Twelve months ago, ultra-fast charging (UFC) pioneer, StoreDot, achieved a world first with its partner BP by successfully fully-charging a two-wheeled electric vehicle in just 5 minutes. Today, the company is launching its award-winning UFC technology for the drone industry, having achieved its mission of fully-charging a commercial drone in five minutes – another world first. This milestone overcomes two …
GDC drones prove worth
Drones have become a valuable asset for the Gisborne District Council. with three machines proving their worth several times over. Use of the drones has grown extensively over the three years since the council got its first machine, says council principal scientist Murry Cave. The three drones are a DJI Phantom 4 Pro, a Mavic and a waterproof one. The …
Australia re-enters the space race
Update: The rockets successfully launched on Saturday 19 September 2020. South Australia’s west coast will roar with the sound of rocket launches this week, as start-up Southern Launch begins its test program with two sub-orbital rockets. It will be a significant moment for Australia’s space industry – the next chapter in a history of rocket launches extending over six decades. …
The Ban on Chinese Drones, Part 2: What Happens Next?
In all likelihood the use of Chinese-made drones and Chinese-made drone components by federal agencies will soon be banned. An amendment, which Representative Mike Gallagher, Republican from Wisconsin added to the House version of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 (NDAA), would ban the purchase of “off-the-shelf drones” manufactured by a “covered foreign entity,” such as China, by …
Automated harvesting with robots in the forest
FPInnovations is moving full speed ahead with its automated-harvesting project to usher in a new era of forestry machinery with an eye to one day operating fully autonomous machines. Much of the forestry equipment in use dates from designs that originated in the 70s, with improvements made along the way. In an industry-leading move, the automated-harvesting team is developing the brains …
Aerial tree planting systems being showcased
ForestTECH is this region’s most popular annual independent forestry technology series. This year, in addition to advances being made in remote sensing and forest inventory, for the first time, one of the two days has been set aside to profile the very latest developments in forest establishment, mechanised planting and silviculture. As well as the very latest results and lessons …
OneFortyOne announces CEO appointment
OneFortyOne is pleased to announce the appointment of Andy Giles Knopp as Chief Executive Officer, effective 21 September 2020. Prior to this announcement Andy has been a key member of OneFortyOne’s executive team since 2016 and will step into the CEO role previously held by Linda Sewell, who resigned in August after nearly eight years of thoughtful and distinguished leadership. …
Australia’s new drone laws require registration
Drone owners in Australia will soon need to register their aircrafts under laws first introduced back in 2019. With drones increasing in popularity in recent years, Australia’s aviation regulator, Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA), has introduced new measures designed to keep drone flyers, and any people they’re flying near, safe. The news laws mean anyone using a drone for commercial …
Boost for technology to detect wildfires
Inventors of a system which can detect bushfires in minutes will share in more than AU$5 million from the Morrison Government to roll out the technology here at home and overseas. Australia’s Minister for Industry, Science and Technology Karen Andrews said Fireball International’s innovative sensor system is among 12 projects being backed to take on new local and international markets. …