After those three you don’t want to gamble with anything else. DJI is the clear leader but that does not mean they are your only option. Take your time and find what you think is best for you. Sometimes you can get a steal on an Autel Evo or a Yuneec Typhoon.

Gimbals vs EIS

You need a three-axis gimbal like the one on the Mavic 2 Zoom

Don’t be fooled by drones claiming they can smooth out video electronically. The Parrot Bebop does do some excellent EIS (electronic image stabilization) but all EIS relies on cropping the original image and quality does suffer. Make sure you are filming with a physical gimbal. We recommend a three-axis gimbal. EIS just won’t cut it for a good real estate drone.

Flight Time

You will want a drone with a minimum flight time of 20 minutes. Sure, you could make do with less, but getting the job done on one battery is ideal. You will definitely want to make sure you carry plenty of spare batteries in any case, but flight time is important especially for large jobs.

Range (Signal Strength)

While we think that range might just be the most overrated spec on drones, it is definitely important. A range of 4 miles is certainly ridiculous since you are required by law to keep the drone in sight at all times. What range specifications actually give you a good feeling for is signal strength. Typically drones with long ranges have good signal strength. You want to be able to control your drone with buildings, trees and other obstacles that might be between you and it. The better the range, the better the signal strength, and the happier you will be.

Avoid drones that rely on WiFi for the video feed like the Phantom 3 Standard or Spark since they can pick up interference in areas with a lot of WiFi interference, like the neighborhoods where you will be doing most of your filming.

Obstacle Avoidance

The Mavic 2 series has built-in sensors to help with obstacle avoidance.

Obstacle avoidance is not a necessary feature for your real estate drone but it can certainly come in handy. Typically drones will have it on the front but side and rear obstacle avoidance are a lot more valuable. It is rare that you will fly forward into an obstacle, but judging side distance or rear distance is a lot more difficult. The Phantom 4 Pro or the Mavic 2 are your best options if you are looking for obstacle avoidance on all sides and from below.

Real Estate Drone Prices Can Vary

Before you go and spend your entire budget on one drone think about getting two. A true professional should have a backup drone just in case something happens to his or her main bird. If your Phantom 4 Pro ($1899) is out of commission for a week what are you going to fly? A Phantom 4 Advanced ($1495) can use the same batteries and accessories and would be a solid backup. It has the same exact camera.

Don’t forget about the Original Mavic Pro($875). It is a great portable drone. Heck, even the Autel Evois a great option and now right around $1000.  We have even done some real estate work with our $389 DJI Spark. It isn’t ideal, but you will want to have a plan B just in case.

The Best Real Estate Drone is…

The best option and the most trusted drone for real estate professionals is the DJI Mavic 2 Zoom ($1249). This may be a shock as most people will tell you the Phantom 4 has the best camera, or the color grading from the Mavic 2 Pro ($1499) is the best out there. Both of those statements might actually be true, but the zoom lens on the Mavic 2 Zoom makes it a better choice for this particular application. But I don’t believe that you need the absolute best camera on the market to take pictures of real estate. The Mavic 2 Zoom camera is spectacular and the zoom feature comes in handy.

The ability to zoom in can help the videographer get a great shot at a distance to avoid obstacles like trees or powerlines. The portability of the Mavic series may not seem like a big deal until you are lugging it from house to house. Yes, we love the DJI Inspire 2, but its large size and hefty price tag ($3000 without a camera) make it a hard drone to recommend. The smaller and quieter Mavic 2 will allow you to get in and out of your shoot quickly and relatively quietly without drawing a lot of attention your way. The Phantom and Inspire drones are big and loud and can draw a crowd.

Any of the Phantom 4 series drones are also great options, as it the Mavic 2 Pro and even the Autel Evo. However, for most real estate agents, I would recommend the Mavic 2 Zoom because if its portability and versatility. It really is the best option. Now you have to decide if you want to pick up a DJI Smart Controller with it…

Rich with fresh DNA, viruses and bacteria, whale snot is a highly sought-after treasure among Australian scientists.

"The drone is flown through the densest part of the whale snot, collecting the sample," Dr Pirotta said.Macquarie University marine biologist Vanessa Pirotta is using a water-proof drone fitted with a petri dish that can hover over the blowholes of humpback whales as they embark on their yearly cruise along Australia's east coast.

"And then the lid shuts and the drone is flown back to the boat and we're happy scientists back on the boat."It sounds disgusting, but the snot is used by researchers to do health check-ups on the giant mammals — and even to identify whales that are pregnant.

"We can collect lung bacteria, which can indicate whether a lung is healthy or not. We can also collect viruses," she said.

It may also help the researchers crack one of the mysteries of Australia's whale population — why Southern right whale numbers have bounced back on the west coast but remain stubbornly low in south-eastern Australia.

The whales are coming

This will be the second season Dr Pirotta has been flying drones through whale blowhole sprays in the name of scientific research.

The advantage of using drones to study whale health is that it gives scientists fresh samples.

"In the past, to collect health information from whales we relied heavily on whales that were either killed — which is simply unethical — or from whales that had been stranded on a beach, in which case their health was either compromised or not very well at all," she said.

"So this method allows us to go into the field and collect samples from live, free-swimming whales to build a better picture and to understand their health in a much more non-invasive and safer way."

The much-improved method of collecting snot samples is good timing ahead of the annual whale migration.

About 30,000 humpbacks from Antarctica will swim along Australia's coast to their breeding grounds in the warm waters of Queensland.

Captain Joel Rose, with Captain Cook whale watching cruises, has noticed more whales coming every year and said it "never gets old".

It has been a long road to recovery after humpbacks were decimated by whalers in the 19th and early 20th centuries.

It was not until the Endangered Species Act was introduced in 1973 that the whales were finally protected in Australian waters.

PHOTO: Whales weren't protected in Australian waters until 1973. (Supplied: Vanessa Pirotta)

Since then, the population has rebounded from a low point of about 10,000 to almost 100,000, and it continues to grow.

Mr Rose said it has been great for tourists — with more whales being sighted earlier in the year there are more opportunities to catch a glimpse of the giant mammals.

"Due to the actions that our country and other countries have taken in the last 30 to 40 years, we're seeing a really good resurgence in numbers and we get some really good interactions with the animals," Mr Rose said.

"So it's something that [tourists will] never forget."

From sea monsters to tourism icons

Whaling was once the second largest industry in Australia after wool and it was not too long ago that humpbacks swimming past Sydney faced harpoons rather than drones.

Whale exhibitions have been popular at the Australian Museum, where there are collections of whale skeletons and artefacts that are over 150 years old.

Archives manager Vanessa Finney said there has been a clear shift in Australian attitudes towards whales.

"They've become more common in Sydney waters … so people have a different relationship to them — not as something that's about to disappear but something that's actually against the odds thriving."

Many of the illustrations and photographs collected by the museum reflect a time when whales were seen as magical sea monsters.

PHOTO: Research on whales previously relied heavily on dead or beached whales. (Supplied: The Australian Museum)

"People understand that whales are both beautiful and somewhat mysterious," Ms Finney said.

"Whales are very much part of Sydney's natural world and also part of our culture because you can perhaps see them off the coast, but you can only get a glimpse."

Rough sailing ahead for whales

But scientists are warning that not all of Australia's whale species are thriving and there are plenty of challenges.

This season, Dr Pirotta is hoping to use the snot-collecting drone to study the endangered Southern right whale to find out why their numbers have not recovered as well as humpbacks.

There is a healthy population of Southern right whales along the West Australian coast line, but there are only around 300 left in south-eastern Australia.

Dr Pirotta said the biggest threats come from humans. Whales stick close to the coast and they have been known to wander into Sydney Harbour, colliding with boats and getting tangled in fishing gear.

Rising sea temperatures are also a problem.

"These animals feed in the waters of Antarctica, where they're now seeing a reduction in sea ice, which is the primary habitat for their food source, which is Antarctic krill," Dr Pirotta said.